Page 86 of Xavier

“I call dibs on leftovers,” Malynda sighs after five minutes of silence and Jade grins, happy that her guest is satisfied. “Or maybe we should save it for Xavier, since he never goes into that kitchen of his.” She gives me a pointed look and I remember there’s an unread note waiting for me somewhere in that unused kitchen of mine. “Hell, I don’t even know if his stove is real, maybe it’s made of cardboard.”

Kaine chokes on his food and takes a sip of his wine.

“Hey, most of my nights are spent at work dinners and the other half, well, someone has to keep Uber Eats delivery guys in work,” I argue, though there’s really no point.

“At least he’s eating now. I think the first six months I knew him, the only thing I saw him put in his mouth were cigarettes and Scotch.”

I feel rather than see Malynda turn her head and stare at me. It takes some effort but I continue eating, refusing to look at her.

“Oh, really?” Jade asks her husband, and unfortunately, she’s too far away for me to kick her under the table.

“Yeah. Not really sure what he lived on, it’s not like he was sleeping much either.”

“Why weren’t you sleeping?” Jade asks the question that I can hear is churning in Malynda’s brain.

“Um, I dunno. I was young,” I shrug.

“How old were you?”

“Eighteen.”

“Wow, I just realized I don’t know about how you ended up here. If it’s anything like Kaine’s story, it’s pretty wild.”

“Wilder,” comes Kaine’s one-word answer.

“Care to share, Xavier?” Jade presses.

“Not really. Nothing wild or special about it,” I say, finally locking my eyes with Malynda’s. “Typical guy meets girl, girl breaks guy’s heart, guy spends his youth trolling the streets of New York looking for her type story. That kinda thing.”

“Sounds pretty special to me,” Jade muses. “How does the story end?”

I lift my eyebrows, daring Malynda to answer. Darkness creeps into her eyes and she looks away, lifting her wine glass to her lips.

“To be decided,” I finally answer Jade.

“Curiouser and curiouser!”

Kaine ignores my glare and turns to his wife, giving her a soft kiss on her cheek and she beams at him, lifting a hand to stroke his scarred cheek, everything else in the world forgotten.

“So, um, Jade, I had an idea for the center,” Malynda finally speaks up.

“Oh! I’d love to hear it.”

“The gym that we’re building in the back, do you think we could maybe add a wall of mirrors and a barre?

“Oh… like, for ballet or dance classes?

"Um, yeah, I know you guys think that sports are really important to teenagers, so the gym will cover basketball and indoor soccer and all that, but, maybe some of the kids would like to try something different. It wouldn't cost much, we could probably get one of the local stores to donate the mirrors or even use scraps. That's what my parents did when I was little.

“You dance?” Jade asks, her eyes lighting up.

I hold my breath, waiting for her answer.

“Oh. Um. I did. When I was a kid. Well, up until just after high school.”

“Were you any good?”

I want to jump up and yell, “Yes! She was amazing, she could make you feel with a simple arabesque, tell a story with just the life of her arm.”

But I don’t. I don’t know how I stop myself, but I do.

“I was okay. I loved it, I guess that’s the important thing.”

“Why did you stop?”

Now it’s my turn to turn and stare at her.

“I… er,” she shrugs, keeping her focus on Jade. “I just wanted to try something different. I liked art too. So I went into interior design.”

No new information for me.

“Well, you’re very good at the interior design,” Kaine says. “And we are very grateful to you for donating your services to the center. But more importantly, to Xavier’s apartment. I’d like to have a place to sit when I go over there.”

Malynda laughs, the sound echoing around the apartment. It makes me smile.

“Yeah, sometimes the hardest thing is getting a client to let go of some of their old furniture. Not a problem with Xavier.”

No. In my case, it’s my emotional baggage that’s holding me back.