Bittersweet Symphony ⋆ Alex Turner

xvii. oh, the boy's a slag

Alex laughed. "Alright, two and a half."

With a playful roll of her eyes, Lola stood up and approached the motel door. The physical symbol of the last time she would ever see Alex. It was just a matter of whether or not she decided to go through.

"I can't believe today was the last day - the end of filming for Suck It and See. It just needs to be edited together and you have your music video!" Lola looked down at her feet, not wanting to make eye contact. "So, I guess I should be heading off. See you, Alex."

She moved towards the door, but Alex grabbed her wrist. Lola looked first at the fingers gently, but firmly holding onto her arm and then at the wide, brown eyes of Alex himself.

"I mean - you don't have to go," Alex pleaded. "I think the lads and I are going to some pub to celebrate finishing the video. You should come with us."

Lola bit her lip. As the Clash perfectly summed it up in 1982, should she stay or should she go? "I don't know, Alex. I don't want to get in the way. I mean, you're four friends and I wouldn't want to be a fifth wheel."

"You wouldn't be a fifth wheel. All the lads love you. Besides, what's wrong with having five wheels? When I was a kid, my dad got me a Hot Wheels that had an extra wheel - I'm assuming it was a mistake at the factory, not an artistic choice - and that worked fine."

This ridiculous anecdote solicited a laugh from Lola. Alex's words were sweet, but, no, she couldn't go, whether she wanted to or not.

"I can't Alex. I'm sorry." She shook her head, her freshly dried curls bouncing around. "I am really glad I got this job though, you know? I can't tell you how great it's been to see you again. My hero!" she gushed sarcastically, causing a slight smile to grace Alex's features. "I mean, this probably isn't goodbye forever. The universe seems to have a way of making us two keep bumping into each other. Our first lucky meeting at the Rose and Crown, the not-a-date double date and now this video for Suck It and See. I read something once about the cyclical nature of the universe. Nothing ever really ends. I'm sure we'll meet again someday." She wrapped her arms around the singer in front of her. "Goodbye, Alex."

As she gently moved out of the embrace, Alex's arms dropped from around her figure and he desperately felt the need to have her return to his hold. He felt this every time she touched him: an accidental brush of fingertips, a hug, something more. His body never shut up about her since she touched it last. The idea that they may touch again was constantly stuck in his brain, which hadn't stopped thinking about her since, well, the moment they met.

As she went to turn the handle, Alex, not truly in control of what he was saying, felt his voice call out: "It was nice to see you again, Lola. I really enjoyed these past few days." He managed a smile towards her, a bittersweet expression on his face. "What you said about the cyclical nature of the universe... I hope you're right. I'd hate if we never saw each other again. I don't think I could live with myself for letting you go." He exhaled. "Goodbye, Lola. I'll miss you."

Alex felt as though he should say something more. Tell her that his feelings had gone over the borderline of platonic and were verging on particularly dangerous territory. Matters of the heart not the mind.

But he didn't say anything of the sort. He just stood there silently, watching passively as Lola opened the door and left.

She was gone... and so was any chance of anything more happening between them. He had let her slip through the cracks in his fingers, like sand and all his hopes had vanished.

☆☆☆

Being the final day, transport had been arranged individually, meaning that Lola had driven herself to the motel. She sat down behind the wheel of her car and turned on the ignition, moving the gearstick into first, when a thought struck her. She had left her earrings on the side in Alex's apartment.