Page 21 of Kiss and Makeup
“I bet. She seems like a smart kid.” We stood and watched Emma for a moment. Xavier was so close to me… his arm nearly brushed mine as he stood, feet apart and hands in his suit jacket pockets. With his hair neatly parted, his suit spotless, and his beard groomed immaculately, he looked every bit a man who could succeed his father as CEO. As he watched Emma, though, something about him softened.
“Hey, Xavier…” He turned to face me, but the softness didn’t go away. “We never did get to finish dinner last week.”
“Reschedule? Later this week, maybe, so you have time to get a babysitter?”
My smile could have split my face. “Perfect.”
“Just tell me one thing,” Xavier asked, glancing at Emma as she made frustrated little noises at the door. “Her father isn’t in the picture, is he?”
“No, no,” I promised immediately. “He, uh… Emma’s mother was my sister. She and her husband were in a car accident a little over a year ago, which is why Emma lives with me now.”
“Oh. I’m sorry.” His eyes got distant, and suddenly I remembered that he had lost his grandfather. We had both lost people dear to us… but maybe we had found each other again.
“Text me, then?” Text. Not email, not call like two professionals would. Finally, after seeing how Xavier interacted with Emma and remembering seeing him with kids in the past… I was ready to let him be closer to me, and through me, Emma. If he would take my explanation. And take me back. After the choice I’d made in college, should he?
“Sure. I think Emma got the door open.”
I turned just in time to see a little pink coat disappear into the building. “I’ve got to go, but I’ll—“
Firm, strong lips silenced me, and I found myself leaning into a long, passionate kiss. “I missed you,” Xavier whispered. He pulled away when the door began to inch open slowly.
“I’m hungry!” Effort muffled Emma’s voice.
“Got to go, sorry.” I jogged toward the open door and caught it just before it swung shut. “Xavier?”
He paused in his tracks down the sidewalk.
“I missed you too.” Satisfied I finished the sentence I had never gotten to say over dinner, I dashed after Emma.
* * *
The next day, Madison had scheduled another shoot for a commercial. This one would be held in the Cruise Media 1307 building (luckily, since the forecast promised rain in the wake of the single nice day Chicago had in weeks).
Immediately, I felt the change in atmosphere, caused by the new understanding between Xavier and me. Gone were the longing glances I had sent him all week, mooning after a man I thought I couldn’t have. No more did I avoid him at every opportunity, at a loss for what to say or how to say it. I could focus on my job, and Xavier’s presence didn’t pose a distraction—his stolid presence in the ranks of the few watching the actors do their thing in front of the cameras helped me stay calm, even when one actor didn’t show up and a replacement had to be found.
Not that I usually panicked at such setbacks, of course. If things could turn out all right with Xavier after all this time… It might have been silly, but that gave me a hopeful, pleasant little feeling that everything else would work out too. Sure enough, Madison found a replacement in less than thirty minutes and had the crews filming right on schedule.
We took a break for lunch around 1 PM. Most of the actors had worked together before, and they chose to go out to eat somewhere nearby. Everyone on set was invited, but I decided to stay here and eat the leftovers from last night’s dinner I had brought in a Tupperware container. The book I took with me last week hadn’t just been for show or to dissuade Xavier from bothering me. I legitimately wanted to finish it, and I so seldom found much time to read.
Among those who stayed, I spotted Xavier. He’d always been all about going out with friends (he’s changed, remember?)so I was a bit surprised to see him stay. The apple in his hand and the glass of water on the table in front of him didn’t surprise me at all—those were classic Xavier. He had always been a healthy eater; it came with working out and playing sports, I suppose.
I stood up, replacing my bookmark with the intention of grabbing some water of my own and then sitting back down. My gaze happened to sweep across Xavier, who looked away just before our eyes could meet.
I didn’t mind him watching me. It meant he was thinking about me, just like I couldn’t stop thinking about him. But…
If he couldn’t take his eyes off me, I should give him a reason to look, shouldn’t I?
Emma loved it when I wore purple—it was her favorite color, aside from pink—but I didn’t often wear the color in places of business. Unfair it might seem, but pink and purple were simply girlish to the eyes of many of the people I dealt with on a daily basis.
However, deep in the recesses of my closet, I had found this lavender top with a deep V, but a very sharp one that gave nothing away. It looked fantastic underneath my single-button, black suit jacket, but secretly, I thought it looked even better by itself.
So, I made a show of fanning myself with the bookmark before inserting it into the pages, and then I casually unbuttoned my jacket and left it draped carefully over my chair. The break room was smaller than most of the rooms the heating unit was meant to heat, which meant it was warmer in here than in most of the building. Other employees had taken off their jackets. So, it was totally natural for me to take off mine… But I was definitely doing it to impress a particular man in this room with the tightness of the soft purple fabric over my breasts and my skin-tight pants.
It worked, and this time Xavier didn't try to hide that he had been staring when I caught him in the act. Instead, he got up and came over to my table. “That’s a…” He searched for the right word over a sip of water. “Perfect. That’s a perfect shirt. Colorful, but not too eye-catching and still goes with a suit.”
“Is that all you like about it?” What had gotten into me? On the job was not the place to be feeling this playful.
“I’ll save my other… compliments for later. So, about dinner. Are we still on? Maybe for Saturday evening this time?”
