Xavier didn't bring up what happened the night prior.
In fact, he was all but denying his ever showing up. He didn't answer me when I asked why he kept going back to Tito's if he wasn't interested in picking someone up. Xavier decided it would be good to start off with an introduction video for his project.
"I have work at two so let's make this fast," I muttered, annoyed that I was here in my prime relaxation time with you-know-who. "What do you want me to say?"
I was rushing this but Xavier was taking his sweet time trying to find the right setting for recording, testing the light by pointing the camera at me and fixing the adjustments. He scowled and shook his head, guiding us to the other window in my living room.
The entire process was repeated, me rolling my eyes while I waited ages for Xavier to pick a spot. I didn't hide my irritation when the guy hummed and left the living room altogether. I followed him into the kitchen. "Dude, pick a fucking window and let's get on with it," I spat, pulling a water bottle from the fridge and throwing it back.
"Fine. Sit there," he pointed to a chair he had pulled out at the best angle he could. "So I just want you to say your name, age, what you do, and then just say, like, 'and this is thirty days with me'."
I nearly fell on my ass. "Wait, thirty days?"
Xavier was quiet. "I didn't mention that?"
We held a heated glare, mostly from my end as Xavier looked unbothered. This wasn't going well and we had barely begun. How were we going to last thirty days together when just being in each other's presence was enough to set either one of us off?
After a few moments of intense, unnecessary staring, Xavier rolled his eyes and turned the camera on, jokingly saying, "Action!"
"I'm Harry, I'm twenty-two, I work in my family's deli, and this is thirty days with me?" I wasn't sure what was going to happen but I knew I had to make this the worst presentation Xavier would ever present.
"What is your biggest tip regarding weight and health management?" Xavier asked, making his voice sound professional as if he had practiced these questions in the mirror.
Thinking fast, I quipped, "Check your weight and BMI every chance you get to keep your confidence low and your goals high."
Xavier looked at me weirdly, but didn't ask any questions. Rather, he actually moved on to the next one, choosing to ignore my strange, and highly discouraged, response. This might be easier than I originally thought. Pulling the hood over Xavier's eyes was going to be cake.
"Is there something you can hope to teach the viewers of this fall semester Health Education course taught by Professor Evans?"
That kind of made me laugh, just a little. It seemed this project was important to Xavier . . .
. . . Good.
I hummed, looking at Xavier with a serious look and nodding my head. "I would like for everyone watching to know that taking care of yourself is important and being skinny is everything," I said, then gestured down to my stomach. Xavier's lips parted softly, eyebrows furrowing.
"You don't actually think like that, do you? I know you're an asshole but . . ." he trailed off.
"Think like what? Is it not important to be healthy?"
Xavier looked away for a second, seemingly already regretting his decision to ask me for my help. "Yes, being healthy is important. But being healthy doesn't mean skinny," he huffed.
Dakota walked in at that very second, not realizing she wasn't alone immediately. When she saw us two sitting there, she jumped a foot in the air. But fear turned into shock and confusion upon seeing what two were close together in the kitchen, getting along for the most part.
"What's, uh . . . what's going on?"
Xavier still looked displeased with what I was saying, so I answered for the both of us. "We're working on Xavier's project," I smiled sweetly.
She oh'd knowingly, nodding her head as she took a seat at the island. Watching us continue, she ripped open a bag of cookies and started munching on them. I grabbed one and threw it in my mouth, smiling at the camera.
This angered Xavier. He turned the camera off and stood up, grabbing it roughly.
"You're obviously not going to take this seriously so I'll find someone else to do it," he growled. I jumped up and followed him into the living room. "I don't know why I even tried. Thanks, Bradford, you cuck."
Well, shit. I was starting to feel something. It wasn't pride in my amazing plan causing the aggravation I had hoped for.
It was guilt.
"Okay, okay. Wait," I said, yanking Xavier back roughly by the shoulder. "I did plan on fucking up your project, yes, but—"
"Yeah, fuck you—"
"But I, somehow, feel guilty or whatever so I'll do it for real this time."
Wait, back it up. What was I signing myself up for? Now I wasn't even using ulterior motives! This was just voluntary time—thirty days, to be exact—spent with Xavier de León for no reason except to help him. It made me sick to think about. I could think of much better things I could be doing with my time.
Xavier sighed. "I don't believe you but I have no one else to do this project on, so let's just get it over with," he grumbled, taking his camera back into the kitchen and making them redo the introduction completely.
