Confrontation

    9

"What would you like to eat? I'm pretty sure you have a different favourite food now." Xavier chuckled as they settled down at a table close to the window. He passed Audrey a napkin, staring intently at her smiling pretty eyes. 

"Not really. But what I do know is that my cravings for hot sauce has greatly increased." Audrey replied with an eye roll. "Sometimes, I wake up wishing I could have it delivered to my bed with some really garnished steak." Audrey chuckled, and picked up the menu with her fingers.

Xavier looked seriously at her, and breathed. If only she knew how he was dying to be able to do that for her. If only she knew. 

"Are you okay, Xavier?" Audrey asked as she caught the seriousness in his eyes. 

"I just wished I could be able to do that for you, you know." 

Audrey frowned playfully at him. "Do you want Diana to hate me more than she already does? She's gonna haunt me for the rest of my life." She chuckled lightly. 

Xavier sighed deeply. He looked up by chance, saw Ricky glaring at them from where he sat. "And now, who do we have here?" He muttered, dropping his gaze back on Audrey.

"Who?" She asked. 

"Look behind you." 

Audrey's brows knotted, and she turned abruptly, only to see Ricky's cold eyes staring back into hers. She gasped softly, cleared her throat, and turned back to look at Xavier. 

"I... have to go say hello." She whispered lightly. 

A frown crept into Xavier's face, crumpling his forehead. "To say hello? The last time I checked, you two stopped being a couple. So, why are you so suddenly nervous?"

Audrey stared at Xavier, wondering why he sounded so upset. "Calm down, Xavier. Ricky and I are still married, even if it's on paper. Until I pay off what I owe him, I'm still his wife." 

Xavier shrugged, and stood up with the menu to get their orders. "Be careful with him, he looks super aggravated." He said before stalking off towards the counter. 

Audrey took in a deep breath, smoothed her palm over her hair, and got up from the chair. She turned, walked towards Ricky's table.

"Hi."

Ricky dabbed the corners of his lips with his napkin before glaring up at Audrey. "Hi?"

Audrey shrugged. "Is it bad to come over and say hi?" 

Ricky brought his wrist closer to his face, staring down at his wrist watch. "It's past noon, and it means one thing; that I'm still your boss at this hour, and you will address me as one."

Audrey tightened her lips, nodded. "I'm sorry, boss. Hi, boss."

"I can see you are here with your newest catch." Ricky said casually, but deep down, the words boiled furiously in his heart. 

Audrey chuckled silently at the sound of "newest catch". It sounded funny coming from Ricky. 

"My lunch break will soon be over, boss. I'd like to go back to my table, and continue with my lunch." 

"Yes, you're right. Once you get to the office, I need you to gather all the reports from everyone's desk, and bring it to my office." Ricky ordered, taking his eyes back to his food. 

Audrey frowned, staring down at her boss. "Excuse me?" 

Ricky dropped his fork, glared back up into her face. "What?" 

"Is...that part of my job description? I thought everyone was supposed to submit their reports by themselves." Audrey protested. 

"Well, I'm the boss, and I set the work rules. You will gather everyone's report, and bring it into my office. You get that?", Ricky asked, raisin his voice a little bit. 

Audrey nodded, and took a step back back, her hand over her belly. "Okay. If you will excuse me sir." She mumbled, turned, and walked back to her table. 

"What happened?" Xavier asked, immediately she was seated. 

Audrey fought back angry tears as she grabbed her napkin. "That man is gonna be the death of me." She gritted under her breath. 

Xavier reached out, and held her hand, squeezing it tightly. "Calm down, Audy. You know stressing yourself isn't good for you." He mumbled, and lifted a daring gaze toward Ricky's seat. 

"I should give that man a little piece of my mind." He added dangerously. 

"No!" Audrey snapped quietly, lurching forward in her seat. "You can't let him know I'm pregnant. Letting him know will only scatter my plans. He could want the baby." 

Xavier breathed, nodded. "Okay. I guess you're right. What are you going to do?" 

Audrey shrugged. "Well...I will have to put up with him until I can pay him all that I owe." 

"Let me help you with the debt, Audy. Please." 

