(4) Meetings and Central Park

Xavier's POV

Relaxing back onto the pile of soft white cushions, I drape a hand over my tired eyes. I mentally will myself not to fall asleep... at least not until I am settled in a hotel room.

"You're staring Cassandra," I drawl in a matter of fact tone. A huge weight of pure exhaustion crush my shoulders as weariness settle deep in my bones. I did not sleep well — at all really — last night.

"I'm just worried Xavier," the woman says in a nasally voice before clearing her throat. "Are you okay?"

I fight the urge to roll my eyes and instead focus on the red-headed lady sitting across from me. The broad tablet that hangs loosely in her small manicured hands blurs as my eyelids drop for a millisecond. 

I'm so fucking exhausted!

"I'm fine Ms. McDonald, the sooner we get to the hotel the better off I'll be." I wave her off. Seriously not in the damn mood.

We've been working for years and knowing her, she's going to continue nagging until she gets a reaction from me.

Suprisingly, Cassandra nods instead. She's obviously unconvinced but refrains from saying anything else.

She toys with the shiny gold wedding ring on her finger for a while before turning back to the device in her hand.

My heart sinks a little thinking back to the times I saw Zoey wearing my ring. The plain ring she picked out. Damn.

No! No. No. I can't keep doing this to myself. It's about time I move on! I need to for the sake of my sanity...

I'm really happy for my assistant though. She found love, settled down and got married three years ago. Somehow with having a full-time job and being a mother of two, she does impeccable work.

Shaking the sad thoughts from my mind, I turn my attention back to the task at hand — browsing through the list of potential agricultural landscapes down in Texas.

I really have a lot to do in this week. Hopefully refreshing my memory will take some of the sleep out of my eyes.

××××××

After an intense meeting and two television interviews later I am back in my hotel room.

Shrugging off the damp dress shirt I let it drop to the floor, I then kick off my leather shoes before walking over to the expansive windows. The building tops shimmer beautifully in the sunlight that seem to line the iconic New York skyline.

I still have a little bit of sunshine left might as well talk a stroll to clear my head a bit. Could be fun.

I am feeling oddly rejuvenated even though I could hardly keep my eyes open earlier. I pray that I have this same energy for the remainder of the week.

Tomorrow morning I'm flying out early to Chicago then head straight over to Cali afterwards 

Grabbing a pair of jeans and a white tee from the couch, I head to the hotel's bathroom.

Fourty minutes later and I am down in Central Park. The lively buzz of chatter fill the air as people stroll leisurely while some are seated on the lush grass basking in the warm sun.

Not having a real sense of direction, I start to walk around a little hoping to spot a concession cart nearby.

I can't bother to be inside of a restaurant right now I rather to eat out under the sun.... I mean these people seem to enjoy it.

A couple more minutes of walking, I spot a mustard-ish coloured looking cart a feet away markedWafels & Dinges near several park benches. Some of which are occupied with families or couples wrapped up in their own conversations and, apparently, world.

Pulling the cap down further in my face, I walk over to the kiosk.

"Hey. What can I get ya?" A man greets me as I go up to the window. He hands a cup of coffee to one of the women waiting at the counter.

"Hi, uh." Tipping back on my heels a bit I ponder. "I don't know... What do you recommend?"

"De Double Trouble," a feminine voice with a heavy New York drawl chip in. I turn my torso a bit, catching sight of a slim woman walking up to the cart. She has a rolled up yoga mat slung under her arms. "You seem like a nutella kinda guy,"

 "In some ways," offering a small smile, I shift over slightly so she has a space to stand in. "The trouble part is what got me though so... I guess I'll have that then,"

"Great," a shy smile grace her glossy lips as she turns to face the man taking our orders. Her thick ponytail swings gracefully across her exposed back. "I'll have the same too please,"

She's beyond gorgeous. I observe looking over at her beautiful features... and ass. We stand in a minute or two of peaceful silence waiting on our orders to be fulfilled.

"Do you always wear such conspicuous baseball caps to parks?" The woman reaches up and collect one of the sweet treats with a coy smile a while later. My gaze lingers on her pink lips as her tongue sticks out to lick away at the thin layer of nutella that stuck to her pinky.

Holy fuck. Jesus...

I quickly cast my eyes elsewhere not wanting her to catch me looking. "Pretty much,"

Handing over a hundred dollar bill, I distracted myself by paying for both snacks and taking up mine.

"I was gonna pay for that," she announces in a slightly surprised tone. Seems like I caught her off guard... in a way.

"No, keep it." I told the cashier refusing to take whatever change I was being given. Turning back to the woman, I shrug. "I don't see the need not to, besides it's the least I can do. I mean you recommended this after all,"

I walk in step with her over to an empty bench. Once there I help her lean the mat against it before we both sit down.

