Branch One Hundred and Twenty Seven
Both of them had the meal they wanted. Jessica got sausages on a stick with some milkshake while Xavier got chocolate milk and some hotdog too. They say on one of the chairs in front of the moving restaurant truck.
“You do like attention don’t you?” Jessica asked.
She noticed that ever since they both began to go out together and started being good friends Xavier always made sure to go to open and exposed places where people could easily spot them.
“Hmm?” he asked confused and his mouth full of of one of the hotdogs on his plate.
“I mean you only always take me to places where we have to sit out in the open. Like now” she featured around and he turned to look at the whole crowd starting and whispering at them.
“I see your point but I do not do it intentionally at all,” he said taking his cup to his mouth. “This was the closest place to where we were” he explained chewing on the straw.
“I mean how do you explain something that happens more than once?” she said in a tone that raised suspicions.
“I did not do it intentionally,” he said again with emphasis on the word intentionally. “I did not know you wanted to go to a private place with me” he commented.
Jessica felt her face flush as blood rose up her face. She began choking loudly on the milkshake in her mouth. She was just stating an observation. She did not expect him to make such a comment like that.NôvelDrama.Org holds text © rights.
She did not know the right way to deduce that comment. Was he flirting? Was he teasing her? Was he being serious? Was he implying that she wanted to do something to him?
She could not place the meaning but she could sense the subtle slyness in his time as he spoke. She did not know how to respond as she tried to control her choking. Xavier shrugged at her when he saw the accusing expression on her face.
“Water?” he asked his eyebrow going up as he took another bite from his meal.
“No thanks,” she said admitting to coughing. “I’m good”
“Okay good”
“What did you mean by that?” she asked in a whisper as if she was trying her best so the crowd around them would not know what she was saying.
“You complained that I always take you to a public place but…”
“It was not a complaint but an observation. I was just making a point about how you must love the spotlight since you have lived in it forever” she explained still in a hushed tone cutting him off.
“Yes and I was saying that since you might not love the spotlight then we should go somewhere private for your sake,” he said explaining to her.
She shook her head in horror. “You know it’s bad to judge a book by its cover, and I can bet my money anywhere, any day any time”
“That?” he asked curious to know what she was so sure about it. His mind raced as he wondered about the possibilities of her theories and what they could be.
“That you have had a romantic relationship before”
“Definitely”
Xavier and Jessica finally go home and he uses the entire ride home to convince her about how he had never been in a romantic relationship. Jessica who had been in only one all her life had a better view about such things and insisted that he was lying to her.
“Okay if you insist we would with what you said then,” Jessica said as she pulled the numerous pillows off the bed.
From the bed setting it was obvious that the house staff had attended to their room today. They had changed the beddings and added the numerous pillows she had to always take her time to remove.
“You are only saying that because you don’t want to talk about it anymore,” Xavier said as he struggled with his watch.
“I am deeply hurt that you would say that,” Jessica said as she walked to him and stood before him. “And I am extremely sorry because it is true,” she said her hands going to his watch to help him.
Xavier froze and felt it but she thought it was her imagination. She did feel her heart pounding in her chest for just making contact with him. Only her fingertips grazed along his wrist so why was she so nervous?
It was not a crime or a wrong thing for her to help him take off his watch. After all, he was struggling with it for a while. “I saw that you’ve been struggling to get it off so I decided to help,” she said in a low tone.
“Oh okay, alright,” he said in a tone that she could not fix together with him. He sounded odd. She helped him and dropped the watch into his palm trying to avoid any more contact.
She walked past him to the closet and pushed herself to the bathroom. She entered inside and closed the door putting her back to the door.
“Why are you beating so fast?” she asked herself as she clutched the part of her chest where her heart was meant to be. “Didn’t you agree to be friends? Friends can do that much for each other can’t they?”
She sighed as she went to stand before the mirror. She opened the tap and splashed a handful of water on her face. “Wake up now would you?” she said harshly to herself. “A year would be done and over with before you can say Jack” she added.
She felt pissed with herself. “Don’t you always fall for the wrong guy?” she asked herself angrily. She blinked as she watched her reflection in the mirror. She has never considered herself as gorgeous but she knew she could not deny having those looks. She did have them after all.
“Are you alright in there?” she heard as he pounded on the door.
“Errm yeah, I’m fine. I just have to take off my makeup and brush my teeth. I’ll be right out this instance” she told him.
“Oh no don’t rush. I was worried since I did not hear anything for a moment. I’ll be down making a cup of tea to detox. Do you want one too?”
“Yeah,” she said her voice reducing its intensity with every single letter.
“Okay then,” he said and she heard his retreating footsteps.
“Yeah, there is no escaping for you not now. You like this man and he is just unnecessarily kind to you. What are you going to do Jessica Penelope Joshua”