This time, I answered each question truthfully and helpfully. In fact, I actually kind of found it interesting, seeing my health regimen put into questions and answers. Eating well and exercising just came as second nature at some point. I never really thought too much about how many calories I was taking in at once, more so just knew what was good and what was bad. Certain things made me feel sluggish and some made me energized.
"I think that's good for now," Xavier said, content with our progress for the day. "I'm gonna' go ahead and start putting this into the editor I'm using. Wanna' meet tomorrow to go grocery shopping?"
I forced a smile. "Sure."
~:~:~
Plain and simple, I wasn't having the greatest time at work the next day.
Customers were especially needy and didn't tip well. It wasn't a hard job but sometimes working with the public was exhausting. Julian was off today, working his other job or something. I wasn't sure what else I could talk about with the chef, Luis, besides potatoes or meat temperature.
The little bell rang, indicating someone had walked into the building. I glanced up, immediately wishing I hadn't.
I locked eyes with a pair of sky blue irises, hooded by long lashes. Of course I recognized those eyes anywhere. They belonged to Kyle Stockton, Mr. Panty Dropper, the guy who'd win your mom's heart with his smile, and only the most nonchalant person about their own sexuality that I had ever met.
Oh, and he was my ex.
Kyle strode in casually, a guy around our age walking pretty close behind him. He walked towards me, stopping to open his arms for a hug.
I dodged it.
"Hi," was all I said, dipping a toe in the water.
"Sorry to just show up," Kyle smiled. "I just had to get Justin some of your family's amazing onion rings and wings. I've been craving them for months."
I looked at Justin and tried to smile, for the sake of being polite since this was my job, after all. It was very hard to fake a smile in front of the guy your ex cheated on you with. It appeared Justin wasn't comfortable, either. We shared a moment where no one said anything and I thought my head was going to fly off my shoulders.
"Well, take a seat. I'll have that right out for you," I bit. I couldn't help myself when saying, "Do you want any more side pieces? Oh, gosh. Sorry, I meant sides."
Justin cleared his throat while Kyle looked almost embarrassed, though not very much. He kept his composure and shook his head, guiding his new lover to a table and pretending the conversation never existed. I rolled my eyes and relayed the order to Luis, going back to scrolling mindlessly on my phone.
I could see Kyle standing up and walking towards me in the corner of my eye. I sighed.
"Hey," he started, and I recognized the bullshit remorse tone before he even started. "How have you been, Har?"
"Fine," I chuffed.
"Come on. You can't still be mad," Kyle exclaimed, throwing his hands in the air.
I groaned, slamming my phone down on the counter and looking up. "Man, you know what? You are so right. I think I'm finally over my boyfriend cheating on me for the better part of a year! Thanks, Kyle. I don't know what I would have done without you."
We shared a heated stare down, most of the heat coming from my brown eyes. Kyle opened his mouth to speak but decided against it. He returned to his seat across from Justin who shot a hasty glance towards me.
How could he be with Kyle when he knew he was setting himself up for getting hurt? If Kyle could cheat once, he could cheat again.
Unless he just really didn't like me.
The thought made me huff, eyes lingering on the front door and silently begging my father to come in so I could make an excuse to leave. What an excruciating situation, having to sit and watch your Big Bad Ex make googly eyes for his mistress.
My phone chimed just in time.
Charlie (6:35PM)
What are you doing right now?
I smiled to myself, tapping away at my phone to reply to him immediately. When I said I was bored at work, just sitting there doing nothing, my phone started ringing.
"Hello," I grinned to myself, sitting back in the barstool I was seated on.
I could hear Charlie making a lot of noise in the background, as if he were extremely busy. "Hi, little Harry," Charlie teased over the sound of a running sink. "How is work?"
A chuff was all I could muster as I tried to avoid glancing over at the table on the right. Their food was probably ready but I would rather make them wait a little longer. "Well," I sighed, ripping off a blank ticket and beginning to doodle, "my ex is here and he brought the guy he cheated on me with, so that's dope."
"That is tough. Wish I could come there and make him jealous," Charlie said, sincerity in his voice.
I thought about it. That seemed like unnecessary drama that did not need to unfold. Any more time spent even associating with Kyle was time wasted. No need to light a match in an empty room.
However, while I politely declined Charlie's offer, drama couldn't help but stumble on my doorstep. Even when I really tried to be good and keep myself from taking things too far, a skill I did not acquire before high school ended, life liked to throw curveballs.
One in the shape of Xavier de León shoving the door open and stepping inside.
"I'll text you in a second, Charlie. I gotta' go."
