[FEATURED IN WATTPAD INDIA PROFILE]
❝Pioneering the art of constructing love, my Kanmani.❞
Xavier teased her skin, slowly caressing her cheeks and her lips trembled.
❝You don't dare!❞
And he kissed her.
------
When he had compromised his dreams and...
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Krithika finally bought a coffee decoction preparation set. For her, there wasn't anything in the world compared to preparing a perfect cup of filter coffee. The right amount of time and love to filter the roasted and powdered coffee beans, the sweetness of sugar, and the perfect richness of milk.
Ecstatic.
Her phone bleated from the far corner of her bed and she reached for it.
Sweetheart, did you have your dinner? That was from Xavier.
The same guy who once upon a time had made her blood boil with pure rage with his mere existence. A few months ago, if anyone had told her that Xavier L. Joseph would be checking on her, she would have laughed at them. But as the reality of the present struck, Xavier L. Joseph actually cared about her more than she could believe.
The butterflies in her stomach fluttered every time she read his messages. He messaged her religiously, asking if she'd slept well, eaten breakfast, struggled on her way to the office, needed a ride to her PG, or how her day had gone.
People would simply judge him as being insecure or possessive and conclude that he was just keeping tabs on her, but she didn't give two hoots about anyone's opinion. She relished every effort he put into their relationship. No one in her life had ever cared enough to ask about her monotonous, exhausting days. It mattered to her that finally, someone did.
No one knew she loved the song "O Vasantha Raja" for how it expressed a woman's sexual desire as equal to a man's. No one knew her favorite color was the golden dark brown of burnt umber. No one knew she had once stolen a few thousand rupees from her father's treasure chest to buy The Anatomy of Buzz by Emanuel Rosen, along with a stack of other books and novels. No one knew how loudly she'd wept when Miguel sang "Remember Me" to his great-grandmother in Coco.
No one knew anything about her likes and dislikes—except Xavier.
He knew all those tidbits and more. He had asked, listened, and cared. He called her almost every night, sharing pieces of himself in return.
She knew that the haughty woman who often visited him was his childhood best friend, Alisha. She knew the crook in his nose came from a college fight. She knew he used to feed stray dogs near his school. She knew that his tastebuds had an orgasm when he tasted pistachio gelato from the Cremeria Santo Stefano for the very first time. She knew that he loved reading Gulzar Sahab's poems. She knew that his mother used to call him 'Luci'.
She knew so much about him, so many things that Xavier didn't feel like a stranger anymore. She felt like she had known him for a lifetime, her whole lifetime.
Every day in the office, when he smiled widely at her, she melted into a puddle. It was tormenting to simply smile back and move on. She wanted to run to him, to hug him. It sounded corny, but he had bewitched her.
But there were a few times when all the information merged in her brain, all her thoughts blurred to a crippling anxiety. Was she seeking external validation for herself? Did he validate them and was that the only reason she liked him? Was it right to start trusting someone so fast? Was she being a hopeless romantic and fool, both at once?
She didn't know.
She sighed returning to the real world and replied, Yeah. Right now, drinking a delicious cup of coffee.
Azhagiya Asuran:
Isn't it too late for the coffee?
She smiled.
Her:
Made myself some filter coffee, night or day doesn't matter.
Azhagiya Asuran:
Well, I have to agree with that. You like filter coffee?
Her:
I love filter coffee.
Azhagiya Asuran:
Ironic. How someone who hates me could love my favorite kind of warm beverage!
She blushed profusely. Who said anything about hating you?
There was no reply. She stared at the bright screen of the WhatsApp chat for what felt like an eternity. Instead of a message popping up, the screen blinked, and her speakers blared with the call ringtone. She accepted the call.
"Hello," she breathed.
"My sweetheart doesn't hate me, huh?" Xavier's husky chuckle made her toes curl.
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Do tell me what you feel about this and the upcoming chapters, always open to positive criticism.
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