CINDERELLA PART II

Xenia applied for the program Canada offered to French Ex-pats. The package allowed her to find a place to stay and a job quickly. For the moment, Xenia stayed at her aunt Patty's house with Sia.

The woman was at the window when a luxury Chrysler pulled up at the bank, where she underwent a job interview for a temporary one-month vacancy. Xenia gasped when she recognized a familiar silhouette stepping out of the car.

She excused herself and left the room, knowing she blew the interview.

"Gregory," Xenia muttered as she hurried to the bank's door. Before he could enter, she was pushing him out.

"You can't come here, Gregory. I don't want a scandal."

"Then talk to me. Besides, I own this bank, so it's not a bother. If you want, I can come and work here two. We could reboot everything."

Xenia gasped in shock; it seemed there was nowhere in the world she could hide, perhaps the man owned satellites or Google Earth, "don't start this again. Gregory, you ruined my engagement, youㅡ."

"Did I really spoil it, or did I save you the trouble of ruining it yourself?" The man asked with a beaming smile.

"You've got a nerve, don't be cocky."

"I'm not cocky, Xenia. If you and Andrew didn't make it, then it wasn't supposed to be."

"And with whom is it supposed to be? With the arrogant you, I presume," Xenia said as she advanced as far away from the bank as possible.

"Yeah, I believe I'm a good match. No one will ever understand or tolerate your temper like me, just as no one else will cope with me except you. Listen, Xenia, I know you're crazy, your mouth seriously needs a padlock, but I'm sorry to say this despite that I love you," the man said, opening his arms as if Xenia would run to them.

Gregory expected a reaction, but not the one which followed. Xenia turned and began to walk away.

"Jesus woman, what do you want?" Gregory lifted his hands to the sky and slicked back his hair.

Xenia strode back up to him, "I'm scared, Gregory, I'm scared because I trusted you. And I found out you were someone else. Who you are frightens me."

"Oh, come on, Xenia, everyone is afraid, I'm afraid. I'm human too; I'm not some robot," Gregory said, throwing his hands in the air once more.

They yelled in the street; passersby could not distill, whether it was a breakup or something else.

Gregory continued regardless, "I'm frightened out of my wits of getting hurt or of hurting you. But it's the deal; that's how a relationship works when two people are in love, if I'm not mistaken. One has the love and this fear, but you have to face both emotions, and we can do this together."

Xenia shook her head and blocked her ears with her hands for a second, "no, Gregory, you have an empire, you have a public face."

"Oh, please, can you give my social status a break. We're not in frigging Victorian times. I'm no prince, and you are anything but a peasant. Do you know what the problem is with you women? You rock yourself to sleep with Cinderella&co, and you only see the ending. No one tells you the part II where Cindy argued with charming; despite that, they still loved each other. Come on, Xenia; you're a competitor. Don't you want to throw your tale at Cinderella and give her a wicked whiplash with your love story? Let's start again; let's love again."

"I can't, Gregory; I've just figured it out. I'm at peace with myself. I don't want to take a risk; I can't risk losing my way again. I'm sorry, Gregory."

"Then tell me you don't love me. Look at me in the eyes and tell me you don't love me, Xenia," Gregory grabbed her hand. Xenia's eyes flickered with the tears boarding her eyelids.

"I don't love you, Gregory."

He let go of her hands instantly, allowing Xenia to flee.

"Liar," he whispered.

Gregory knew Xenia like the back of his hand. Like the other times, she wiggled away when the truth was too difficult to handle. Gregory felt her pulse when he held her wrist. She said the contrary of her body's reaction, his heart burst.

How did he just let her walk away the last time, and now?

Gregory ran, Xenia walked fast, but he caught up and hugged her from behind.

"It's unfair, Gregory."

"I love you, Xenia. I hurt you, I know, but I'll make it up to you for the rest of my life if you let me."

Xenia heaved under his tight grip; she had no strength to fight. The scent of the man killed all her instincts. The woman stood still, locked in Gregory's arms.

The rain which menaced the sky for days broke loose, and thunder clapped like it hadn't rained in decades. In a few seconds, they found themselves drenched, but they stood there silent. People ran past looking for shelter, but Gregory and Xenia remained.

"Let go, Gregory. Please, let go," the woman said, voice fainting in a whisper.

Gregory had given his all, the ultimate declaration. The man didn't know what more he could say. Gregory stepped out of his boundaries, breaking all the rules he fixed and felt wholly stripped of words and emotions. Gregory let go as he accepted his defeat.

