His Beautiful Addiction

What in the Hollywood movie is happening here? Why did Xavier Howells move into her neighborhood?! 

Ari stepped out and watched him go into the house across from hers. For real! This was happening? Placing the cake on the table, she ran to the window to peep at what was happening across the street. There were people moving boxes into the house. Xavier was standing outside, shirtless, and speaking to two guys. He said something and they laughed. 

She couldn't believe her eyes. Why in the world would he want to live here? What happened to his own house? What the hell was he thinking? 

Ari crossed her arms as she paced around the room; 

Was this because of her? No… no… She was not that important to him. Did he have to do something here? But why was it in front of her own house, of all places?

Ari walked to the window again to make sure she was not just seeing things, and she wasn't. 

Ari didn't concern herself with him anymore, and she went about her function for the day, obviously too distracted to go back to yoga. 

6 pm arrived quicker than she thought, and she saw a few cars pull into his driveway. As night fell, over a dozen people were at the house, the lights were on, and she could see virtually all of his living room through the glass. 

There was music on, but she couldn't hear clearly. Soundproof doors, probably. Although Xavier had asked her to come, she would not go. She did not know anyone there, and it would be awkward meeting Melissa there. Who would she say she was?

''hey, are you coming in?''

Ari's phone beeped on the kitchen counter as she prepared dinner; picking it up, she saw it was a message from Xavier. Her lips twitched when she realized she was probably on his mind for him to remember to ask if she was coming to the party. But before her feminine self would overthink things, she quickly snapped out of it. 

''hey, sorry for not informing earlier, I won't be coming to the party. I had an appointment to catch up to. I hope you have fun, and thanks for the cake. ''

She read her message a few times before sending it and going back to stir the sauce on the pan. 

No message came in again and Ari did not realize she had been unintentionally waiting for his text until she had checked her phone about 3 times.

No… 

Xavier was a player, and she was not about to get swayed. Ari reminded herself as she flipped her phone over. 

…

Days ran by and nothing changed. It didn't even feel like Xavier was living opposite her. She didn't even see him in the mornings when she went to work. Soon she even forgot he was living there, until one chilly Saturday night, she just finished having her bath after returning from work when she heard the doorbell ring. Ari patted her hair and opened the door, and she froze when she saw who it was; 

''Xavier…'' She was surprised. 

Xavier was standing in front of her door with a bowl of popcorn and two cans of coke, 

''Netflix and chill?'' 

''Uh… '' 

Ari was stunned she had not seen him in days and the first time he was coming to her door after the welcome party was to ask for Netflix and Chill. Well, she was about to watch Netflix, but she didn't think she was going to have company.

''You should have called… '' Ari said with a small chuckle; 

''Well, I did. You weren't answering your phone.'' 

''Oh.'' Ari glanced at the couch where she had left her phone before she went to shower. 

''What if I was with a company?'' she turned and asked him; 

''But you are not. '' Xavier replied with a smirk. ''but I can go back if you are not comfortable.'' 

''No, come in, but let me know the next time you want to come over,'' Ari said as she shifted to the side and let Xavier in. 

Locking the door, she pointed at the couch, signaling him to sit; ''what show do you have in mind? Have you seen The Tinder Swindler documentary?''

Ari asked as she kept her towel and came to join Xavier in the sitting room. 

''Nope, I haven't. Everyone is talking about it, heard the swindler is still walking around free?'' 

''That's so crazy. It's very annoying to think about but he did nothing specifically wrong, you know. He didn't force them to take out loans for him. They did that out of their own volition, so the laws cannot hold that against him. I think that was why he got away easily. '' 

She explained as she sat down beside Xavier, her hair was still damp, so he immediately got the sweet scent of her shampoo as she sat beside him. Picking up the remote, she searched for the movie;

''You haven't been around for a while, right?'' she asked. She had not seen him since, so she was a little inquisitive. 

A small smile tugged on Xavier's lips when he realized she had checked for him.

''Yeah, I just returned this afternoon.''

''mm, so why did you move into this neighborhood? It's not high profile, neither does it suit your taste?''

Xavier smirked, as he leaned to the side, supporting his head with his hand;

''How do you know what suits my taste?'' 

Ari peeked at him and she laughed; ''I don't know exactly, but it's obvious that rich kids don't like average places like this.''

''Well, this neighborhood is not bad at all. But I did not move here because I like here; a friend of mine is directing a movie and asked to use my home for the movie shoot. It'll last about 2 months max, so ill be back at my house in two months' time.''

''Oh, okay.'' 

Ari wanted to ask him why he chose the house in front of hers, of all places in the world, but she decided not to. It was clear he was there because of her.. Given that he had thought to come over the instant he came back. But did he have to go to that extent just to have an affair with her?