Saving Alexander by Susan Mac Nicol Read Free Book Online Page A

interact with people every day. It’s a little overwhelming.”
    Melanie shook her head. “We talked about this. You felt you’d be all right with the whole public thing. Something else has driven you to this, not just your sudden visibility.” She leaned back in her chair. “Have you met someone? That’s normally a trigger of your need to self-punish more.”
    Alex shook his head vehemently. “No, I’m not involved with anyone.”
    Melanie could tell Alex was not being particularly truthful. She’d known him too long, too intimately. She sighed. “Something or someone has triggered this. You may not realise it yet but I can see it from the outside. Who have you met recently that’s making you feel this way?”
    Alex clamped his lips together mutinously, saying nothing.
    Melanie knew better than to push him. “Tell me about the dream,” she asked quietly. “Were you back at Bohemia with Rudy?”
    Alex flinched, his eyes closing momentarily. “Yes,” came back the whispered reply. “I was in the dungeon again. Rudy was there with me.” He swallowed, his voice breaking. “I woke up and couldn’t remember my dream but the memories it brought back were so vivid I couldn’t sleep. I wanted Eric there with his whip. What kind of monster does that make me?” His voice was harsh.
    Melanie sighed. “Alex, you aren’t the monster. Rudy was the monster. You were a seventeen-year-old boy. He broke you down until there was nothing left but what he wanted. You’re stronger than that now. You know you are. It takes time to break down eight solid months of abuse.”
    Despite her professionalism, Melanie’s heart broke as she saw the desperation in Alex’s eyes. She was glad that cult-leader bastard was dead. What he had done to this young man was beyond despicable.
    “I just want to be normal.” Alex’s words were flat and dead. “I want to be able to have a normal relationship with a man that doesn’t involve the things Eric does to me. But I can’t. I’m not capable of it.”
    Melanie felt a stirring of unease. Alex had been doing so well but all of a sudden he seemed to have regressed. She had to find out what lay beneath it.
    “Alex. Tell me about the last couple of weeks. I remember you telling me at our last session you were planning some auditions for your TV series. How did that turn out?”
    She didn’t miss the flicker of animation that appeared in Alex’s eyes at her words. This was something she definitely needed to pursue.
    Alex swallowed. “It went very well. We held the auditions and chose the leads. We start filming in two weeks’ time.”
    “Who are the leads? Anyone I’d know?” Melanie acted nonchalant but she knew in her bones this was the key to Alex’s current predicament.
    Alex was quiet for a while, twisting his hands and watching the play of knuckles as he flexed his hands. “The female lead is Dianne Cunningham. I’m sure you know who she is. She’s been in quite a few films. The lead man’s name is Christopher Sage. You’ve probably seen him in the TV series Dalton Hospital and the remake of King Solomon’s Mines that aired recently.”
    Melanie did indeed know the young actor. He’d been making quite a splash in the newspapers and gossip magazines now that he was single and eligible again. He was also gay. She chuckled, trying to ease the tension in the room. “He’s very personable, I must say. Very good-looking and a great actor to boot. You must be pleased he’s playing one of your characters.”
    Alex nodded and looked up at Melanie, a slight smile on his face. “I am. He’s perfect for the part and I think he’ll bring my work to life. He’s very professional and he seems to really like my books. He said he’d read all three.”
    Melanie felt they were finally getting to the heart of the matter. Alex felt something more for this man than he was ready to reveal. In the past, when Alex became interested in someone, the spiral downward began.
    Melanie had