The Beast

Chapter 9

"S-sorry." I squeaked out.
"You have no need to apologize." He mumbled, giving me a reassuring nod as I looked at him skeptically. It only made me feel worse, it would be much better if he yelled, then I wouldn't feel guilty. I peeked at him from the corner of my eye, a guilty pressure making my chest feel constricted as I took note of his tightly clenched hands and set mouth. He was clearly quite upset at what I had said. I hated it when people were upset with me. I as the type of person that thought about occasions on which I had inconvenienced a stranger years after it happened, and still felt the guilt the way I had when it happened.

"That was uncalled for. You've been nothing but nice to me, I really am sorry. Gossip can be very far from the truth. I would know. Back when I was in high school people spread rumors that I was less than five feet tall, which was a total lie. I was actually 5'2, I just had horrible posture." I bit my lip regretfully as I thought over what I had just disclosed to him. Only Jay and Sophie knew about that rumor, I hadn't even told my parents it was so embarrassing to me. It wasn't bad to be short, but since preschool I had been the smallest in my class so a rumor about me being even smaller than I actually was really bothered me.

I turned to look at his reaction, he was biting his lower lip, eyes sparkling in amusement, but his expression had softened drastically and his hands were much more lax. He turned his face slightly to look at me and I quickly went back to staring straight ahead, allowing my hair to fall forward to cover my face.

"I'm 5'4 now." I blurted out after a moment of silence. 

"You definitely look it." He said surprisingly in answer, and although it was more playfully sarcastic than I would have liked, the remark proved he was no longer upset with me. 

"I'll have you know that is average height." I really had no filter on the days that I started off my days without any caffeine to wake me up. 

"I'm sure it is." He said in agreement and I gave him a suspicious side glance to see if he was still being sarcastic, and was quite appeased when he appeared to be sincere. 

The sight of the cafe saved me from having to say anything back. As the car came to a stop I unbuckled my seat belt, pursing my lips as I heard him do the same. Opening the door I stepped out, my hands having gotten so grossly clammy clutching my bag that it nearly slipped from my grasp and I had to fumble with it against his car to get a steady grip. After righting myself, I turned towards him hoping to thank him for the ride but to my dismay he gestured towards the cafe.

We walked next to each other, he was so close to me that if I shifted even slightly our arms would touch. He held the door of the cafe open for me and I mumbled a quiet thank you to him stepping in.

I turned towards him and stumbled back when I saw how close he was to me, he stepped even closer, leaning down to whisper in my ear.
"Take care love."

He turned and strode out of the cafe leaving me gaping after him as had become a custom ending to all our encounters.

I turned to see Maggie and Sophie standing there Sophie's jaw hung open as they both gaped at me wide eyed. It took them a good minute to recover.
"Damn he's even better looking in person." Sophie said and I was about to protest but Maggie spoke up obviously to reprimand Sophie.
"God took his time on that one." Maggie said making me stare at them both absolutely horrified, I was actually surrounded by perverts.

"Do none of you realize that it is Xavier Night you are perving on?" I asked absolutely appalled at their reactions to the situation.
"Shouldn't we be asking you that, we weren't the ones getting rides from him?" Sophie asked, her tone sarcastic, but she only looked disappointed.
"I was forced well on a social scale I was, our new professor was there and he insisted, I couldn't say no." I replied.
"You should have." Sophie said. That was the thing about being the youngest in a group of friends, everyone was overprotective. Sophie was also just naturally protective. I remember the time I'd gotten burnt by hot water while making tea, she'd forcefully kept my hand dipped in ice for nearly an hour. I couldn't feel my hand for two days after that.

"Sophie leave the poor girl alone." Maggie said to Sophie before turning towards me.
"Honey go put your stuff away." She said to me smiling kindly and I mentally thanked her for saving me from Sophie's protective mother mode. It wasn't that the concern wasn't appreciated, at times I just wished they wouldn't worry about me as much, I wasn't completely helpless.

I walked to the back quickly, putting my stuff away before grabbing the box of new books and heading out again. I walked from shelf to shelf, arranging the new books we'd gotten according to genre, and alphabetical order. Having to sing the alphabet under my breath as I went.

Sophie walked towards me as I finished stacking the books, dressed in her emerald green coat, showing she wasn't staying. 

"You know I only mean well right? I just don't want you getting hurt." Sophie said, giving me a sheepish smile. I had half the mind to remind her that Xavier Night had actually saved me from getting hurt before and had done nothing since to harm me, but caught myself before I said anything that started an argument. 

"I know." I said smiling back at her, and she pulled me into a hug before calling out a bye to Maggie and leaving the cafe.

I spent the rest of my evening trying desperately to stay focused on the tasks I was completing, and not the complicated man that kept showing up everywhere I went.