XY XX

CUSTODY

"Madame Xenia N'Diayé est-elle ici, j'ai un pli à remettre en mains propres? [Is Mrs. Xenia N'Diayé here, I have a letter which as to be delivered from hand to hand]

"I'm here."

The man approached, made Xenia sign, and handed her the envelope.

"What's this?" Xenia opened. The woman's facial expression became grave.

The delivery man left, Xenia remained gasping in front of the letter. She felt as though her world fell apart. It was unfair; the woman just began to enjoy life.

Everyone in the office was silent; no one dared ask what it was about, Xenia heaved. Breathing didn't come easy.

Mark warned and then threatened her. Now the man executed all he said.

Xenia couldn't believe Mark would be so cruel. No matter how she looked at it, she found it a selfish action. She never asked him for anything, not even the legal pension, and here he was demanding Sia's custody.

What frustrated Xenia, even more was to think that all this was brought about because Mark couldn't stand her being happy with someone else. Above all, the man could not handle seeing his daughter taking a liking to another man.

The tears rolled down without demand; Xenia left her office. She crossed Jaila, who she ignored in the halls.

"Xenia, are you okay?"

"I'm sorry, I can't speak to you right now," Xenia made a sign with her hand. And Jalia watched her flee.

Weakened, Xenia went to the toilets, where she cried. The woman remained there for uncountable minutes before anger followed. A small voice in her head told her to burn Mark's house down.

How could someone like him even dare ask for custody?

As if Xenia would let Mark raise her child with Sophia, what was he playing?

Xenia mustered some courage and went back to her desk, but she was unable to focus. Spellbound by her screen, she didn't even hear Mariam calling her; only the pressure on her shoulder warped her out of her thoughts.

"Xenia, I've been calling you for the last five minutes. We all see you're not well. Maybe you should go home."

"I'm fine," Xenia replied, not even realizing she cried.

"Xenia, honey, I won't ask you what's wrong, but you can't work in this state. Look at yourself."

Under her colleague's pressuring pleas, she packed her belongings and left.

XY XX

"Where were you, Jaila?" Wendon asked as he strolled into his office.

"I was on the 18th."

"Why were you on the 18th floor?" Gregory asked, always lending an ear whenever someone mentioned the floor where his lover worked.

"I had to see Cassie, but I bumped into Xenia. She wasn't well, I mean-."

"What do you mean by Xenia wasn't well?" Gregory asked, suddenly alert.

"She was crying; I don't knowㅡ."

Before she could finish, Gregory jolted from his chair and bolted out of Wendon's office. It was stronger than him, and the man didn't give his action a second thought.

Gregory hurried to the 18th floor; he had made sure not to impose himself on Xenia; if she didn't want him around. The man preferred waiting for the woman to cool down, but almost two weeks had passed since the incident with Mark.

Still, at this moment, Gregory couldn't ignore what Jalia said. If Xenia desired to push him away, she could only once Gregory was assured everything was fine.

When the elevator stopped, Gregory opted for a poised behavior as he walked into the open office.

"Gregory, is there a problem?" Cassie asked, lifting her head from Pricilla's computer screen from where she checked a few files.

"Eh is Xeniaㅡ."

"Oh, she left," Mariam cut in before Cassie could reply.

"Why?"

"We don't know; she got some bad news and left."

Gregory nodded, "okay, thank you."

"Was it important, Gregory?" Cassie asked.

"No, it's fine. I just wanted to run through a few things with her."

Cassie looked at him suspiciously. The man hated Xenia, but for a while, he seemed to have a change of heart. If for some, their truce was nothing worth following for Cassie, it was the beginning of the end. She trusted Gregory to get rid of the thorn Xenia represented.

Gregory left the office and tried to call Xenia.

"The number you have dialed is not in service."

"Xenia, come on reply," the man urged.

"The number you have dialed is not in service."

Where was she? Gregory thought.

Not being able to reach her, Gregory suddenly felt a wave of anxiety. He couldn't go to her; there were too many deadlines to meet. He returned to Wendon's office but found himself unable to concentrate on the matters.

"Gregory, you can go. I can see you're disturbed," Wendon said, "you've got it bad for this woman, right?"

Gregory hadn't told Wendon about Xenia. He preferred to preserve his relationships, keeping them private to the point people believed he had none, but with Xenia, it was impossible to hide it from someone like Wendon, who knew him.

"I can't."

"Gregory, the company won't go bankrupt in the hour, go and see her. Put your mind at ease; I'll hold the fort."

Gregory stared at Wendon as if he waited for a signal.

"Go, I said."

"Okay, I'm gone, thanks, Wendon."

Gregory departed from Astoria immediately. Never had the man commuted so fast on public transportation.

No one answered when he rang Xenia's door. Gregory attempted to call her on the phone again; there was no answer.

He rang the bell again, "Xenia, it's me. Open the door, otherwise."

There was still no response. Gregory called Astoria's coordination and asked for Niki.

"Hello."

"Miss. Wright?"

"Gregory."

"Yes, ㅡem, I'm calling because I can't get hold of Xenia. I believe she is at home, but she isn't answering. So could you give me her apartment code? I think something is wrong."

"Just a moment," Niki tried to call Xenia at her end too. The disconnected phone made her panic.

"Okay, Gregory, it's 171290."

"Thanks," Gregory said and hung up. He composed the code and entered it.

"Xenia, it's me. I'm coming in," she wasn't in her living room. Gregory advanced he found her crying at the foot of her bed, trembling like a leaf.

"Xenia, hey, what's wrong?" He said as he crouched down to her level.

Gregory hated it; he had seen her cry once. Back then, Xenia disappointed him. Seeing her so weak and vulnerable like his mother when she discovered another of his father's liaisons left a bitter taste.

Now, as he stared at Xenia inflicted, the image pained Gregory, though the man was unaware of the cause of her sufferings.