"Tell me again," Alexander kept his voice low in the kitchen. "Why did you bring her over here?"
"She's your friend," Max answered. "And I wanted her somewhere comfortable."
"She's not…" Alexander rubbed his temple. Clearly, some of his friends didn't believe him when he said he and Selena had nothing in common, not even friendship. "What's wrong with her?"
Max shrugged a shoulder. "I don't know. She just stopped crying minutes before I got here."
Max and Alexander looked over to the living room where a quiet Selena was seated. Her legs were folded underneath her, blanket covering her shoulders and she gave a blank stare at the movie playing on the television. Alexander had been shocked when he saw she and Max at his doorstep right after he was done with work at the office and preparing to head over to Sterling Corporation. Right now, he wasn't so sure it would be okay to send Selena away.
He looked at her again. He hadn't seen her in that state ever since he knew her. She was either happy, annoying, or angry, but looking so morose must mean something bad had happened. When Max had told him she had been crying, he wondered who or what could make her that way.
Her phone vibrated next to her. She looked at it, like the other several times it had rung, and ignored it.
"I've got to be at the office," Alexander said.
"At least talk to her," Max said. "She wouldn't say anything to me."
"She won't say anything to me either because we aren't friends as well," Alexander took a glass and poured himself some water from the fridge. "You should have taken her to one of her friends. Tamika maybe."
"I only know this place," Max said. "And she didn't protest. She's comfortable here."
Alexander downed the water and looked over to Selena again. She had hugged the blanket tighter around herself, and her eyes were closed. He didn't know if she was sleepy, but Alexander set the cup down and proceeded to the living room.
He sat a few inches away from her and saw "Dad" flash across her phone screen. Selena didn't bother to open her eyes to look at it.
"Selena," Alexander called. She opened her eyes and looked over at him, but didn't say anything.
"Are you okay now?" He asked.
"You want me to leave," Selena said, her voice low.
"No," Alexander said. "Just…" he shifted closer. "Tell me what happened."
Selena looked away from him. "I have a feeling some news outlets or blogs will tell you."
"I'm concerned about your version, not theirs."
She looked at him again. Her eyes flickered over to Max, and Alexander turned to see he was still standing in the kitchen, cradling a bottle of smoothie and watching them.
"I'm sorry, Alex," Selena began. Alexander saw the way her eyes clouded over with unshed tears, and it took two blinks to avert them back to normal. "I know you hate me because of what I did with Valentin…"
"I don't hate you," Alexander corrected her. There was a momentary pause, and Alexander began to put two and two together, " wait, don't tell me all these is about Valentino"
Selena hugged the blanket tighter around herself, but her face was contorted with anger.
"Selena," Alexander prompted her to answer him.
"I don't want to talk about him, please," She said, her voice crackling. "He's one of the biggest regrets I have and I feel so stupid…"
"It's okay," Alexander said, putting a hand to stop her. Selena's eyes watered, and she closed up the space between them, throwing her hands around Alexander and squeezing him in a hug.
Alexander, confused, looked at Max. He hugged Selena back, and she tightened her hold on him.
"I'm sorry, I just need to be comforted right now," She said over his shoulder. "I don't mean to make you uncomfortable."
"I understand," Alexander said.
Selena relaxed in his arms. "My father's going to kill me."
Alexander said nothing to that, and Selena went on.
"I've made a stupid, stupid mistake."
She remained hugging him, and Alexander checked his watch. He was going to be late to Sterling Corporation.
"Selena," Alexander called. "I'll leave you with Max. I've got a meeting I want to attend."
Selena broke away from the hug in an instant. She looked embarrassed and resumed her former position of hugging the blanket around herself.
"Right, no problem," Selena said. She needed to hide away for a while till she felt more like herself and back to handling the world. Right at that moment, she felt weak, and she'd probably regret everything she was doing at Alexander's place later on, but for then, she didn't care.
Alexander put a comforting hand on hers and squeezed. "Take care of yourself. And if you feel like eating anything, Max will handle it."
Selena nodded. "Thank you."
Alexander rose and went over to Max in the kitchen.
"I told you she's comfortable with you," Max said.
"I'll be heading out now," Alexander told him. "If you need my help, reach out to me."
He left them at his place and went downstairs to where Louis, his driver, was waiting for him by the car. Even Louis looked forlorn, Alexander noticed. He had tried to keep the polite smile on his face all day, but several times, Alexander had caught the sadness on his face in the rearview mirror, and the usual chatty rides were dulled with monotonous responses from him.
"Mind telling me what's wrong with you?" Alexander asked after ten minutes of silence.
"Oh nothing Boss," Louis replied, but his voice said the complete opposite.
"Is this about your lover neighbor?" Alexander pressed on. "Maryanne?"
Louis gave a heavy sigh as if releasing all the burdens in him.
"She…wants me to back off a bit," he started.
"She told you in those words?" Alexander asked.
"More or less," Louis said, taking a left turn. "I couldn't help but wonder where I went wrong. I mean, I showered her with gifts, saved up for fancy restaurants, did everything right, but it looks like I've been doing everything wrong, I don't know how."