Kyle's head turned when he saw him, his eyes bugging out of his head as he immediately looked back at me in surprise. Of course, back then, Xavier had no idea that the dude I was hanging out with every single day a while ago was my boyfriend, but he could put two in two together now.
I furrowed my eyebrows, not flinching at the man making his way towards me. Much to my dismay, Kyle stood up and tried to barricade himself in front of the counter.
"Kyle, what in the ever-loving shit are you doing?"
"Protecting you?" Kyle said incredulously, then turned his attention to Xavier, who looked less than impressed. "You probably shouldn't be here."
Xavier hardly reacted. "Who are you?"
"I'm, uh . . . a friend of Harry's and I know you guys are enemies so I won't let you near him."
Now, I rolled my eyes, having had enough of this shit show. "Kyle, it's fine. Go sit down, I'll get your food," I scoffed, standing up and retrieving the food from the window. It was no longer steaming hot. When I brought it to the table, I squinted at the red-faced Kyle. "Don't worry about me. Ever."
With one more glance towards a sheepish Justin, I stalked back behind the counter, facing an amused Xavier.
"This makes a lot of sense," Xavier muttered, looking back at Kyle. "I always wondered who the pussy in the Mercedes was that always did a burnout when he left."
"That was Kyle," I hummed, looking anywhere but at the dark haired boy who was standing with his camera bag in his hands. We were not scheduled to work on his project until after work, so this was by surprise. "What are you doing here?"
Xavier pulled a stool from the high table tops and slid it over to the counter. "I figured I'd get some footage of your everyday life," he said, fishing his camera out of the bag and turning it on.
"Okay, but," I started as I watched Xavier mess with the settings, "this has nothing to do with my workouts or diet."
It was sort of weird. He said he had to follow someone around and focus on their healthy lifestyle. Working the register in the deli on a slow night was neither glamorous, nor educational. I thought back to what Georgia said and shivered, looking up at Xavier.
There was no possible way that Xavier de León had a crush on me. Even if he did, he was one of those straight guys that would rather die than admit to wanting a penis in his mouth, I just knew it. He was the type that said that dumb shit, "I don't care if you're gay, bro, just don't fall in love with me," or something.
"I want my project to be raw. Also, I want to get enough footage so I can potentially double it up as my project for my filmmaking course," Xavier said nonchalantly, grabbing a folded piece of paper from his back pocket. He slid it over to me.
I sighed. "What is this?"
"I don't know. Try reading it, maybe?" Xavier huffed, rolling his eyes. I unfolded the piece of paper and began to scan it. "It's everything I would like to capture in the next thirty days. It doesn't have to be in any particular order, but I need all of this on camera."
In neatly written lines, the paper described, in detail, nine bullet points of things I would have to talk about. Hardships, workout routines, alternative healthy lifestyle tips, some recipes? He had planned out enough content to make a three season series on Netflix. Even I would find all of this boring. There's no way the other students in the class were thinking this much into it.
I gnawed at my cheek. "I didn't know you took your classes this seriously," I said honestly.
"Yeah, well, I don't have a Mommy and Daddy who are gonna' support me for the rest of my life, so," Xavier snapped, hitting record on the camera.
"This isn't gonna' fucking work if you're gonna' be a dick the whole time, de León," I snapped back, shoving the paper towards him and leaning backwards in my chair. My eyes landed back on the camera. "What are you even recording?"
Xavier stood up and began to pan the camera around the deli. "It's just creating a setting for the scene," he mumbled and then focused on a family portrait on the wall from when me and Dakota were young. "I'm going to just ask you a few questions about what you do and shit."
"Okie dokie."
Of course, because everything I did pissed him off more than anything and vice versa, Xavier shot a look toward my direction.
We were going to butt heads more than ever in the next month. I wondered if maybe we should have a chaperone so they can assure neither kills the other. That was ridiculous. Supervised visits so things don't take a bad turn?
The thought of being around him that much irritated me. I found myself asking why I agreed to this again and again. Xavier annoyed the ever loving life out of me. The way he spoke, the way he smirked, the way he breathed—
Maybe I should just stop thinking about him.
"Ready to answer some questions? They'll be easy."
"I guess," I huffed.
Xavier pulled out yet another piece of folded paper from his pocket and scanned it, his eyes sweeping the page in concentration. He snagged a pen from the countertop and crossed something out, jotting down something else beside it.
I just watched.
