Page 49 of Xavier

I poke my tongue out at him. It seems I've reverted back to being a teenager in his presence.

"Anyway, I live here for free,” he shrugs.

"Free? Why?"

"Well, my landlord doesn’t charge me any rent."

"Who’s your landlord?"

"Me,” he says and there’s that grin again. "Kaine and I have a side real estate venture. This was the second building we bought together. I was going to rent out this floor as well, but I fell in love with it, so I took it. Perks of owning it, I guess."

"What was the first?"

He doesn't answer for a while, walking over to the window and laying a hand on the glass. "The first was the house I grew up in," he finally answers, his voice low, almost inaudible, as he stares at the cityscape spread out in front of him.

I don't say anything. It almost feels like intruding.

Taking a few steps back, leaving him with his thoughts, I take a walk around his apartment again, taking mental notes of what I think I can suggest. I try to separate my personal feelings and try to go through the motions as if it’s any other client, and any other job.

There's obviously a reason he’s left the place like it is for two years, and I want to be sensitive to that, while still making it into a functional home for him, a place he wants to return to every night.

I can't help wondering what his life is like these days. In most houses, the furnishings and personalized touches tell me what I need to know about a person. In Xavier’s case, it's the lack of them.

Is he lonely? Is he just passing through? He seems attached to Ash Industries and this city. I wonder how long he's been here.

All answers I want to know about him, but not willing to answer the same questions myself.

"So, what do you think?" he says, when I come full circle of the apartment and return to where he's standing. He seems to have regained his composure.

"You really want me to do this?" I ask.

He seems shocked by the question.

"Did I ever seem like a kidder to you? Yes, I really want you to do this."

"Fine. Then if we’re going to do this, we need some rules."

"Shoot."

"We can’t talk about the past."

He doesn't say anything; there's the slightest tension along his jawline but he holds his tongue. So I continue.

"I don’t want you thinking that there will be anything past this. I’m doing this to fulfil my commitment to Ash and Jade and their foundation. Once it's finished, we'll go our separate ways." The word ‘again’ hangs silently in the air.

"Anything else?"

I'm surprised as his brusqueness. "No."

"Well, I’m a lawyer, so, I’m going to need to counter offer. I get one question a day. About the past. No follow ups, just one question. But you have to answer honestly. 100% honestly. Without fear of repercussion. Do we have a deal?"

"What about the last part of what I said.”

“About going our separate ways?”

“Yes.”

“I’m not going to hold us to something I don’t want either of us to want.”