THREE DAYS LATER
ISABELLA
He decided to start bringing flowers nearly every day. Three days since the first visit he came again. The bell chimed at exactly 9:07 a.m. I didn't look up, I knew it was him.
"I swear to god." I muttered, piping frosting onto a cupcake with the intensity of someone defusing a bomb, "if that's-"
"It's him." Wanessa said calmly.
Xavier walked in like this was now part of his routine. Same coat. Same expression. Same single red rose in his hand this time, like he had decided to downsize the emotional damage. He walked straight to the counter and set it down gently in front of me.
"For today." He said.
I stared at it.
"You are rationing now?" I asked.
"It felt more sustainable." He replied.
Wanessa choked on her coffee.
"This is a workplace harassment seminar waiting to happen."Michael whispered.
"Xavier, you can't just bring me a rose every day."I pinched the bridge of my nose.
"Why not?"He tilted his head.
"Because people will talk."I argued.
"They already are."He said.
"Because it is distracting."I tried.
"You seem focused."He teased.
"I am frosting angrily."I said.
"I can come later."He said.
"That's not better."I sighed.
"I can come earlier."Xavier said.
"That's worse."I sighed.
"Then this time is correct."He nodded, thoughtful.
I hated that logic. The next day he brought two roses and it had two different colors.
"Oh, he's experimenting."Wanessa gasped.
"I wasn't sure which suited you."Xavier placed them side by side.
"Neither." I said. "I suit invisibility."
"You suit honesty." He replied.
"Red means devotion, white means sincerity. Interesting choice." Wanessa leaned over.
"I did not ask for a breakdown." I snapped.
Xavier smiled faintly. Michael stared at the flowers, then at Xavier.
"Sir. Do you own a florist?"Michael asked.
"No."He said.
"Are you funding one?"Michael asked.
"Possibly."Xavier sighed.
On friday, or should I say fifth day on this crazyness he had brought another rose tucked into a book. I opened it, suspicious, then froze.
"Is this-" I flipped a page. "This is my beta draft."
"You left it unfinished, Moon light."Xavier teased.
My soul tried to exit my body.
"YOU CANNOT BRING FLOWERS AND LITERARY CRITICISM." I hissed.
"It felt appropriate." He said. "You revise things that matter."
"Bella, I ship this."Wanessa was vibrating.
"I don't." I said.
"You are lying."Wanessa smirked.
The next day I beat him to it. The bell chimed. I looked up and saw him.
"No."I said.
He paused mid step, rose in hand.
"No?"He asked.
"No more roses." I said. "I can't take it. My emotional stability is hanging by a thread and that thread is buttercream."
The cafe held its breath as Xavier studied me for a long moment. Then slowly he placed the rose in a glass of water on the counter.
"Then." He said, calm as ever. "I will bring something else."
My stomach dropped. Wanessa leaned in, eyes shining.
"Oh. This just escalated."She teased.
I had rewritten the story, and now the story was improvising back. I knew that Wanessa was enjoying this. She leaned back in her chair, stirring her coffee like she had all the time in the world, eyes flicking between me and the rose currently menacing my existence in its little glass.
"So." Wanessa said lightly. "How many days has it been now?"
"I don't know." I muttered. "Time has lost meaning."
"Nearly seven." Michael supplied from behind the counter. "I have started counting for safety reasons."
Wanessa smiled sweetly at me. The kind of smile that meant violence, but make it elegant.
"Seven days of flowers." She said. "That's not casual interest, Bella. That's a campaign."
"It's harassment." I said flatly.
Xavier, standing way too close again, tilted his head. "You haven't told me to stop."Xavier said.
"I have told you to stop existing near me." I snapped.
"You said that about the plot too." Wanessa chimed in. "Yet here we are."
"You are not helping."I shot her a glare.
"Oh, I am." She whispered cheerfully. "This is fascinating. In my timeline, he never did this."
"Never?"I asked.
"He was… intense, yes. Obsessive, absolutely. But this?" She tapped her lip thoughtfully as gestured at the rose. 'This is new, personal."
"Please stop narrating my doom."I swallowed.
Wanessa leaned forward now, eyes sharp, voice dropping just enough to be dangerous.
"You know what's really funny?"She asked.
"No." I said. "And I don't want to."
"He's looking at you the way he looked at me after the confession arc." She said. "Right before everything went wrong."
My heart skipped in a way I deeply resented.
"That's not funny." I whispered.
She smiled wider.
"It is when it's not happening to me."She grinned.
Traitor. Xavier cleared his throat. Every instinct I had screamed RUN, which was unfortunate because my legs did not cooperate.
"Isabella." He said calmly.
I refused to look at him.
"If this is about roses, I am filing a complaint with reality."I sighed.
"It isn't." He said and that made it worse. "I have observed something." Xavier continued, tone measured, precise. "You tense when I enter, but you relax when I leave. You avoid eye contact but listen carefully, you are afraid of me."
"Oh, he is self-aware now. That's new too."Wanessa hummed.
"This is not a compliment."I finally looked up.
"I know." Xavier said. "That's why I am asking."
My brain short-circuited.
"Asking what?" I said.
He held my gaze, unwavering.
"Go on a date with me."He said calmly.
A date. Michael gasped, out loud. Wanessa's eyes lit up like she had just been handed front row tickets to chaos. "Ohhh."She teased.
"I am sorry." I said faintly. "What?"
"A controlled environment." Xavier said smoothly. "Public. Limited time. One hour."
"You are negotiating romance like a business deal. I snapped.
"Yes." He replied. "Because you don't trust impulses."
I opened my mouth, closed it. Hated that he was right.
Wanessa clapped her hands together softly.
"Bella, this is perfect."She grinned.
"It is not."I sighed.
"You want to escape him." She said sweetly. "This is the safest way to test whether you actually can."
"You are enjoying this way too much."I turned to her slowly.
"I survived him once. I want to see how you do it."She grinned.
The rose sat between us, silent and accusing, my chest felt tight.
"One hour." I said finally. "Public place, no surprises."
His lips curved, but just barely.
"Agreed."He said and nodded.
"I will need details."Wanessa beamed.
"No, you won't." I said immediately.
"You are rewriting the story again, Author." Wanessa whispered and I could tell that she was teasing me.
I hated that my hands were shaking and I hated even more that somewhere deep down I was curious.