XY XX

NORMALITY

"What's wrong?" Xenia said as she opened her door to Gregory.

"I'm inviting Sia and you to eat at my place."

"You mean in your apartment?"

"Yes, mam."

Xenia's eyes grew small in suspicion, "and you are cooking?"

"Yes, mam."

"Yay," yelled Sia jumping into his arms without waiting.

"I didn't say yes, Sia," Xenia protested, watching Gregory carry Sia into his apartment.

"Come on, Xenia, it's not like you've never been to my apartment before. And you can always run back across the hall if my meal is awful," Gregory teased.

The invitation was so unexpected it left no space for pondering, plus Sia already ran loose in Gregory's apartment.

"Okay," Xenia was about to close her door when Oasis slipped out to join in on the party.

"So, what are you making for us?"

"Pizza, will you help me cook, Sia?"

The little girl nodded; all three of them were in the kitchen. The scene was one of those you dream of, knowing it will never happen. How can something so ordinary become a farfetched idea?

It felt good for Xenia, but it hurt as she wondered how long the newly found happiness would last? Ann-Catherin's words still rung in her ears. Xenia logged on Spotify account and let I Heard Em Say by Kanye West play to chase the gloom away.

They ate while laughing; the more they chuckled, the more Xenia sunk in a melancholic state which suffocated her.

Gregory took Xenia's hand, "what's wrong?"

"Nothing, everything is fine," Xenia replied while the man kissed her on her knuckles, making the little girl smile.

After the meal, Gregory didn't escape his storytelling chore, which he executed without a book. Sia fell asleep on his couch, and Gregory put a cover on her.

"So now tell me, why did you have such a sad face earlier?" Gregory said as he grabbed Xenia by the waist.

"It was nothing. I was just happy," Xenia said and shrugged.

"You have a weird way of showing your happiness."

Gregory kissed her on the forehead before sinking his head into her neck. The contrast between Gregory, the auditor, and the lover still managed to stun Xenia as she realized how affectionate the man was.

"Gregory, please, Sia could wake up; she's not in her bed."

"She's fast asleep; I'm sure she won't, sleepover."

"Don't be ridiculous; I live across the hall."

"Sleepover still," said the man, slowly making her step back towards the corridor leading to his bedroom while he still held her waist. They entered Gregory's bedroom, where Xenia was consumed by the man's scent, which filled the room to the brim.

Her mind was filled with him alone. Gregory took up that much space. Gregory was the healer. The one you don't expect but appears when you're one step from losing hope—the man who has you believing in love.

From the fun sex, they had traveled to the subtle lovemaking, far from the hunger and domination battles to the slow motions which embodied their desires to make things last longer. Staring into each other's eyes, Gregory loved seeing how Xenia's lips pouted with every movement releasing little gasps from time to time when hitting the right spot.