The Lodge - Chapter Five

"Either tell me why you're so happy or I'm gonna wipe that stupid grin off your face." Marah threatened in her best 'angry' voice, though it wasn't terribly convincing.

The kitchen was nearly empty, the brilliant winter sun muffled by a thick school of rain clouds that were squeezing out a frozen rain at the moment. Xavier was busy wrapping napkins around sets of silverware, his mouth seemingly stuck in what appeared to be a permanent smile underneath his rosy red mustache. The busywork hardly required his full attention, so he was free to let his mind wander, which only annoyed his co-worker more. "I don't know what you're talking about." he retorted smoothly, not even looking up from his work as Marah continued to steam in the corner, entertaining herself with the sound of a hard-boiled egg spinning around inside a metal bowl. "You're a dirty liar, you know that?" she sneered, neglecting the pile of forks and knives that she was meant to be folding.

Xavier had been in a good mood lately, there was no denying that. Even January seemed to have noticed, as evidenced by her attempts to bring him down by putting him and Marah on silverware duty, though not even that could dampen his spirits. Xavier gave Marah a quick, almost condescending glance before starting in on her set of silverware. "Seriously, it's nothing. I have good days and bad days, just like everyone else. Sometimes both in one day, even." As though trying to prove his point Xavier let his lips slide into an exaggerated frown, though it only lasted a few seconds before the corners of his mouth sprang back up into the stupid grin he'd worn since that morning. It's not that it was unlike him to be cheerful - as part of his job he'd learned to put on a happy face even in the face of despair. But rarely was he so elated that he couldn't even control his own face muscles.

He would be reluctant to admit it without some kind of protest, but since the previous day he had thought about little other than Ilene. They'd only known each other for a week or so, but she populated even the most unexpected of thoughts - all paths, it seemed, led back to her. Even what he could remember of his dreams last night had a hint of Ilene to them, though most of it was too surreal for him to want to dwell on. The soft, swirling feeling in his belly that usually accompanied a long overdue and satisfying meal had been tossing and turning inside of him the whole time, though it felt a bit different now. Whatever it was, it was hardly a feeling Xavier wanted to go away anytime in the near future. "Or ever, for that matter." he thought, no longer paying attention to the motion of his hands as they engulfed the last set of utensils.

Clearly fed up with his recent behavior and now dissatisfied with her new instrument, Marah rubbed her hands together contently. "Alright, fine. Be that way. Looks like we're done here. Hey, Jan!" January, who had just come through the swinging door leading to the dining room, leered at Marah like she were a dead snake the cat had dropped on her doorstep. "I told you to never call me that." she hissed, visibly close to popping a blood vessel. Marah smacked her forehead lightly, looking not the least bit sorry. "Right, sorry about that. January. We're finished here, is it okay if we go to lunch?" January's already stoic expression grew even more incredulous.

"Oh gee, done already? Whatever, go ahead. When you get back you better brace yourself - we've got two parties of ten coming in at two and guess who gets to take care of them?" Like a siren sucking the life out of a pack of seduced sailors, January let out a cackle as she tossed back her poker-straight hair, waltzing into the backroom. Marah stuck her tongue out after her. "I hear her new broomstick gets thirty miles to the gallon. She should be in a better mood."

~

"Thanks a lot, Glenn." Xavier and Marah had taken a seat next to one of the windows overlooking the translucent lake, the cold rain beating against the glass relentlessly. Unraveling her napkin and spreading it into her lap, Marah rested her head in her hands, sighing. She was looking rather exhausted, despite the fact she hadn't done a lick of work that day. "Why do they even make us do this anyway? Like people aren't gonna unwrap their napkins in the first five seconds." she lamented. Xavier shrugged, glancing out the window at the damp landscape outside. Even the distant mountains, somehow, seemed to remind him of Ilene.

"I mean it Xavier, I'm getting tired of this 'Little Mister Sunshine" crap. What, did January get diagnosed with terminal hangnails? " Xavier fidgeted, picking at the button of one of his shirt cuffs while gently biting his lip. If there was one thing Marah was better at than annoying January, it was squeezing information out of him. "No, nothing like that. I've just been feeling happier lately. I told you, it's nothing unusual." As Marah continued to glower at Xavier with her beady brown eyes, a shocked, excited expression suddenly appeared on her face. Her eyes grew wide as her mouth fell open in a serendipitous gape. "Wait. WAIT just a minute. I've seen this look before. It's the same look Glenn had when they hired that cute bellhop." She pointed her fork at him accusingly, still skewered into a juicy piece of asparagus. "Xavier...did you meet someone?"

