Alex & Alexa Ch. 06

Maybe twenty minutes later, mom walks in, accompanied by dad and another professor. Mom smiled at seeing her sister hustling around the room and then looked pointedly at me.

"So you left my little sister to do all the work while you just sat on your throne and looked on, your majesty?" she asked, clearly unimpressed with my lack of chivalry. "If your father ever did that, I'd have him stuffed and mounted in the old taxidermy hall."

I rolled my eyes. "Yes, but you're married. I didn't ask Alexa to start reorganizing your office."

Alexa smiled brightly. "I just figured that you were working so hard on grading papers that maybe you could use some help tidying up. And to be fair, I did tell Alex to sit down and stay out of my way."

Dad laughed. "Allie, he's never gonna be in trouble as long as you're around, you're like a walking 'Get Out Of Jail Free' card for him. He's the only nephew you've got, there's no need to play favourites. That and Karen's head may explode at this rate if he doesn't get in trouble about something soon."

"Don't worry, dad," I quipped. "If anyone can find a reason to get me in Dutch, it's mom. She's resourceful."

Mom shot me a look.

"And at least we now know where Alex gets his love of caves from," Alexa added, looking around. "Honestly, Karen, when was the last time you opened those curtains?"

Dad laughed loudly while mom blushed before coughing and introducing the person accompanying them. "Allie, this is Professor Jan Marais from the liguistics department. Alex, you remember Professor Marais, right?"

I nodded. "I've took his Indo-European Root Languages class, it was great."

"Thank you, Alex," he said in flawless English but with a hint of an accent I had come to recognize as Afrikaans. "Miss Blackwell, your sister has intimated to me that you share your nephew's talent for linguistics and speak several languages aside from English."

"Yes, professor," Alexa said, nodding. "I've been told I have some skill in language and I do enjoy it, along with history and general anthropology."

The professor smiled, seemingly pleased. "The genetic capacity in your family is obvious, then, since you have such similar talents and interests. That being said, and with your imminent acceptance to our institution, I was hoping I could make a proposal to the two of you."

"Get up, Alex," mom said, trying to not make it sound like too terse a command. "Listen to what he has to say."

I nodded and went to stand with Alexa, actually intrigued by what the professor was suggesting.

"It may came as no surprise to either of you that the Linguistics Department, while held in esteem for its contributions, is one of the smaller ones and can be a little... disorganized. We have four professors and three part-time professors. We saw a surprising influx of students this past year and they generated an immense amount of paperwork. We are still busy grading papers and are falling behind rapidly."

We said nothing yet, waiting for him to get to the point, something Language professors are notoriously bad at.

"We need help organizing and getting ready for the new semester. There are more senior students we could ask, but many are gone or are otherwise engaged in other projects. We could give you both honourariums for assisting us and I could also pull some strings to make sure you both get into all the courses you want..."

I could feel Alexa almost bursting with excitement next to me and I had to admit, I was rather pleased as well. True, it would eat up my summer, but they'd pay me and I'd be doing something I love alongside Alexa.

"I think I'll accept on both of our behalfs before my aunt explodes, professor." I said, nodding. "We'd be happy to help."

"I'm grateful," he said, nodding his head. "My only question is, and please take it seriously, because we've had issues in the past... can you two work together in spite of being family? We have attempted to allow siblings or other family units to do this sort of thing before and there end up being squabbles and drama issues that compromised the quality of work they did."

I shook my head. "No issue here, sir. It's hard to remember she's my aunt at all, given how close we are in age. We make a decent tag-team."

"Excellent," he declared, smiling. "I'll keep Karen and Michael informed and then contact you when we are ready, it should not be more than a week. Good day to you all."

Once he had left, mom and dad both seemed delighted. Mom hugged her sister while dad ruffled my hair. "I know we said you could have the summer off, but it looks like you'll get to be useful after all," he said cheerfully. "And to be honest, this is a big deal, you two will have your hands full. The department will really appreciate it and go to some lengths for you."

"So that's why you had us drop by," I mused. "Who cooked up this scheme with Professor Marais?"

