Even though it was Sunday, he still got up early to get things organised.
At first, he was confused with the unfamiliar surroundings. But soon acclimatised himself to his new home.
Glancing out of the window, his breath caught in his throat.
The view was spectacular indeed, even with the low lying mist that seemed to envelop the lower grounds.
He still couldn't believe that he'd actually managed to acquire this farmhouse.
Expecting to be up all night, Alex had been pleasantly surprised at how quickly he'd fallen asleep.
Mind you, that was simply because he'd spent a good majority of the day, busying himself with unpacking everything he'd brought along with him.
Yawning widely, Alec got dressed and wandered into the bathroom.
Grimacing, he glanced in the mirror at his reflection.
No matter how he tried, his hair always seemed to stick up all over the place.
Hastily brushing his fingers through his thick, dry hair, he heard a whistling sound from outside.
Peering out of the window, he saw a young girl carrying a heavy sack on her shoulders, busying herself with delivering newspapers.
He hadn't realised that this area was part of the 'rounds', due to it's remoteness, but he smiled to himself.
At least someone else was up, just as early as himself.
Fixing himself a cup of coffee and a croissant (you just can't take the 'city' out of the boy), he settled down in front of the computer to check on his progress.
So far, he'd only managed to acquire properties to rent out.
There was one other property in this vicinity.
A small cottage, just over the hill.
That he'd successfully rented out to a colleague of his.
Brooke Isaac.
Although they worked together, theirs was a purely platonic relationship.
Besides, she was already in a relationship with another man.
Alec had well and truly missed the boat with this woman, and he knew it.
Buying and selling properties had always been his speciality and he managed to raise a substantial amount of money from it all.
But his latest project, was to be the biggest headache of all.
Since buying the farmhouse, he'd been buying up land by the mass, in the surrounding countryside.
His plans were to build up a small housing estate from the surrounding wastelands.
Ambitious?
Yes.
Especially when one plot of land totally eluded him.
And already, squatters had begun to park their trailers there.
Satisfied that his accounts were up to date, and all deliveries and deadlines had been met, Alex settled down to a quiet bit of reading, when the door bell rang.
Wondering who would be up and about at this hour, he cautiously answered the door.....
.... to a pretty young lady with long brown hair and huge brown eyes.
"Hello Alex," she said, coolly, "I see you've managed to settle in okay then."
"Hi Brooke," he replied, smiling.
But she never returned the smile at all. She was here on serious business.
"As you're currently unavailable by telephone," she remarked sarcastically, "I thought I'd come by in person."
Alec blushed, as he always did in her presence.
There was something about her that did that to him.
"I was taking a shower this morning," she pressed on, meeting his stare with one of her own, "when there was a bang, followed by gushing water. Can you take a look at it?"
"Oh."
Alec was startled momentarily.
"I'll..... I'll.... get one of my contractors to take a look at it."
"Taking a look at it, won't fix it you know!" she replied harshly, her hands on her hips, "I've got my dad living with me, and he's not the best man to get along with."
"Oh, I'm sorry,"
"Sorry doesn't cut it either. He'll not let this rest, along with a few other things that are going on in my life at present. So I suggest you get it fixed now!"
"Would you like to come in for a cup of coffee?" Alec suggested.
He could see that Brooke was getting severely stressed out and thought that she needed something to calm her down.
"I'd rather not, thank you," she replied tersely.
"It'll take a few minutes to contact Nigel," he replied, hitting the hot key on his cell phone, "besides, it's fresh."
Brooke eyed him skeptically.
Out of the office, he was a totally different man.
But that still didn't make him any more approachable or appealing.
In fact.
Apart from his unruly hair, there's was nothing remotely interesting about Alec Thompson that would appeal to Brooke at all.
He dressed in dull clothing and he was always over polite.
Now Deano......
...... that was another matter.
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