Star-Crossed

Chapter Nine: She left no trace, but I know her face/ I will find her

"I'M NOT SURE I can keep up with your mood swings," Aida is saying a couple hours later.

I have been at work all of three hours now and currently, focusing on my job and the book I've been reading is an impossible task. All I keep thinking about is Xerxion. Where he once was a dream in my head that I once wished was real, now he is real.

Aida is currently standing in front of me, the palms of her hands pressed against the white desk as she leans forward, eyeing me speculatively. Her glasses start slipping down the bridge of her slender nose and she pushes them up quickly, never turning her gaze away from me.

"Yesterday, you looked like you'd won the lottery," she continues, worry coloring her tone. "Today, you look like someone ran over your puppy. Is something wrong? Your foster siblings didn't do anything to you, did they?"

I shake my head. "They ignore me like always. Nothing happened there."

She watches me for a moment, then lets out a little sigh, saying, "Whatever is wrong, do yourself a favor and don't overthink it. That's how we make things worse. The human brain can turn the simplest of matters into something complex. The answer to your question is most likely in front of you already, Rania. Let things run their natural course and it'll come to you."

I lean my head back, eyeing the ceiling as I ponder her words. She is right. I am overthinking things. I always have. But, I can't help it. These thoughts just come into my head and they stay there, unwilling to let me go. Before I know it, I've been spending the entire day worrying and it pisses me off because I could've been doing something productive instead.

Looking back at Aida, though, I smile and nod.

"You're right, Aida. Thanks." I pat her hand appreciatively. "When did you get so wise?"

She smiles like she and I share a secret. "I told you, Rania, I'm old. When you live as long as I do, you gain wisdom." She squeezes my hand comfortingly, her smile like that of a patient, doting mother. "Everything will come to you, darling. I know it will."

For the rest of the day after that, I didn't worry about anything anymore. Aida has this way of making me feel better about everything. If it wasn't for Ty, Clarissa, and Ava, I would've left the foster home behind and stayed with Aida years ago. She has offered to adopt me many times, but my strong love for my foster siblings would never let me leave. As she already has kids of her own, she could only afford to adopt me, not the rest of them.

When the day is done, I'm saying my goodbyes to Aida and heading out, pushing open the double doors and feeling the heat on my skin. Even at night, you can't escape the summer heat. I've been to many places over the years, and I've found that each place has a different kind of heat. Los Angeles's heat can mostly be muggy, but sometimes, it can get bone dry. Tonight seems to be one of those days where it is bone dry, but God is like, "I'll give you some wind to soften the blow."

Xerxion is standing in the same spot he was just yesterday, waiting for me. Like always, he's got a throng of women passing him by and gazing at him as if he was created by the angel of beauty. Which, in all honesty, he could probably say that he was and I would believe him. Finding male-model-like attractive guys is a rarity, but finding a guy who looks like Xerxion is even rarer. Looking at him, you'd think he's too perfect. That stupid straight nose, that stupid flawless skin, his annoyingly beautiful eyes framed by irritatingly long lashes. I think that's what annoys me the most, his long eyelashes. Like, you're a guy, you don't need long eyelashes, just give them to me.

Like yesterday, he senses my presence before I even reach him all the way, turning to face me. I'm not sure if he senses my presence because of who I'm supposed to be to him or because he is a warrior who has been training to kill for the last hundred years and his senses are sharper than that of an average Niburuian.