"We'd recently heard him talking about how behind the department was and how much he wanted some fresh help to get things back in order," mom said, still holding her sister. "I mentioned that Allie was likely to be getting a full scholarship from the university and studying in his department anyway, so she might be willing. I also said you were doing nothing of note this summer and had a good head for organizing. Saying he jumped on the suggestion would be a mild understatement. His seniors were making outrageous demands for doing what was needed. I told him Alex had been known to work for chicken parmesan."

Alexa giggled at the thought. "Why am I not surprised that he'll work for food?"

"Well, Alex, you have basically one week of freedom left before you become slave to the Linguistics department," mom pointed out. "Do your best to make the least of the time left to you. As for Little Miss Industrious here, I think I'll keep employing her services for a while today. She can prettify my office while I grade papers. Mike, take your son and make him useful."

Dad and I exited the office and head to his, which was in another wing of the building. Dad's office, not surprisingly, was far more dynamic than mom's, although it still looked like the office of a tenured scholar. He sat down in his chair and grinned.

"Not much for you to do here, champ, my office is a lot more well-kept than your mother's," he said as he pushed and rolled himself across the foor to a reference guide. "My students do a lot of the cleaning for me, probably hoping that I'll reward them with better grades."

"And you just exploit their help?" I asked, making a wry face as I sat down in a chair nearby. His office was a lot of black and chrome, having a high-tech geek feel to it. One wall was dominated by a bank of computers, something he called a 'Beowulf Cluster' and batches of cables ran around the walls, giving the office some weird Borg feel. I have no idea if the Beowulf Clusters were functional or if dad was just fucking with everyone's heads, but no one questioned the Rhodes Scholar about it either way.

"My parents always talk me to accept help completely and graciously," he said, rolling back. "And I never agree to any desires they might have about their grades in exchange for said help, inferred or otherwise. Japanese high school students clean their own schools."

"Well, you got me there, sensei," I sighed, "So what do you want me to do?"

He shrugged. "I dunno. Pick up a book and pretend you know something about physics, I guess."

He began working on grading papers while I sighed and started leafing through various books. I finally found one that basically amounted to 'Physics For Complete Idiots' and began reading. Maybe ten minutes later, there was a knock at his door and it opened.

"Hey, prof!" said a young woman brightly as she skipped in. She was in her early twenties, with curly brown hair that fell past her shoulders and a slim figure. She was pretty enough, I suppose, although it suddenly occured to me that I was instantly judging her against Alexa.

"Jeanie, hey," dad said, looking up and smiling. "This is my son, Alex. He just finished his first semester over in Linguisitics and History."

"Oh, hi," she said, turning and waving at me. "Wow, you two look alike."

"Thanks, I think." I replied, waving back from my seat.

"What can I do for you?" dad asked, pausing in his work to look at her.

"Any work to be done for you or Mrs de Bourne?" the girl named Jeanie asked. "All my classes are done but I don't leave dorm for another week soe I'm looking for something to do, y'know?"

Dad nodded. "Right this second I have nothing, but that might change, I'll email you if anything comes up, okay?"

She smiled and winked at him before waving to me and then turning and swishing out the door. My father just sighed and went back to grading.

"Nice girl," he mentioned. "Well-meaning, but if she were any dumber she'd have to be watered twice a week."

"Cute, though." I mused, causing him to look up at me, his eyebrow raised. It made me wonder if Alexa was right and if my father and mother were fucking that girl.

"Trust me, Alex," he said in a level tone. "As someone who has listened to her blather for an entire semester, you don't want to do that to yourself. No amount of getting laid could be worth that kind of intellectual pain. There were times I was certain that sticking a garden weasel up my nose and into my brain would hurt less."

"Ouch." I said, frowning at the imagery. Still, dad probably knew best and had no reason to deter me. I stopped thinking about it and went back to my book. True, most of what I was staring at was bafflegab to me, but I diligently took in everything I could. Never miss a chance to learn something. Probably an hour passed before dad stretched and cricked his neck before looking at me.

"Gonna take Allie up on her offer to buy a belly-dancing outfit and dance for us all while we do hookah?" he asked.

I shrugged without looking up from my tome. "Sounds fun. When would we do that?"