Xavier didn't say anything, but the sudden rush of color to his face told Marah more than she needed to know. She may as well have found a cure for cancer, the smug satisfaction she suddenly began radiating. "I knew it. It's that new girl, isn't it. She came by my room the other day, what with her modest but quirky way of dressing and her shiny hair." As she talked Marah looked like she was slowly convincing herself more and more this was the truth, though Xavier remained silent, stuffing his mouth full of turkey burger. "Ugh...It all makes sense now!" After swallowing hard, Xavier finally put his hands up as if trying to calm down a particularly surly child. "Marah, slow down for a second." he tried to coax, but Marah looked like she was about to burst. "What's she like? Is she nice? She seems really nice. Are you two friends now? Is she funny?" Xavier took a swig of his glass of water, feeling his face go even hotter just thinking about it. Without thinking he almost comically pulled at the collar of his shirt.

"Yeah, I guess we're friends. She's really a nice person." he said simply, getting more nervous now that he was saying all of this out loud instead of tumbling it inside of his head. He decided not to mention his tendency to lose the ability to form complete sentences when she was around, at least for the time being. Marah had all the evidence she needed already. As she pushed the remaining asparagus heads around on her plate, Marah's enthusiasm quietly morphed from exuberant to genuinely pleased. "Well that's great, Xavier. I'm really happy for you." she said, now raising her glass to his, clinking them together before any protest could arise. "Don't think this means you get to eat lunch with her from now on, though. That's strictly my territory. It's in our contract, seriously. Look it up."

~

Ilene had gotten in the habit of stopping by and chatting with Xavier between jobs, and soon the tension that had originally prevented Xavier from speaking with complete words subsided, and he was finally able to relax a bit. Ilene had a way of speaking that was both comforting as well as inviting, like a particularly friendly school teacher. One afternoon, after hanging smilax and holly on every flat surface she could find, she told Xavier about her family in Vancouver, and being the only girl in a household full of boys, among other things.

"I think they forgot about it after a while." she began, settling into her now usual spot on the ledge beside Xavier's window. "They were always so busy, one Christmas they just bought four basketballs. If I remember right, I dressed mine up as the first female sports ball president." Before he could possibly stop himself, Xavier let out such a great belly laugh that Ilene started in as well, as typically happened when they were together. Xavier came to the conclusion that it was this kind of laughter that had finally convinced him that Ilene was the sort of person he could get along with. The only other person who could so expertly push all his buttons was Marah, and even she would be impressed at how well Ilene had become at it. "You're making this up." he finally challenged, feeling a strange sense of confidence that was rather foreign to him. Ilene rolled her eyes, part exasperation, part amusement. "I wish."

"What about you?" she asked one afternoon when taking her lunch break from updating the Christmas Eve schedule pamphlet. The internet connections had all been established within a few days, and she was now on call for technical support and anything else the management needed help with, which seemed to suit her just fine. Xavier had joined her on the window ledge, which was just barely big enough for the both of them. Though at first he kept his hands protectively to his belly, he'd gotten in the habit of resting them on the ledge. The frozen rain that had made an appearance that day cast long, sharp shadows of them on the floor.

"Me? What about me?" he answered back, already sporting the beginning of a smile. "I mean, what about your family?" Ilene clarified, now tossing a Rubick's cube she'd found in the lounge between her two hands. Xavier had been fidgeting with one of his fountain pens, but let it fall to the ground as he gave a subtle wince. "I'm very close to my father." he started out, clearly trying to sound positive but hesitation quickly slipped into his voice. "I don't get to see him much, though. He travels a lot." As Xavier spoke he became more and more fidgety, until finally he grasped both his hands together. "I have a brother and sister, but we don't talk usually." His head dropped down just an inch or two as his gaze became transfixed on the fibers of carpet beneath his feet. "And my mom passed away when I was five." he said finally, with as much strength as one can when sharing such a thing. