Chapter 151

Ginna was distracted. 

After the third time she angered a client due to her far off eyes, Felix quickly took over the task and suggested she cleaned around or made inventory of the things they had and were missing. Mrs. Attile was due to her trip to get more fabric anyway.

Those seemed to be even more impossible tasks.

"Something happened?" Felix finally asked, not able to see her clean the same shelf for another hour. Ginna seemed to shake off her stupor and glanced at Felix before humming. Felix tried again, not convinced. "Xandre did something?" 

The teen had seen the older guy arrive at the store to give Ginna her meal. Sometimes even snacks. There was that time he went all over town asking for a specific snack that Ginna suddenly craved. She confessed she had only seen it and not tried it before.

She ended up throwing it up.

Although Felix did not presume to know Ginna's marital(?) life, he had in good faith that the two got along super well; no matter how much she huffed and claimed he was boring and dull.

It had been a while since her family harassed her. They had most likely forsaken her. So, the only thing that might have her in that way could be only three things: her pregnancy, herself or Xandre.

And whenever a problem concerned the first two things, she would never allow to hinder her work. By default, it could only be Xandre.

Ginna sighed. "It's nothing."

"I'd believe you if he weren't nervously walking outside the store, unsure of walking in." Felix pointed out, unimpressed. The man was really outside, looking into the store with a kicked-puppy expression. 

Ginna narrowed her eyes at Xandre, who panicked and planned to run yet stood shocked when she beckoned him inside. Ginna sighed and once again signaled him to enter. He did so with great hesitation.

"What are you doing? I thought you said you'd clean the room." She had only done a passable job at cleaning because she was desperate for a room, no matter the state. After some time living together, he finally gathered the courage to tell her the room was too dirty and that he would clean it.

Xandre shuffled on his feet. "I said that 'cuz you seemed angry… Ah, but, I did clean it!" He hurriedly added, seeing her upset expression.

"Who said I was angry?" She crossed her arms over her chest, but immediately undid the gesture. Her breasts were too tender to put pressure on them.

"I, um… no one… you just… well, you didn't let me to hug you last night." He blurted out, making Ginna flush. She glanced at Felix, who sensibly went to the back, to pretend he was not listening to the conversation even if he could clearly hear it.

Xandre was slow. He took half a day to make a move on her, and that was after one day of processing her indirect requests. The first night they slept together in her room, she had to drape him over her back so he could spoon her.

After that day, they had slept in the same position – with some hot encounters in between – without fail. Until the previous night. 

"That doesn't mean I'm angry." Ginna rubbed her brow, suddenly tired. Keenly sensing her change, Xandre led her to the table behind the counter so she could sit.

"Then? Did I do something wrong?" He tried. The least he wanted was for her to tell him to leave because she was angry, disappointed, or simply because she did not want him anymore.

Ginna bit the inside of her lower lip and looked away from him. She had been thinking, pondering and even mentally rehearsing on how to say something without him getting offended or misunderstanding. 

"I was just… thinking. I'm happy with you, and with how you are." Her confession made his face flush completely red. "I think you'd be one of the few men who would accept staying at home to take care of the house." She wryly smiled at his touched expression. 

"After the baby is born, I won't worry about leaving him or her in unsuitable hands when it comes to you." She paved the road, to then run to the finish line. Or the point of the conversation. "But that'll be when the baby is born." She gazed at him with a difficult expression.

Xandre was confused. "What'd you mean?" There was an exasperated sigh at the back. The outsider quickly understood while the person in question remained oblivious. Ginna wanted to cry.

She threw her arms in the air as a sign of giving up. "While the baby's still inside, we both should work to gather money and have some cushion savings for the future!" She said.

"Oh… Oh! Yeah! Of course, I, um… I'll look for a job right away!" Finally getting her drift, he quickly stood up to go job hunting.

"Wait!" Ginna reached over and pulled him down to sit again. "This is where it gets tricky…" She gloomily said.

"How so?" He frowned.

Ginna lowered her head, inhaled and exhaled before nodding. "Because I was thinking of making you work at Isabelle's teahouse." More than saying it to Xandre, she was saying it to Felix who pocked his head back in. "Is it possible?" She asked with hope-brimming eyes.