"Tonight or tomorrow," dad replied, musing. "You know your mom, she'll want to do the whole Moroccan lounge thing in the living room with big beanbag chairs and plush pillows everywhere and then invite her friends. They'll all get to meet her sister while she gyrates and grinds around the room to Arabic music."

"Can't tell who's more eager for this, you or mom." I mentioned.

Dad laughed cheerfully. "Make no mistake, Alex, your aunt's a pretty girl, and watching her dance will be fun, but I'm not slavering at the notion or wanting to strip her naked and throw her in the pillows. Your mom is more than enough for me."

It was weird, but I felt a slight jealous or territorial twitch at his words. I wouldn't blame my dad for finding Alexa stupidly hot and wanting to bang her, but he just said he didn't. And he wasn't aware of my relationship with her, so clearly he was just affirming his dedication to my mother.

Who apparently was something of a freak.

I wonder if dad pee'd in her.

I closed the book suddenly, my face contorting at the horrid notion I'd just considered. Standing up, I told dad I was going to take a walk and stretch my legs. He waved absently as he continued grading and I left the office to wander around. I didn't spend much time here in the Sciences buildings, because they weren't my field and also because there was always the risk of people knowing who I was and asking me for tips about how to deal with my parents.

I spotted mom in the cafeteria and walked over to her. She beamed brightly upon seeing me.

"So, did you help your father in his office?" she asked as she took the juices she'd purchased and began strolling toward her office.

"Nothing to help him with," I said, shrugging. "You know his office, it's all weird and geeky, but incredibly well-organized and hermetically sealed. I think dust is afraid of that space."

"Wish I had that problem," she muttered. "One of our mutual students came by and offered to help me."

"Lemme guess, Jeanie." I said somewhat flatly.

"Yes," mom said, smiling at me. "I take it she came by his office first, looking to curry favour?"

"Yep, and oozing her dumb all over the room," I confirmed. "Dad looked like he was ready to scratch his brain out with a cheese-grater just because she was there."

Mom sighed and nodded. "Her parents are very rich and make a lot of contributions to the university, so putting up with her lack of intellect is a necessary evil, I'm afraid. Still, I'm glad she showed, she met Allie and the two of them seemed to hit it off. I'm glad she's able to make friends."

"That is good," I agreed, pleased for my aunt. I didn't want to be the only person she knew. That would just be selfish. "Damned if I know what they would have to talk about though, if Jeanie is so dumb."

"It sort of went by too quickly for me, but Alexa complimented Jeanie on a piece of jewelry she was wearing and it turned out to be some icon or logo for a band they both liked and the conversation went off from there. Jeanie may not know a quark from a tricycle, but she knows her music, seemingly."

"Eh, better your sister than me," I mused. "Most bands I would listen to don't have icons or logos that would look good on jewelry. Jeanie said I looked like dad."

"You do," mom said, nodding. "You've got my serious nature, except for that abominable sense of humour, but you take after your father physically. If you ever get into bodybuilding the way he is, we're going to need to move to a bigger house."

I chuckled. "Might be a few years yet before I commit to that. So do you want me to take your sister to find-"

"Alex," mom said, interrupting me and stopping to turn and look at me. "Could you please start referring to her by her name? Allie or Alexa or something? Calling her 'your sister' or things like that sounds so impersonal and like she's a burden somehow."

"Sure," I said, nodding and secretly pleased that she had insisted, since it would no longer look like I was being fond or too informal if I used her name. This whole ruse was working out well. "As I was saying, would like me to take Alexa to find her belly-dancing outfit while you and dad are here or should we wait for you?"

She considered. "That's up to you, I guess, but it might be fun to go along. Where would you even find an outfit like that?"

I shrugged. "I know a lot of cosplayers and people in the SCA, I'm sure they can point me in the right direction. Give me a little while to contact them and then we'll all go."

"Excellent," mom said, almost smiling cheerfully as she resumed walking. "I'll tell your father we're knocking off early and we'll make up the time another day. You talk to your nerks and I'll go tell Allie what we're doing."

I nodded. "Uh, okay, I'll see you back at the cars, then."

I guess part of me was disappointed that I wouldn't have Alexa to myself, but at the same time it did help to keep our cover if mom and dad were along for this expedition. Sure enough, some friends knew exactly where to point me and I had the information we needed. God bless the geeks.