Audrey smiled, and shook her head. "No, Xavier. I want to do this on my own. It's gonna be another debt if you help me with it. Thanks anyways." 

Xavier stared at her for a while before nodding his head. "If that's what you want, but I want you out of that house as soon as possible." 

Audrey smiled, and nodded. "Okay. Thank you for all you do, and all your care." 

"You don't have to thank me, girl. I will do anything there is for you." Xavier replied, and nodded towards the food. "Come on. Eat your food before your lunch break is over." 

"Yeah, right." Audrey replied with an eye roll, turned to look at Ricky, and realized the table was empty. He'd already left. 

She turned back with a sneer, and continued with her lunch. 

  *******************

Back at the office, Ricky sat behind his desk, seething with anger. He snaked his fingers through his hair, pushing his chair backwards. 

He cursed under his breath, wondering why he was so pissed. His telephone buzzed on the desk, and he snatched it off the cradle almost immediately. 

"Speak," he conveyed coldly. 

"There's someone here to see you, boss." A lady said from the other end. 

"Someone. Go straight to the point, Nicky." Ricky snapped. 

"He said he's Xavier McStuffins." The lady replied. 

Ricky's brows furrowed as he wondered who that could be. "Send him in. Make sure he's properly checked." He mumbled a reply, and dropped the telephone back in it's cradle. 

Few minutes later, Xavier walked into the office. He walked straight to Ricky's desk, and saw the recognition in his eyes. 

"You?" Ricky scoffed with a frown on his face. "What brings you to my office?" 

Xavier feigned a smile. "Can I at least have a seat?" 

"You can." Ricky replied, glaring at him. What has Audrey's boyfriend come here to do? He asked inwardly. .

"Nice office you have in here," Xavier said as soon as he was seated. Without waiting for a reply, he continued, "From the look on your face, I guess you recognize me."

"I do. What do you want?" Ricky asked icily. 

"I want you to treat Audrey with respect. Do not stress her more than she already is. Do you think you can do that?" 

Ricky glared at Xavier, and rubbed his index finger across his lips before chuckling lightly. He was smiling, but his eyes were as cold as ice. 

"You come into my office, asks for a seat, and you sit comfortably only for you to open your mouth, and tell me how to treat my staff?" Ricky retorted.

"Your staff? As far as I know, Audrey is not just your staff." Xavier replied lightly.

Ricky's eyes sparked, his brows drawn. "What did you say?" 

Xavier shrugged. "Is that a lie? Isn't she just more than a staff to you?" 

"What else did she tell you about me? Who the fuck are you?" 

"I'm someone who won't sit back, and watch Audrey suffer. Remember that." Xavier muttered before standing up from his seat. 

"You're no one to tell me what to do. You definitely don't know who you're talking to." Ricky replied, and grabbed his telephone. 

"There's no need for that. I'm already leaving." Xavier replied with a smirk. He turned, and was out of the office. 

Ricky stared at the door for a long while, fuming. He punched in some digits on the telephone, and placed it over his ear. 

"Send Miss Christine in." He ordered curtly, and dropped the telephone back in it's cradle. 

Few minutes later, there was a knock, the door opened, and Audrey walked in. She stood in front of the door, her hands intertwined behind her.

"You sent for me, boss. I don't understand why you didn't call my desk directly."

"Because I don't want to. Why do you guys think you can come in here, and tell me what to do?" Ricky asked, moving forward in his seat. 

Audrey frowned, walking closer. "Okay...I don't... understand what you're talking about." 

"Do you wanna tell me you didn't see your little boyfriend come into my office? You didn't see him exit as well?" 

Audrey looked lost for a while. "What boyfriend are you talking about?" 

"The blue eyed dude you met with at the restaurant." Ricky replied sarcastically. 

Audrey's eyes widened as she looked away. Did Xavier go against his word, and came after all? Did he tell Ricky about the pregnancy?

"Xa... Xavier? What was he doing here?" Audrey stammered. 

"He was here to warn me about stressing you. Since you complained about me stressing you, I want you to resign." 

Audrey's eyes widened even more as she gasped. "What??"