"You must be Charli." Xavier's mom opened her arms for me after greeting her son. She pulled me into her warm embrace without hesitation. She was so kind and loving. All I could think of was how she ended up with someone as heartless as B.Dee and how she kept his secret from Xavier for 19 years. My heart was beating so hard that I could have sworn they heard it. "You're just as beautiful as Xavier described." She smiled and I smiled back.
"Thank you." I spoke quietly. It still hadn't wrapped it around my mind. How could I not have know that B.Dee was Xavier's father? It seemed so dumb of me not to notice. Then again, they're so different. Xavier had the kindest heart while B.Dee didn't even have one.
"I'm so glad he's not with that whore, Astroid anymore." She said to me. I looked down at the hardwood floors, trying to hold in my laughter.
"It's Astrid, Ma'. And she's not a whore." Xavier aggressively raised his voice a little. It reminded me just how much he cared about her. So much that it pissed him off if anyone spoke badly of her. Mrs. Grant rolled her eyes.
"Whatever. All that matters is that you have someone better on your arm now." She motioned toward me. I felt a little awkward being in the middle of the conversation pertaining to Astrid. There was already so much tension between Xavier and I whenever she came up in our conversations. So adding the tension between he and his mother only made it worse. "Anyway, I'll let the two of you be. It was great meeting you, Charli." She smiled at me one last time before walking away. Xavier put his hands in his pocket and loosened his posture. His muscles were a lot more tense when she was around.
"Sorry about her. She's a character." He apologized. I shook my head, dismissing it. In my mind, I wondered whether or not I should tell him about his father. When we were on the Ferris wheel, he told me that he didn't know what his father did and that he would go M.I.A for months at a time. How would he react if I told him that his father was a drug dealer and possibly a murderer? "Come with me." He took my hand and dragged me down a long hallway, leading to the rest of the penthouse. At the end of the hallway was a door. He opened it and it was a huge bedroom. The floors were bamboo and the farthest wall was made of glass that overlooked the entire city. The walls were completely white but the midnight blue accents around the room fit well.
"Was this your room?" I asked in awe. He nodded his head as he closed the door behind us.
"Yeah. Fancy isn't it." He chuckled. I raised my eyebrows and took another scan. Fancy was an understatement. I walked over to his bed at the center of the room and sat down. His bed alone was huge. I was pretty sure is was a California King bed just like the one at his apartment. "Hold on. I'll be right back." He quickly slid out of the room. I pulled my black heels off of my feet and dropped them on the floor rug. I walked over to the floor to ceiling windows and admired the view. The city looked peaceful from up here. You couldn't see pedestrians walking the streets or the yellow cabs terrorizing everyone else on the road. All you saw were the city's lights reflecting off of the Hudson and it was beautiful. I loved New York City and I promised myself that I would never leave.
Xavier startled me when his arm snaked around my waist. He held a bottle of Hennessy in his hand. I smiled and shook my head. "I'm starting to notice some alcoholic tendencies here, Xavier." I joked. He raised his eyebrows and opened the bottle. He took the first large gulp.
"Trust me, if alcohol didn't exist, you wouldn't like me so much." He said trying to hold a straight face.
"I don't like you anyway, Grant." I teased, turning my back to him. Seconds later, I felt his body heat. He stood behind me, so close that I could smell his cologne. I smirked to myself. He gently pushed my hair away from my neck. He kissed my neck softly as his hand caressed my bare thigh. I could feel my knees getting weaker and weaker by the second.
"Don't lie. You can't get enough of me." He whispered in my ear. For a moment, I thought I was dreaming. How could someone so perfect and good looking as Xavier have any sort of sexual attraction toward me. I felt like the luckiest girl. Well... the second luckiest. But I soon felt his touch and body heat disappear. When I turned around, he was loosening his tie and walking toward his bed. I took a deep breath, calming myself. He knew exactly what he was doing to me.
When he was lying back on his bed, he patted the spot next to him, signaling for me to come over. I did as told. He wrapped his arm around me and I rested my head on his chest. I saw him take another drink from the bottle of Hennessy. I wanted so badly to forget about who his father was but I just couldn't.
"Can you tell me about your dad again?" I asked him, my voice low. As I waited for him to respond, I listened closely to his heart beat. It was comforting.
"I already told you everything. I don't know too much about him. He was around a lot more when I was younger. But lately he's been too busy for my mom and I." He explained. I bit my bottom lip nervously.
"Would you say he's a good guy?"
"When he's here, it seems like it. But I can't really say."
"Have you ever asked your mom about him?" I started to play with the buttons on his shirt. He hesitated.
"Why are you so fascinated with him?" He asked curiously. I lifted my head and looked him in his eyes. I could sense a bit of hopefulness in his eyes. I realized that he really did want to know more than he did. I opened my mouth, prepared to tell him exactly who his father was. But I chickened out. It wasn't my job to tell him. If his mother wanted him to know, she would tell him. Plus, I was afraid of his reaction. I'd realized over the past month that Xavier had a short fuse. When he got angry, he was a completely different person and you guys haven't seen the half of it.
"I was just wondering." I lied and rested my head again. I used the first thing that came to mind to change the subject. "Your mom called Astrid a whore... Why?" I asked. I knew it was a sensitive topic but I asked anyway. The Astrid I knew was the farthest thing from a whore.
"It's nothing really. Last year, she cheated on me once and my mom has hated her since." I was shocked to hear that Astrid would do such a thing. She was the sweetest girl that I knew. Never in a million years would I think she would cheat.
"Wow." I said simply. "Did you know the guy?" I wondered. I expected him to say no but my jaw dropped when he responded.
"The guy was Alex." He said in a matter of fact tone. My head lifted again. I couldn't believe my ears. How could he possibly forgive them?
"And you're still with her?" My words came out harsher than I expected them to but I couldn't take them back now. Xavier rolled his eyes and took another drink.
"I'm not gonna' have this conversation with you." His said calmly. Even though I should have, I wasn't going to let it go.
"Why would you forgive her?" I sat on the bed with my legs crossed at my ankles. I folded my arms across my chest. He ran his fingers through his curly locks out of frustration. I'm sure he had the conversation before.
"Because when you love somebody it's what you do. You forgive them." He argued. I shook my head, rolling my eyes. My entire view of Astrid was altered. I couldn't see her the same way.
"Obviously she doesn't love you the way you love her." I spat at him. That's what bothered him the most. He stood up from the bed angrily. I immediately regretted my comment.
"You don't know what the fuck you're talking about, Charli! I bet you'd say anything just so I could be with you, huh?" He paced back and forth anxiously. I stood up too, watching him. This wasn't about what I wanted. This was about him and what he deserved.
"I'm just trying to look out for you." I argued. He stopped pacing and looked me intensely in my eyes.
"Do me a favor and stop looking out for me." He said. I pursed my lips. I couldn't understand why what I said bothered him so much. A lump grew in my throat but I refused to shed a tear.
"Fine, whatever." I answered. I angrily grabbed my shoes from the floor before stomping out of the room and leaving the penthouse. I was glad that he didn't follow me because at the moment, I couldn't stand him. How dare he tell me that I was being selfish? I was looking out for him because that's what you do for the people you love. You look out for them.
Smh. Will they ever stop fighting?