"Are you visiting or what?" My gaze flicker over to her. She bites into the waffles revealing soft crunching sounds as she chews happily. "I never saw you here before and I teach yoga every single day but then again this park is literally over eight hundred acres of land,"

"Visiting," I look out at some passing cyclists. "I'm gonna be out of here by tomorrow,"

"And you haven't had fun as yet?" She suddenly perk up and turn to me, the shift cause small specks of sunlight peeking through the tiny branches to hit her radiant chocolate coloured skin. "That's it. I have a proposal,"

"What's that?" I cock a brow as my eyes briefly search her blemish free face.

"I want you to eat up then rate my recommendation," the woman points to my box. "If you like it, I diligently be your tour guide today. I'll take you through the park but you have to promise to visit again. Deal?"

"What if I don't like it?" I open the box looking down at the food. I do not particularly have a sweet tooth. The corners of my lips rise slightly as I glance over at her.

"You will," she chuckles softly nudging me. Her nose ring glistens in the specks of the sunlight. "go ahead and try,"

"Okay. Um. Here goes," I sink my teeth in the soft crunchy waffle, savouring the mouthful of contrasting textures and flavour that melts on my tongue.

Not bad.

She watchs me closely, a knowing smile tug at her lips.

"This is really good," my comment elicits a radiant smile from her as she grins and show off a set of impeccable white teeth.

"See..." Her strikingly bright brown eyes twinkle. "now you owe me."

My green eyes gaze at her face with open admiration. It's a good thing I'm wearing this damn cap, I just can't stop looking at her. She resembles Zoey in so many minuscule ways. "Fine. Let's go,"

I got up to help her with the yoga mat but she stopped me saying she'll leave it here.

"I'm Claire by the way," she stretches out a hand towards me in greetings.

"Xavier," I shake her soft hand.

×××××××

"This is my stop," I lean towards her a bit with my hands buried awkwardly in the front pockets of my jeans.

We toured the park in the span of three whole hours, going from from place to place. We stopped by the museum, the mall, even went cycling and admired the statues. It's the most fun I've had in a very long time.

She's nice and very attractive which just constantly reminds me of the woman I still yarn for. The woman who is still in my heart even after all this damn time. It's unfair, quite an injustice even, that I still feel the same way about someone I've never seen in almost a decade. Probably will never even see again.

"You're staying here for a night?"

I snap out of my thoughts and look over at Claire. She is looking up at the huge building and by the looks of it she is very impressed. I mean, it's one of the most expensive hotels in NY. It's pretty busy too, I observe looking at the people entering and leaving the lobby.

If I'm gonna stay here, even just for a day, I want to be as comfortable as possible. What's the point of earning all this money if I can't make myself feel fucking comfortable?

"Yep," I crack a smile to lighten the mood. "It has raving reviews so... wanted to see what the hype is about."

Claire toys with her bottom lip as she stares up at me. Her phone then dings, cursing under her breath she looks down on it breaking our eye contact. "Well I have to go."

"Oh. Ok. Guess I'll see you around." I awkwardly rack back on the soles of my sneakers. "I'm definitely coming back. Um, do you want me to follow you home?"

She shakes her head no. "No, I got it but before..."

Without any hesitation, Claire lunges herself at me and plant a kiss on my lips. I involuntary let out a low moan at the contact. Her soft strawberry lips move hungrily against mines. I instinctively deepen the kiss as I block out everything... all except one thing.

Fuck!

I immediately pull away as if she slapped me. Even if she did, I swear it wouldn't hurt as much as this feeling in my heart right now. The slap probably wouldn't even faze me but this... this feeling of doing something is eating away at me.

Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!

Her soft whimper breaks the train of thought running in my mind. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have—"

"It's okay Xavier." She smile sheepishly but steps boldly forward, her luxurious natural head of hair reflect in the hotel's light. "I wanted to,"

I sigh taking off my cap to fan my now flushed face. She lets out a surprised gasp, her eyes quickly analyzing my now sweaty face.

"So that's what you actually look like underneath that cap," she comments. "Was worried for a sec that I was talking to an ogre," 

I give her a weak smile, "I'm sorry Claire but I have to go. Thank you for the tour, I'll call you sometime,"

I quickly turn away and jog up the rest of the hotel steps before disappearing into the lobby not daring to spare the woman a glance.

I feel bad for leaving her just like that though. Claire's a very attractive woman and all and I'm sensing that she wants to turn this into something. Something more. Someone more than just a nice voluntary tour guide. How the fuck can I do that though if I still have feelings for someone else?

_________________________________________________________________________________

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Kellisa Kelly