XY XX

CONFLICT

"So that's it, I say I don't want to talk, and you give up?"

"Xenia, you said you don't want to talk. I'm not going to force you," Gregory spread his arms to show it was all he could do in the given situation.

Xenia rolled her eyes, "see how you are?"

Gregory sighed, "what do you mean, see how you are? What is it, Xenia? Spit it out. If it's about Edith again."

The man hoped Xenia had forgotten, but it seemed the gossip lady's aura still lumped on Xenia's conscious.

"It's not about Edith."

"What is it about, Xenia?"

"I don't want you to make Sia promises you won't keep."

"What promise did I make, and how do you know I won't keep any?" Gregory cocked an eyebrow.

"What are we for you, Gregory? What do we represent for you?"

"Xenia, I don't know what is running through your head, but I think I should go now."

Lost, Gregory attempted to replay the evening in his mind. There was nothing that could explain Xenia's sudden attack.

"Go on, run," Xenia urged.

"What, I'm not running, Xenia, you are aggressing me, and I'm not in a mood to argue."

"I'm not aggressing you; I'm just asking you questions. You're leaving soon, Gregory, and not even once you've spoken to me about us?"

"What do you want me to say about us?"

"I don't know; you tell me where are we heading? Xenia shrugged, "what future do you see?"

"Xenia, please, what has gotten into you? Why are you going there?"

"Because we have to, Gregory,ㅡcan't you see. My daughter loves youㅡ; you are becoming part of our lives. You can't just stay stoic; we're humans, Gregory, weㅡ."

Though Xenia spoke, she was lost. As she told Niki, she did not know how to express her emotions.

"Xenia, I don't know what you expect me to say, but if you persist, all you will obtain are hollow words."

"Why are you like this, Gregory? I'm not asking for the world. All I want to know is how you feel."

"I know what you want, Xenia. You want guarantees, but I can't give you any because nothing in life is guaranteed. You want to know how I feel, I'll tell you. I can't give you what you wish, Xenia." Gregory pointed both his hands towards him, "I can't say whatever words you are waiting for, and I can't promise you the world. All I have to give is here at this present."

"Thank you, Gregory, that's all I wanted to know, how you feel, and since all is clear," Xenia turned her back on him as she tried to push back the tears that rocked on the rims of her eyelids.

"Xenia, don'tㅡ."

"I think you've said it all," Xenia said, lifting her hand.

"Xenia, why? Why do you have to dramatize?" The man took a step towards her, but Xenia stepped back.

"I'm not dramatizing; I'm trying to save us all some grief. All of you men are the same, you go along with things, and suddenly you realize it's not what you want, and you run."

"Xenia, don't mix up things; I am not like Mark."

"Yeah, but you bottle up everything. Look at how I had to lure that answer out. All this to hear that you don't see a future for us."

"It's not what I said," Gregory said in despair.

"It's what it implies."

"Don't look for a hidden signification," Gregory warned as he imagined all the scenarios sprinting through Xenia's mind.

"Then translate, Gregory, what does all I have to offer in the present mean?"

The communication problem they had at the beginning seemed to be back in service. Never had Gregory experienced such a misunderstanding with anyone. It was as though they came from two different planets; this was not about Mars and Venus but a wormhole and the universe.

"Xenia, I know you've lived some traumatic episodes before, but not every man schemes to hurt."

"Then tell me your plan, Gregory. How do you see us? You're a metronome; I can't imagine the computer in your head, not calculating anything."

Xenia was wrong, yes, Gregory always planned and calculated, but this rule didn't imply to her.

"Xenia, it's too much."

"How can it be too much, Gregory?"

"Don't yell."

"I'm not yelling," Xenia replied, not realizing how many octaves her voice had risen.

"Yes, you are, Xenia. Listen, I think I should leave andㅡ."

"Don't come back," Xenia said in a spontaneous reaction.

"What?" The man replied, taken aback by her words, which made him blink in astonishment.

"I said, don't bother coming back."

"Xenia, this is outrageous. You are going way over the top."

"You're right; I'm doing it to protect myself and my daughter. I don't want you to come back; I rather get rid of you now."

Gregory swiped both hands on his mouth before pushing his hair back, "wow, I don't know how we got to this scene; it's surreal."

"It isn't surreal, Gregory. If you leave, don't come back."

"Xenia."

"Gregory, I can't be with someone unable to express himself. I know how it ends up. It explodes when no one expects it to like a tidal wave. I don't want to live through that again.

"How many times I have to repeat this? I'm not Mark, Xenia. I haven't done anything that justifies what you are doing now."

"You really don't get it, do you. Don't tell me you are dense to the point you don't see it," the woman said.

At this point, Xenia stood just a few centimeters away, and her gaze fixed him.

Gregory saw what Xenia talked about; he saw it so well it stopped him from breathing. It was so evident that every time he gazed at her, guilt consumed him.

Xenia's face and expressions were hashtagged with the love she had for him. She didn't need to say it, and this made Gregory miserable.

Too much love, Gregory never thought he would see emotions so deep in someone's eye. This love deserved something substantial in return, but above all, it needed to know the truth.