XY XX

SNACK ATTACK

A week passed, Gregory did not meet Xenia.

Jaila didn't speak to him, and she kept swearing about how she would have busted Sanchez arse and thought about the consequences after. Jaila reminded Gregory how asking Xenia to stay was like serving her on a platter to be eaten by the pervert.

Had he been too inconsiderate?

In any case, Gregory's attitude was wrongful. He used Xenia, and now he found himself wondering how he would make it up to the woman as he arrived on the 10th floor.

Gregory passed the floor's pause lounge and came back on his steps as he recognized a familiar silhouette.

"Stupid machine, give me back my money," Xenia shook the vending machine and yelled.

Absorbed by her crisis, Xenia didn't even hear the man enter the room.

"You shouldn't shake it like that."

Xenia jumped and turned to face him, "oh, God, you startled me. Do you wish my death?"

The woman was more striking than in his memory. Gregory understood why she occupied many people's minds; her face appeared so juvenile, but her gaze was intense, which made her seem cute and fierce. Xenia was a woman with an attitude you noticed, and there, the auditor realized how much her presence was acknowledgeable.

Gregory approached the machine, "let me see."

He touched the vending machine here and there. Xenia expected him to kick it somewhere. She already imagined herself getting more than her money's worth. Instead, Gregory added more money, "what is it you want?"

Xenia crossed her arms and turned her head to the side, "It's okay. Forget it."

Gregory frowned at the woman's immature attitude. It exhausted him, "I'm trying to apologize. Please stop making it harder than it already is. What is it do you want?"

Xenia cocked an eyebrow, "so it's like a packet of crisps, and we make up? I didn't know you were this cheap."

"It's my best offer for the moment; perhaps we should stopㅡ."

"I don't want your money or anything else," Xenia readjusted her position and crossed her arms once more.

She was frustrated; her life flipped ever since that Monday morning meeting, and Gregory walked into it. The man occupied her mind for all the wrong reasons, and the worst thing about it all was she couldn't evict him. Gregory not only lived across from her, but he also had a residence in her thoughts, which annoyed the woman profoundly as he didn't pay rent.

"Oh, Xenia, please. Why do you have to be on the defensive mode all the time?"

Xenia furrowed her eyebrows in reflection. If she argued, the man would be comforted by his theories on how childish she was.

Even if she had all the reasons to be angry, she would be the bigger and better person in the situation for once. Gregory hadn't given her the sanction; perhaps he revised his judgment a little.

"Okay, then I'll have number 3-21-42-63-2 and 5."

Gregory turned and glared at her, only to find the most deadly serious of stares.

He pressed the buttons, and Xenia's: mentos, coca-cola, snickers, salt, vinegar crisps, teddy bears, and Airways fell. Xenia bent down to pick them up. The sight of her bent back was quite a compensation for the man.

"Thank you," Xenia said and walked away.

One euro fell as soon as she left. Gregory laughed, thinking about the fuss she made. As always, Xenia managed the daily exploit of making him smile. Gregory felt he owed her one and that perhaps he should make her smile for once. But how? The question remained suspended in his mind.

The day continued, as usual; Xenia went and picked Sia up from daycare, she was back to her daily routine. Once home, she let Sia play and began to prepare dinner when she heard the doorbell. Before Xenia could react, Sia ran and opened the door, followed by her mother, who stood behind the child in shock.

"Xenia."

"Move."

"Hey, baby girl," Mark said, touching Sia's face.

"Don't touch her," Xenia snapped.

"She's my daughter too."

"She stopped being your daughter when you walked out of my pregnancy."

"Xenia, we can't go on like this. I have the right to see her."

"Over my dead body," Xenia yelled.

Mark was one of those people with whom Xenia lost all rationality as the pain and the suffering he inflicted on her surfaced every time he appeared.

"Listen, Xenia; if you carry on, I'll go legal again."

"Try, we're not the weekend. Why are you here?"

"I don't need a reason to see Sia; I've got some gifts for her," Mark said, lifting the bags he had in his hands for Xenia to see.

The lift arrived, Gregory could hear the yelling, and he hurried. There was only one person on the floor, and this person seemed to be in trouble.

"See what you do, Xenia. You are deranged. Your life is unbalanced. Sia can't be with you," Mark said.

Sia hugged her mother's knee; the little girl hated to see her mom yell.

"How dare you?"

"Xenia, are you okay?" Gregory asked.

Mark turned and eyed Gregory. The man's strict attire made Mark change his posture under the pressure of the auditor's appearance.

"Gregory, can you do me a favor? Can you stay with Sia a few minutes?" Xenia asked.

Gregory didn't have time to reflect.

"Who is this? Your new man?"

"Shut up, Mark."

"I'mㅡ."

"Gregory, don't answer him," Xenia said, stepping aside to let in her apartment. The situation forced Xenia to take drastic actions, making Gregory a witness and hostage of the hostilities.