"I'm not sure. I haven't heard her plan to hire other staff apart from the entertainers." Felix said. "Maybe you could ask her today. She's going to have a second day of hiring. I'm not sure at what time she'll end, but I know she begins at the two hours past midday." 

"But I'll be here…" She mutters. Sending Xandre could be another method, but she did not think it would be correct to send him alone.

"I'll cover for you." Felix waved. "It's not as if you'll spend the rest of the afternoon there, right?" He asked with a glint in his eyes.

Ginna huffed. "Of course not." 

With a plan in mind, she impatiently waited for the time to approach. She even prevented Xandre from returning to their room. Her impatience also increased the efficiency at which she attended clients, quickly dispatching them with their purchases.

When the central clock in town announced the time, she grabbed Xandre's hand and dragged him out of the store with Felix's 'Good luck!' sending her off.

She had not seen nor talked to Isabelle lately, but thanks to Felix, she was aware of where the teahouse was being built. So, with as much speed as her pregnant condition allowed her, she headed to the town's fourth exit. 

To her surprise, a big crowd waited outside the establishment. All of them are entertainers? She wondered. She wanted to slip past the multitude, yet they were very packed together and she did not want to risk it in her condition, so she waited.

Minutes later, Lucas opened the doors and allowed the people in. As the crowd moved, so did Ginna and Xandre until they arrived at the entrance. Lucas was surprised at seeing them there.

"Can I talk with Isabelle? It'll be quick! I promise!" Ginna pleaded, glancing at the interior.

Lucas only nodded and led them inside. They went past some sort of lobby place before he told them to wait in the room that overlooked the courtyard in its entire splendor. The couple could see the people on the sides, waiting, and Isabelle sitting at a table with her back to them.

She turned when Lucas whispered her of their presence. She smiled and walked over to them. The closer she got, the more her hands sweated. Xandre, who still had her hand in his, squeezed it in reassurance. It helped.

"Hi, Ginna. How are you? You are already showing!" Isabelle pleasantly greeted, her eyes lighting up at the pronounced bump on Ginna who was wearing some of the new blouses she made for pregnant women.

"Yeah…" Ginna replied a bit strained. "I came because I wanted to ask you something important."

Isabelle's smile waned a bit seeing the other's serious expression, but her expression remained relaxed. Open. "Sure, go ahead."

Ginna took a fortifying breath before spilling all her thoughts, her situation, and her idea. "He can do anything! Sweeping, clean the tables, wash the dishes, anything you ask him to. Just please, give him a chance!" She pleaded.

Isabelle stared at Ginna's desperate countenance, and then she glanced at Xandre's determined one. He was ready for whatever she threw at him. Be it rejection or acceptance. Even mockery. 

"I was not planning on hiring the staff so soon." Isabelle said, making Ginna deflate. "First, because I am not sure if I want the waiters to also clean around." 

Ginna felt defeat sprouting in her being. She was very serious when she said she did not want Xandre to work for any townspeople who could take advantage of him. Isabelle was her first and only thought up option for him to have a good boss. 

The chance seemed to be slipping from her hands.

"Second, because the staff's salary will vary according to their tasks. We have not discussed much on the topic of salaries though." Isabelle pursed her lips. "If we hire him just for cleaning duties, I am not sure his salary will even reach the base." 

That made Isabelle feel bad as she knew the man, but when it came to friendship and business, the matter had to be as clear as possible.

"But you're willing to hire me, right?" Xandre suddenly asked.

Isabelle looked up at him. "Yeah, but I feel bad to not even pay you the base salary for your work."

"Doesn't matter. As long as I work for Ginna and our incoming child!" He declared, surprising Ginna while making Isabelle smile.

"Sure you do. Right. Then, I will keep you in mind for the list of staff to be hired. When it is time to recruit, I will directly send you a contract." Isabelle closed the deal.

Ginna and Xandre were so ecstatic that they widely smiled at each other in triumph. They were of kissing then and there. However, that moment of pride and affection and joy of having overcome a trial was ruined by Xandre.

"I can't read or write though."