Alex Alderman

The newly reinstated CEO of Alderman Residential gazes down at the glittering cityscape of NNYC from her penthouse window. In the background, Maxie, staring intently at a painting and making occasional exclamations about the “spectacular brushwork” and “deeply moving message.”

He’s been looking at this painting for forty minutes. The same painting. Forty minutes! It better be good.

Alex wanders over to join him by the artwork and takes a look: an entirely blank canvas with a single dot of purple paint in the centre.

Later that evening – Alex and Maxie, lounging in armchairs, mocktails in hand, ‘Rhapsody in Indigo’ playing on the gramophone as the city lights twinkle.

I have to tell him. He’ll find out eventually. I can’t keep things from him.

So, Alex talks of Anchor Rock. How they thought Maxie was a traitor. How they lied to get information about him from his employer. How they plotted to spy on him and manipulate him. How they were wrong.

The music stops.

The look in his eyes – utter betrayal. Wounded. He leaves.

Alex – frozen. eyes glistening. more than glistening. Weeping.

Lost the only true friend I’ve ever had.

A gift in the mail: a painting – a splash of colour in a sea of nothing. A note: “I’m sorry. I miss You.”

The next day – Maxie, delighted by the gesture. “All is forgiven!”

Months pass. Alderman Residential thrives with Alex at the helm once more. But there’s room in her life for more than just her company.

A year after the Transference – Anchor Rock is buzzing with excitement. It’s the annual campfire tonight! The town is flooded with guests, as familiar faces gather to remember times gone by. An expensive sports car pulls up and two figures emerge, wearing matching sunglasses. Alex flicks a switch to open the trunk. Inside – marshmallows. A lot of marshmallows.

Maxie looks around the landscape in confusion. “But where are the marshmallow trees? Surely they would have grown by now. Did the locals not plant enough?”

Alex doesn't correct him.

That night – Alex, alone, at the edge of the woods. A bright, sparkling sky.

It was so dark last time. I thought I might never see him again…

in dreams: falling… falling… catching each other

Years pass. Decades. Thousands of memories…

A black-tie event for the city’s top journalists. Alex is giving a speech for the guest of honour: “A toast, to the new Editor of Metropolitan Magazine – Maxwell Leviston!”

Alex adds a pin to a world map in Alderman Residential’s headquarters. Expanded into yet another country. Business is good.

“Retiring? But I thought you loved Metropolitan Magazine?”

“I do. And it loves me. But a talent like mine shouldn’t be confined to one field. Next – Biographies!”

“Ah, I see.” Alex pauses to think for a moment. “Maxie, you’re my best friend. I will do you the immense honour of being your first subject.”

The book is a bestseller.

By Isla H.