"You're quite welcome," Sera said as she led her towards the stereo. She selected a CD and adjusted the volume before turning to her. "May I have this dance?"
Alex looked over at Nikki. She was engaged in what appeared to be a deep conversation with Pia, Rachel, and Dani. Looking up at Sera, with a smile and dip of her head, she held out her hand, allowing her to lead her to an empty spot in the room. They began to move across the floor as one, gracefully spinning, dipping, and sliding.
"I had forgotten how good this feels," Sera said as she spun her around, capturing her in her arms, and stepping back. She saw the unasked question in her eyes and clarified. "I had forgotten how good dancing feels. Especially with someone that knows you so well."
As a slower song began to play, Alex took a step closer and placed both hands on her shoulders. They began to slowly move across the floor. "Don't you dance with Pia?"
"Not like this. We've gone clubbing a time or two, but it's not the same." They danced in silence for several moments, each enjoying the music and the feel of the woman in her arms.
Alex caught a glimpse of the group seated across the room as Sera turned her. The look on Pia's face could only be described as jealousy, and she felt a pang of guilt for monopolizing Sera's time. "Pia looks upset."
Sera's grip tightened on her waist briefly. "She'll have to get over it. She knows you are with Nikki now." Alex pulled back and looked up into her face. "What?" Sera asked.
Before she could respond the song ended. She stepped out of Sera's arms and took her hand. "Let's rest for a minute." She led her over to the group and urged her to sit next to Pia on the couch. She sat on the coffee table in front of her two Italian friends and smiled. "I have a story for you two. I want you to listen quietly and save your questions until the end, okay?" She looked over at Nikki and gave her a wink before looking back at Pia and Sera. "When I met Nikki, Dani, and Rachel I realized they had no idea who Alexis Mohr was. I wanted to know that their motives were pure, so I hid it from them.
"Eventually Nikki and I became lovers, and still I withheld the truth of my past. She knew I was holding something back, and she tried to give me time but I took too long." Tears filled her eyes and she blinked them back quickly. "Tired of waiting, she packed up and left me." She looked at Sera and Pia. "My fear and dishonesty caused me to lose the one thing I wanted the most. And losing her nearly killed me. After several months, I gave up ever getting her back. I packed a bag, closed down my house in the states, and moved into the villa."
Sera looked over at Nikki, then back to Alex. "But…"
Alex gave Nikki a tender smile. "Nikki tracked me down and showed up on my doorstep several days ago. We have spent the time since working through the issues my dishonesty caused."
Sera leaned forward slightly, her elbows on her knees. "I'm glad you two are working through the issue, Alex, as it appears as though you are both very much in love, but why are you telling us this?"
Alex captured one of Sera's hands in one hand and one of Pia's in the other. "Because you two are very important to me." She looked from one to the other. "And because I have a feeling that neither of you has been completely honest with the other." She held Pia's hand tighter when she tried to pull away. "You have both made comments to me that have proven that point, and I want to clear the air between us all.
"I love you both, and I know you both love me." Both Sera and Pia nodded in agreement. "What I don't think you realize is that it has always just been friendship between the three of us." She smiled at the raised eyebrows on each of the two faces before her. "You've both assumed, incorrectly, that I slept with the other, and have both been jealous of me for no reason." She pressed the two hands she was holding together until they wrapped around each other. "It's time you were honest with each other, before you lose what is right in front of you."
She stood, held a hand out to Nikki and said, "Dance with me?" She smiled when she took her hand and led her a short distance away. They danced quietly for several minutes with Rachel and Dani dancing a few steps away. Nikki graciously stepped aside when Pia cut in.
"I can't thank you enough for what you just did," Pia said as she pulled her into her arms.
As they began to dance, Alex looked up into her friend's face. She saw a sparkle in her eye and a smile on her lips. "All I did was tell you the truth. It's painfully obvious, at least to me, that you two are very much in love." The corners of her mouth lifted slightly as Pia's smile grew. "I'm so happy for you both. I think you are perfect for each other, and you deserve –" She stumbled, clutched at Pia's arms, and, dropping her head to her chest, hissed in pain.
Pia stopped moving and held the trembling woman in her arms. "Are you all right?" she asked. She looked quickly around the room and caught Nikki's eye. "Alex, honey, are you okay?"
Nikki stepped away from Sera and rushed to Alex's side. She looked down and saw that she had shifted all of her weight to her right leg. Nikki scooped her into her arms and