I meandered about for an hour and then went to the cars when I got a text from my mother saying they were ready. I was the first to arrive, my mom, dad and Alexa showing up a few minutes later. Alexa seemed excited about what we were planning. Mom asked her to ride in her vehicle so they could talk about the outfit and what she had planned. Dad would take his vehicle and I'd lead our little convoy to the place where she could make her purchases.

Exotic stores are easy enough to come by, if you know where to look. Our sojourn took us to the edge of downtown, not quite the burbs but a good jaunt nonetheless. The store we were going to was a pan-Middle Eastern place, covering clothing, furniture and decore from Afghanistan to Morocco. The attendants were very helpful once we'd explained what we'd wanted and I was not overly surprised to find out that Alexa spoke more than a little Arabic. I could say hello, thank you and you're welcome, that was about it, not including any loan words that had crept into the English language.

The girls shoo'd us away while they began their quest to find her ensemble. Dad and I wandered about for some time aimlessly, simply looking at the curios and other things of interest. Finally, though, dad grunted and declared he was buying two more hookahs, in case my mom's invitation list of large. He found two very exotic and classy Syrian hookahs, each of which had multiple hoses and stood well over three feet tall. Not one to stop there, he also bought two Turkish coffee sets, complete with trays. He never did anything half-assed, I'll give him that. We then went to inspect the available beanbag chairs.

Alexa clearly had something in mind, because she and mom were very busy, putting together an outfit that was best described as 'modular'- it was a base outfit that could be added to or taken away from as the wearer saw fit, complete with chains, bangles and diaphanous silks, gauzes and veils. I caught glimpses of the items, but if we ever got too close, mom made us go away again. I guess I'd be waiting to see it, which was fine, because I'd be enjoying it later in a way no one else would.

We met mom and Alexa at the front of the store, with dad and I having purchased the hookahs and four more full-sized beanbag chairs, one of which was big enough for two people. Mom made us wait outside before they purchased anything, so we couldn't see it. She then came out with Alexa and instructed us to meet them at home, they'd be following shortly.

"Mom's been a lot more chipper since Alexa got here." I mentioned as I stuffed squishy chairs into the back of my car, along with one of the hookahs.

"It's a good thing as far as I'm concerned," dad replied casually, putting the other chairs and hookah in his vehicle. "Although this party she seemingly has in mind is going to be a larger one."

"Define large." I requested warily.

He shrugged. "Large for her, maybe ten invitees along with the four of us."

"That's livable," I sighed as I shut my trunk. "I was having paranoid visions of a weird rave run by my mom and me being everyone's bitch for the night."

Dad laughed. "I wouldn't let her do that to you, Alex. That and she's loosening up, wouldn't you say?"

"Well, I guess. Any idea where they went?"

"Probably to buy fresh shisha and some ultrafine ground coffee, since I purchased those two sets," he mused. "Using regular coffee and fudging on the details woudn't do, of course."

"I'm still trying to picture anyone outside our family enjoying it," I laughed. "Gotta at least try, right?"

"It's the principle of the thing, you're right," he said easily as he closed his hatch and got into his vehicle. "See you back at the homestead..."

***

Dad and I sat and waited at home for some time, drinking beer and watching some retro hockey games before they finally arrived. Sure enough, mom had a bag full of coffee and another containing several types of shisha. Her eyes were glinting with excitement.

"So the party is tonight, you two have your work cut out for you, rearranging the living room to Moroccan Lounge Theme Bravo. Step to it!"

Dad and I looked at one another and sighed. Yes, mom really did have distinct designations for different room themes. There were seven hookah party lounge arrangements and she wanted 'Moroccan Lounge Bravo'. Dad wasn't kidding about more guests. I just wish I'd had more notice about when this party was or my opinion asked.

So dad and I spent the next two hours moving everything around or to the study off the living room and brought in the new beanbag chairs, along with the ones we already owned and the plush throw pillows and rugs. We took down the WASP-y decor from the walls and tables and replaced them with elements that sung of a Middle Eastern concept. Then we hung fabric from the ceiling, draping and billowing low enough to made a Berber exile feel at home.