He could not possess Xenia like one of his properties. The man learned a lesson as old as time no matter the amount of love or good intentions one had, without trust, nothing held. Xenia walked away under the rain; Gregory watched her leave, step after step, till she was gone.

Broken.

The man discovered how it felt to have his heart torn apart. For someone who never experienced heartbreak, the shock was tremendous. The Canadian capital resembled a tombstone; Gregory returned to London.

XY+XX

A week passed, and a second, Gregory returned to work. There was no use crying a Tsunami, Xenia made her choice, and he had difficulty accepting she rejected him.

"Mr. Ashton, the chauffeur, is waiting for you."

As always, Gregory had lunch with his grandmother twice a week; it had become a routine.

"I'm coming."

The older lady hadn't said a word when he came back from Canada. Margaret, who loved to taunt her grandson, didn't tease nor scold. She didn't even release a victorious I-told-you-so.

The older woman's attitude made things worse for Gregory, who felt the old lady pitied him. The chauffeur didn't drive to the usual address. Gregory figured Margaret made a change.

The restaurant was empty; Gregory wondered why but wasn't surprised. When Margaret wanted some tranquillity, she rented the whole restaurant. After a few minutes, a click-clack of heels filled Gregory's ears. He turned to see who entered, she came and sat in front of him.

"Hello."

"Hello," Gregory replied.

"Wow, I've been counting the days."

"How, what?" Was all Gregory managed to ask as he watched the woman take a seat?

"Oh, your grandmother kidnapped Sia and me. Lady Ashton whisked us away in her private jet to her mansion. I didn't even have my say. I found myself surrounded by maids and butlers and their madam, would you like some tea every hour. I've been locked for four days already. Your grandmother wouldn't even let me take a walk in the garden. Can you imagine that, Gregory?"

"What? My grandmother did what? Did you stay with her?" Gregory blinked in disbelief.

Xenia's eyes shimmered at the sight of the dishes on the table. She picked up her fork, "gosh, the food looks good, I'm starving."

"Xenia, can you stop tucking in and explain to me, I'm a little lost."

"I'm sorry, I'm late, Gregory. I caught a cold because of the rain we got caught under in front of the bank. I couldn't' get out of bed. My temperature was sky-high. When I felt better, I got a call from Lady Ashton, and I was like who the hell are you and she-."

Gregory's eyes grew wide in stupefaction, "Xenia, you said who the hell to my grandmother."

"Sorry, Gregory, I didn't know, right," Xenia said, waving her fork, "and so she showed up with henchmen who kidnapped Sia and me."

Gregory was stunned. He didn't know what to say.

"Is it possible to pick up the conversation where we left off? Because Margaret -

"Margaret, Xenia, even I don't call my grandmother that."

"Well, she told me to drop the lady, Ashton. It makes her seem old, she said. So as I was saying, can you repeat what you said? We made a bet, and I want to win."

"You bet with my grandmother, what on earth?"

"Gregory, what did you say to me in Canada?"

Gregory got up from his chair and walked to where Xenia was. The man wanted to tell her all the pain he felt, but he was afraid to make their situation go around in circles. Xenia got up, too; they stood to face each other.

"I think you said something along the lines ofㅡ."

"I love you, Xenia."

Xenia looked into his eyes; it took her some time to think things over. She was well, but something was missing. The emotions Xenia felt when Andrew left allowed her to see who she desired to be with, as his departure did not cause her the suffering she expected. After relentless searching, introspection, pondering, weighing, and refuting the truth, she came to a conclusion, which was the following:

"Je t'aime Gregory, je n'ai jamais cessé de t'aimeㅡ."[I love you Gregory, I've never stopped loving you."

Gregory didn't even wait for her to finish as he grabbed her by the waist and kissed her. When he pulled away, it was Xenia who grabbed him by the collar to kiss the man in return with all her might. If this was their last day on earth, Gregory was with whom he desired.

The sound of footsteps interrupted the romantic interlude. Gregory turned to find Sia, who jumped in his arms.

"Gregory tu m'as manqués,"[I missed you Gregory] Sia said.

Gregory hugged her tightly, "toi aussi tu m'as beaucoup manqué, Sia [I missed you too, Sia], is my grandmother here?

"She said she'll join us later. Can we eat? I mean, love is good, but it doesn't feed you."

Gregory laughed; he didn't know what to say. Xenia hadn't changed; she was still unpredictable and lovingly insane, just how Gregory loved her.

"By the way, what did you bet with my grandmother?"

Xenia winked, "It's a secret."