30 Days Marrying You

chapter 18

The magazine already forgotten, his face changed. He turned around. His eyes rested on Daniel with a look of angry glare.

" Xavier , you look so scary" Daniel ventured nervously, like if you are angry at something ".

Xavier recoiled. He just let his real emotion shown on his face. Something he was always been careful of. He knelt to pick up the magazine, avoiding Daniel's eyes.

"I'm not angry. just shocked." He was still kneeling, the magazine gripped in his hand. He struggled to compose him face.
" then, what do you think of my problem?" Daniel rested his chin on his hand, still thinking. Now, Xavier was smiling.

" don't worry . There is only one solution. No matter what you do, don't get close to Jessica She is my wife!" But, he only screamed out the last sentence in his mind.

" so , are you done with the cooking?" He quickly changed the topic, not giving Daniel enough time to comprehend the true meaning.

" oh , Jessica is cooking now. I tell you, she is amazing!" Daniel excitedly told Xavier " then , let's go and take a look." Xavier stood up and he strode hurriedly to the kitchen. " eh , Xaveir" Daniel staggered with his sudden action. Still, he followed after him.

Xavier entered the kitchen and saw Jessica's figure near the stove, scooping something from the pot into a large bowl. " Jess, are you done with the cooking?" Jessica turned around.

" yes . Can you put this on the table?" Jessica handed him a large bowl of stew.
" i want to prepare the side dishes." Xavier stepped closer and took the bowl.

" this is enough. We have to hurry. We are going home after this."...

" okey" Home? Which home? But Jessica lost the timing to ask that. Xavier was already at the dining table, working fast yet still organized setting up the cutlery for dinner.

" hey , why are you in a hurry?" Daniel appeared. " I'm just hungry," Xavier said nonchalantly.
Deep down, he was afraid that he'd accidentally said too much just now. When Jessica reached the dining table, she stood behind the chair across from Xavier , unsure.

" sit beside me." Xavier said, smiling.
Jessica sat down automatically beside him. Daniel sat across from Xavier .
The dinner was unexpectedly quite. The atmosphere was unusually tense.
Daniel fidgeted on his seat, not knowing what to do.
He remembered what Xavier told him before but he was still confused.
Why shouldn't he get closer to Jessica ?

" hey! Let's talk some more!" Daniel suggested as he was taking seconds.

"While eating? It's a bad manner." Xavier surprised them by answering too seriously

" Don't mind about him. Xavier can be so annoying at times" Jessica said, laughing.
Actually, she was just trying to lessen the atmosphere. It seemed that she'd forgotten how she usually acted in front of Xavier after today.
That's why she tried to act like how she used to be around Xavier.

" You said I'm annoying?" Xavier said incredulously. " that' why you are so short." Jessica squinted her eyes. Her height was a sensitive issue for her. " you're not making any sense." But somehow, she felt happy to talk normally again with Xavier

" and I'm not short. You are just too tall." Daniel laughed.
Maybe he thought it was funny. Xavier was smiling too. That's good.
The old Xavier was back. Ah, the air felt better now! They lapsed back into silence. But this time, it wasn't uncomfortable.
After they finished eating, Xavier and Daniel cleared the table while Jessica started on the dishes.
Jessica thought it would be much safer and faster to do it alone. After she finished washing the dishes by hand , she refused to use the dishwasher as she hated the idea of using the expensive brand new appliance ... she went to the living room. She saw both Xavier and Daniel were watching the TV.

" oh , right! I have something for you two." Daniel got up and later he came with a gift box in his hand. He passed it to Xavier

" by the way, Daniel , what's this?" Xavier asked seeing the red item in the box. As red as jessica's face right now. Daniel looked perplexed.

"what do you mean? For newlywed, you either give lingerie or baby's clothes, right?" " you give neither" Two synchronized voice responded. Jessica looked down.
She didn't dare to look at Xavier . Her ears were hot. She had no reason to feel self-conscious, she reminded herself. Great, Daniel . Just great. Couldn't you make the situation even awkward?

Xavier cleared his throat. " but it is still quite amusing, my understanding cousin." Jessica was sure he was grinning while he said those.
She didn't want to imagine what he was thinking right now.
She just wanted to get out of this situation. As soon as possible. She surprised herself too. She was usually not this awkward. Or shy.

" Aren't we going home yet?" Jessica asked. To her relief, her voice sounded normal though she didn't know which home it was referring to.

" yeah , sure. I know you can't wait to put this red sexy lingerie to use." Xavier was definitely enjoying himself with the teasing.

" oh, come on! Just sleep here. I have so much to talk about." Daniel protested.

"Apparently, my princess wants to do " it" at home.
" Xavier stressed the word " it" purposely, mischievously.

Now, Jessica was looking at him. " isn't home sweet home better?" She challenged. No way she would allow herself to continue being teased. His lips twitched, fighting a smile.

" sure. Home, where there are only you and me, uninterrupted. It would be convenient for us to do what we need to do as newlywed." He said with a wicked glint in his eyes.
"And convenient for me to kill you." She grimaced at him, resisting the impulse to blurt out loud the sentence in front of Daniel .

" can't wait To kill you". She finished the last sentence in the form of a death glare to Xavier .

" auwww, so sweet! Maybe I should get married too.
" It seemed Daniel failed to notice the sarcasm in their conversation. " why not? Get married. It's so great to find that one special person you want to annoy for the rest of your life." Jessica gave him a sly smile. Daniel raised his eyebrows, befuddled. "And it is supposed to be great?"

"Of course it's great" Jessica snickered, "if you are the one doing the annoying.
" She smiled sweetly at Xavier , sending some message to him, but he only seemed more amused.
A breathtaking crooked smile appeared on his face.
A smile that almost made her heart skipped a beat.
"Was Xavier always this handsome?"she thought .
Daniel who saw them smiling at each other straightly concluded it was the form of flirting.

"Alright. Just go home. Your sweetness is killing me. Go home and be lovey-dovey as you wish." He rolled his eyes, jealousy was apparent in his tone which he shouldn't be if he knew the truth.

Thanks to Daniel , her thought was cut short. Her imagination must have run wild again,

she told herself. "Yeah, we should go home" Jessica said, but this time she was not as eager to leave as before.

"Ok. I'll visit you soon" Daniel smiled at her.

"You don' t visit. You always appeared unannounced." Xavier laughed.
His tone was matter-of-fact. Daniel pouted.
Jessica found him cute when he was pouting. She had to restrain herself from pinching his cheeks like she would be doing to babies.

"Oh, well, do come visit. I would be glad." Her offer sent him smiling again.

Jessica and Xavier walked out of the house to the car.
Xavier was the one who drove them here before.
Daniel escorted them outside. Jessica waved at him until his silhouette disappeared from her sight.

" Jess" Xavier called out, his eyes were on the road.
"Do me a favour."

"What?" Jessica glanced over. She looked at him with curious eyes. "Don't get too close to Daniel"

That was unexpected. "But why?" She responded, a little confused.

The lack of light made it difficult for her to study his face. But Xavier ignored her question.

"Just don't"

This time, his voice sounded stern and intense. She swallowed back all the questions she wanted to hurl at him. For some reason, she didn't dare to probe any further.