I watched how Xavier's very large hands made the pen look minuscule. I watched the loose strand of hair on his forehead bounce as he looked back up at me. I watched him suck in his cheeks and then sit up in satisfaction. I watched as he squinted ever so slightly while he stacked two napkin dispensers on top of each other, then his camera atop that as a make-do tripod.
"I feel you staring at me and I hate it," Xavier snapped, hitting the record button once more and dropping the angry person act. "This is day two with Harry Bradford."
It was almost cute how he then gestured a clapperboard with his hands and mouthed action!
Xavier went through a few questions about how I stayed active at my job. Once Kyle had left, we went out back and I pretended to lift heavy trash cans and boxes of shipment, just to fill the segment. It wasn't much of a tiring job, I pretty much sat on my ass the whole time but I would fake it for the sake of Xavier's project.
Once closing time came around, which left a solid two hours for grocery shopping, Xavier stuck around while I closed up. We both drove our own cars since neither of us would give up our pride by riding passenger.
"Push the cart," I grumbled, walking past the rows of shopping carts.
"I can't, I'm filming."
I let out a noise of frustration and turned back around, grabbing the handle of the cart and dragging it with me. Xavier cradled his camera delicately in his large, slender fingers as we walked straight into the produce section.
He held it up to start filming. "What are you going for?" he asked in his director's voice.
I pulled up to a large display of apples. "Apple slices are a good source of fiber and are a quick and easy snack to prepare ahead of time," I said, picking out a few of my favorite green apples.
"You know, if I didn't know you're a parasite to society I would say that you were born to be on camera," he chuckled to himself and I did, too.
We got to the bananas and I grabbed a bunch. I held them up in the air to signal I was ready for him to record. "I like bananas a lot for, well... obvious reasons," I grinned smugly. Xavier looked unimpressed at my attempt to be funny.
"For a while there I thought you were more of a melons guy," he joked back, holding up a plump cantaloupe. I was amused enough to give him one solitary brownie point. I spotted an out of place shelf of peanuts and tossed them to Xavier, who fumbled with it for a moment. "Turns out you prefer nuts, after all."
We didn't joke much after that. Speaking to his camera did feel oddly natural to me as I spoke on proteins and what kind of yogurts I liked the best. Something about being the center of focus eased me into it and the words kind of just fell out.
Xavier held up his end of the bargain and spent an incredible amount of money on my groceries. I would have bought them if he refused but he didn't seem to mind.
"See you tomorrow, yeah?"
I sighed as I loaded the last bag into my car. He was neatly packing his camera in a bag when he said that with a look in his eye.
The more time spent with Xavier, the more uncomfortable I was. I hated that I was starting to feel okay with him following me around. I hated that I was starting to look at him more to gauge his reactions to my jokes. I didn't like that every now and again I'd steal glances at his jawline or the tattoos running up and down his arms.
"Yeah. See you tomorrow," I mumbled.
Half the time I was internally obsessing over the single curl that never wanted to stick with the rest of his hairline. And then the other half I couldn't even look at him.
You spend so much time hating someone, or at least dwelling on a temporary hatred, that the idea of growing close to them was repulsive. I couldn't see myself holding hands and frolicking through a meadow with that guy, but the way we could slide into a friendly conversation or joke about fucking fruits had to mean something.
I couldn't stop thinking about Xavier on the way home. I noticed how he didn't make the left turn into their neighborhood. Where could he be going besides home? It wasn't my business, and frankly I didn't care that much.
My family was all in the living room when I got there, including Dakota's boyfriend TJ. We bumped knuckles while I sat beside him, learning what tonight's movie was within a minute. My family tried to do a weekly movie night when we could help it. TJ often joined us since my parents worshipped him.
He was okay. I didn't have much to talk about with him most of the time besides tennis. My mother used to play tennis in high school, so she bonded with him quickly over that.
I knew Dakota and Julian had something going on behind the scenes. Of course, since we were bros and all I was biased in his favor over TJ, but minding my business in these situations usually worked well.
Every time, near the end of the movie when we were so fully invested, my dad would smile fondly at all of us when he thought we weren't paying attention. He would sweep his eyes over the room, soaking in the loving atmosphere, and wrap his arm around Mom fondly. We locked eyes when he noticed my peeking and I smiled warmly.
We wrapped it up and said goodnight to TJ before he left. My parents went into their room and my sister abandoned me on the couch with my thoughts. It had been a long day of dealing with the asshole that I was just beat. My feet dragged to the stairs and I struggled to get up them.
When I was in bed, I thought of Charlie and hummed to myself, pulling my phone out to see if he'd replied to my last text. My smile dropped when I saw what was waiting.