Xavier :The tale of the broken

02. The awakening

The apartment smelled of chocolate and perfume the evidence of what he had lost and what he had witnessed. The bouquet in his hand was crushed beyond recognition. Petals scattered across the kitchen tiles like pieces of my dignity. He didn’t cry. Not anymore.

The room felt smaller than it should have.

Not because of the space but because of the silence inside it.

Xavier sat still, his fingers loosely wrapped around the glass in his hand. The drink had gone warm, untouched for longer than he realized.

Crying was for men who lost once.

He had lost everything in his plain life .She had left ,leaving a void full of emptiness in his heart .

He stared at the untouched chocolates on the counter. They looked almost innocent. A pathetic offering from a man who thought love could be fixed with sugar and flowers.

Sleep had abandoned him. Every time he closed his eyes, he heard her moans echoing down the hallway. He saw his brother’s smirk. It didn’t feel real or seem real it would take time for it to all set in not yet .

He saw the way his brother looked at him like he had always been beneath him Lenny’s words ,the smug look on Liam’s face that moment over and over again were like a broken record in his head .

For weeks, life became dull. Xavier would wake up ,work, drink ,sleep and repeat.

The warehouse felt colder. Or maybe it was just him . He barely spoke to anyone unless necessary. At night, he poured himself a double from the twenty-year-old Talisker he had once been saving for a celebration.

He dropped a single cube of ice into the glass and watched it crack, listening to the sound like it meant something.

Memories came whether he invited them or not.

Fridays used to belong to us he thought.

Lenny would laugh too loudly after her second drink. She would grab his hands and drag him to the dance floor. She danced terribly wild, carefree and he loved that about her.

When she had too much, he would carry her home while she complained that he was ruining her fun.

She would cling on to him in bed afterward, whispering that she loved him.

And he believed her. His brother used to join them sometimes. He told him everything. Every insecurity. Every argument. Every fear that maybe he wasn’t enough for her.

He listened carefully,he always thought it was harmless. Brotherly concern. Innocent advice maybe .How blind he had been.

Father always compared them to . “Look at your brother. successful and driven. Why can’t you be like him?” Those words carved themselves into hid bones over the years.

Mother would defend him quietly. “Xavier is different,” she would say. “He has his own path.” But even she couldn’t hide the disappointment in her eyes sometimes.

Lia, his little sister, never judged him. She looked at Xavier like he was still her hero. She never liked Lenny that much. Said something felt off.

Maybe she saw what he refused to. Christmas lights began appearing across Vlasikha. Shop windows glowed warmly. Snow gathered lightly along sidewalks. The world was preparing for celebration.

Lenny loved extravagant holidays. Expensive gifts. Showy decorations. He always tried to explain that they couldn’t afford it. She said ambition meant providing more.

Maybe she was right. Maybe he had been too comfortable being average.

One morning, dark clouds pressed low against the sky as he stepped out of a taxi. Zipped up his leather jacket and headed toward the warehouse. Zayne was waiting near the entrance.

Like always.

“You look like hell,” Zayne said, stepping inside without waiting.

“Thanks.” Xavier said

“Still drinking?”

“Helps me sleep.”

He studied me for a moment. “So what’s next, Xavier?” h didn’t hesitate this time.

“...six years,” Xavier muttered. “Six years, and I didn’t see it.”

Zayne didn’t answer immediately.

“You saw what you wanted to see.”Xavier let out a breath.

“Or maybe I was just blind.”

A faint smile touched Zayne's lips.

“Maybe.”

“Come with me,” Zayne said suddenly.

Xavier frowned slightly.

“Where?”

“You’ll see.”

Before Xavier could respond, a voice called out.

“Xavier.”

Diego.

He rarely spoke to anyone outside management. Clean haircut. Expensive watch.

“Can we talk?” he asked. Zayne left and went back .

They walked to the parking lot. A sleek black Chevrolet sat a few spaces away. Definitely not something a regular warehouse employee drove.

“I overheard you earlier,” Diego said casually. “Ambition suits you.”

“I didn’t know ambition was a crime.”

“It isn’t,” he replied smoothly. “But the fastest roads to success aren’t always… legal.” My pulse slowed,

“What are you offering?”

“Opportunities,” he said. “Connections. Deals that pay more in a month than you make in a year.”

“Why me?” Xavier asked.

Diego didn’t look away.

“You react differently.”

Xavier’s brows pulled together slightly.

“Differently from who?”

Diego’s gaze lingered on him for just a second too long before he answered.

“…From most people.”

“You’ve been watching me?” Xavier asked, tone quieter now.

Diego gave a slight shrug.

“I pay attention.”

“That’s not the same thing.”

“No,” Diego agreed. “It’s better.”

Xavier grabbed his jacket.

“Fine,” he said.He handed me a card. No company logo. Just a number and an address written in black ink.

“When you’re ready to stop being ordinary,” he said quietly, “call me.”

The rest of the day passed like a blur.

That evening, rain poured over the city. Xavier returned home boarding a cab. He stopped by the liquor store out of habit, grabbing Jameson’s and Jack Daniel’s.

When he stepped into the apartment, silence swallowed me whole.

His phone buzzed.

A message from Zayne.

“I think you should see this.” he opened it.

A glossy digital invitation Liam and Lenny's engagement party on Christmas Eve.

There they were in the photo. Smiling. Radiant. As if he had never existed. Something inside him didn’t break this time. It hardened a bit . He paused for a moment to think and process everything after an hour of doing nothing ,but sharing at the wall he finally moved.

Xavier walked to the kitchen, picked up Diego’s card, and dialed the number before he could second-guess himself.

He answered on the second ring.

“I’m ready,”

“Good,” Diego replied. “Tomorrow. Two p.m. I’ll be there ”

"good "

"you react just like him " Diego laughs

"like who ..? Xavier asks surprised

".......doesn't matter " The line went dead

He went upstairs and stepped into the shower. The hot water ran over him, steam filling the bathroom. Palm against the wall and let the rage settle in .

l was done being small, done being compared and losing. Eyes were still on him watching everything in silence and judging .