Love Not Lost

Chapter 10

"You like that?" Xavier asked me as we sat on the smooth rug of the den in his house. His house was somewhat big but it was cozy. He had a lot of furniture and decorations in his home which made it seem smaller than what it really was.

We had about seven empty egg cartons and a trifold board and loose leaf paper to sketch out ideas out. I nodded my head in response to his question as he drew out the set up on the board.

"ZAY!" Someone called out through the house which made me jump a bit causing Xavier to laugh.

"Yo!" He called back as a tall caramel man walked into the doorway with a little brown girl with a big curly, red afro.

"Hi" the little girl greeted me waving her small hand back and forth. She had her cute little rain jacket on with her tiny little rain boots and her clear umbrella which was wet. I hadn't prepared for it to rain and my hair was the only thing I was worrying about at that point. I hoped it had stopped raining by the time we finished working.

"Hey" I said in response smiling at her as she held on to the man's hand.

"We're working on a project" Xavier explained as to why there was a girl in his home. The man nodded, who I concluded was his father seeing as though they had the same nose and hazel eyes. He looked young though maybe mid 30's and attractive for his age.

"For what class?" He asked us as we both answered "marketing" in synchronization before he nodded again walked out of the doorway after picking the little girl up.

"What's her name?" I asked him referring to the little girl that I guessed was his sister. He looked up at me from the board before smiling and adjusting his position on his side as he propped himself up on his elbow.

"Zoey.." He answered smiling more to himself than to me making me smile a little.

"And that was your dad?" I asked him,causing him to nod in response making his smile slowly fade away.

"Hey, how come out of all the classes we've had together I never recognized you?" I asked the question that had been in the back of my head the whole time I was there. He looked back up at me and raised one eyebrow before shrugging his shoulders and poking out his plump pink bottom lip.

"I don't know, I guess you just ain't never noticed me..." He trailed off staring into my eyes. I pulled my lips into my mouths feeling embarrassed that I had made him feel invisible.

"Well I apologize for that" I commented after a while, crossing my legs and adjusting my phone that was in the back of my pocket.

"Well if it makes you feel better, I wasn't much to look at." He laughed making me raise my eyebrows as he pulled out his phone from his back pocket and showed me a picture of this little nerdy, chubby kid with glasses and uneven teeth. He had on green camo pants with a red and yellow stripped shirt on with some crocs. My jaw dropped at the realization that that was him and now that I had realized I did remember him from previous classes.

"Damn" I said to myself making him laugh a little. I looked at him sympathetically before he licked his lips and put his phone back in his pocket.

"It's all cool now. I done glowed up" he said jokingly tugging his goatee and squinting his eyes before Zoey ran into the room with a brown Barbie doll in one hand with its head in the other.

"Zay can you fix dis?" She asked him holding the pieces of the Barbie out in front of her.

"Zo, we're doing something right now, I'll fix it later okay?" He said to her making her mouth turn into a frown and her eyebrows knit. I put my hands out for her to let me fix the doll since Xavier wouldn't. She hesitated before looking at my hands then my face and slowly placed the doll in my hands before I popped the head back on to the body of the doll and an instant smile spread across her face.

"Dank you" she said quietly fixing the hair on its head and sticking her tongue out at Xavier. I looked over at him who was staring at me with a smirk across his face before shaking his head and continuing to draw on the board.
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-M✨