The lady's face turned bright red, either in embarrassment or anger, no one knew. Anton replied without a single expression on his face.
"Miss, even though it was not my aim, I can see I ended up offending you. To continue working with us or not would be your choice." Anton explained.
"I still want you to design my house. I just wonder why you're such a tough nut to crack..." The lady had composed herself in the blink of an eye, trailing a hand on Anton's arm again. She didn't even mind the fact that they had an audience.
Said audience who had been snickering to himself since Anton's savage reply, finally stopped, and was watching Anton as though trying to understand why he wouldn't be interested in such an offer from such a stunning lady.
"I haven't needed a girlfriend so far and I don't need one even now. Thank you for caring about my wellbeing, but I think there are other people more deserving of your care than I am." Anton interrupted.
The lady looked at Anton with a disbelieving look for a while, before composing her face, then smiling a very fake smile, probably realising she'd rather not get embarrassed in front of a stranger over avd over again.
"I'll take my leave now. I'll be back to discuss the final designs before implementation." The lady told Anton, then picked up her bag.
"Sarah!" Anton called.
Few seconds later, Sarah came running in. "Yes, sir?"
Anton gestured towards the client while looking at Sarah. "Please show my client out."
"Yes, sir." Sarah bowed and turned to the lady. "Miss?"
The lady nodded politely at Anton and Xander and walked out as quickly as she could with Sarah hot on her heels.
***
"I'm starting to think more than half of your clients are your clients strictly because of your looks." Xander spoke breaking the silence as he leaned back in his chair watching Anton finally look away from the door the ladies had left through and returning to his seat. "Your face never even changes while you turn them down. You must have done this way too many times."
"I have." Anton agreed.
"It seems you also get more and more savage each time." Xander chuckled.
"That, I do not know." Anton's face broke into a smile.
"You seem even more bothered today." Xander observed, leaving the observation hanging in the air, letting Anton decide to rise to the bait or not.
"She's a woman and she said she'll be back. I can't be sure she won't try anything else even though she said she'll be back for the final draft. The only reason she held back today was because you were around." Anton explained.
"Oh... Well if that's the case, you don't need to think about it too much." Xander smiled knowingly, but Anton didn't notice because his gaze had gone back to the door of the lounge thoughtfully.
"Why shouldn't I? It's not as though I have a solution on ground already." He retorted.
"Actually, you do have one." Xander said, seeming nonchanlant, as though those words were exactly what Anton wanted to hear.
"What solution? I'm unaware of any-" Anton mused.
"I might have decided to stay here by then." Xander interrupted, unbothered by the fact that his interruption was indeed rude.
"You might? What's going on?" Anton turned to Xander, left brow raised, expecting an explanation.
"All you need to know is I'm looking for a place to stay." Xander admitted.
"Why? Did you get kicked out of your house?" Anton joked.
"Mmm, more like I plan to run away." Xander replied.
"What? Why?" Anton asked looking interested.
"Don't worry about it. It shouldn't affect you." Xander laughed.
"Did you do something bad?" Anton eyed him suspiciously. Xander laughed even harder.
"What're you suspecting I did?" Xander barely stopped laughing before speaking.
"I don't know, that's why I'm asking."
"Don't worry, I didn't do anything bad."
"Alright. You can stay here as long as you want. The bag of clothes you brought the last time are still in the room right?" Anton questioned, looking at Xander.
"Of course they are." Xander snorted.
"Of course they are." Anton mimicked, rolling his eyes "You really took the words 'make yourself at home' seriously."
"Is there a problem? You know you were the one that told me to, right?" Xander raised a brow to him, daring him to go back on his words.
"I'm not complaining." Anton assured him and stood up. Xander gave him a bewildered look, wondering why he would randomly get up halfway through a conversation.
"Didn't you say you're starving?" Anton asked Xander.
Xander stood up too with a smile. "Please" He told Anton gesturing to him with his hands to lead the way.
Anton smiled and indeed walked ahead to the kitchen .
*
They stood in the kitchen Anton facing the counter paying attention to the food he was working on and Xander with his back to the counter, his arms crossed watching Anton work, his eyes daryong between what Anton was doing and his face.
Anton must have felt his stare but said nothing about it. Instead he brought something else up.
"Why are you dressed so... 'hardcore' today?" He placed emphasis on the word 'hardcore'. It seemed as though he didn't want to use that word but couldn't find a suitable substitute.
"Hardcore?" Xander asked with a smirk. "Is there a problem with it? Does it make you uncomfortable?"
"No. Your dressing only ever hinted at this sort of style being your preference but you went all out today so I was wondering what made you decide to so do." Anton explained.
Xander's smirk stiffened before it wiped off his face completely. He narrowed his eyes at Anton for a while wondering why he paid attention to every little detail.
He said nothing on the topic however, deciding instead to rest on the counter and continue scrutinizing Anton's face, like he was before Anton asked why he dressed so 'hardcore'. Anton naturally understood he didn't feel like replying and didn't bring it up again. He worked in silence as Xander continued watching him.
Sarah walked in on the two like that and remained where she stood deciding whether or not she wanted to do was worth doing or not, for a while before finally deciding if was, regaining composure and fully entering the kitchen.
"Sir. The client has just left. She seemed to be curious about the other sir."
"Xander? Why was she asking about him? What was she asking?" Anton asked.
The subject of conversation, Xander was clearly right there hearing them speak about him but he didn't seem to care, his attention solely focused on watching Anton.
Anton's attention however was on what he was doing as he asked Sarah what the client wanted to know about Xander.
"She asked if Sir is very familiar or close with him first." Sarah informed him.
"And what did you answer?" Anton asked, his tone languid, not seeming bothered. As though he had expected this particular question.
"I told her yes, you are." Sarah replied.
"Mn" Anton nodded, still not looking up from his task. He was cutting meat now. Xander raised a brow at him in a 'Really? Cause I didn't know that' expression. But he didn't make any objections. He seemed to somehow agree with Anton on the matter. Sarah seemed to be looking at that knife rather cautiously before she spoke her next words.
"Sir, she also asked what relationship you had with Xander Sir." Sarah finally decided to tell him after steeling her resolve.
Anton stopped what he was doing, placing the knife down on the board and resting his hands on the sides of the board.
"And?" He asked with a raised brow.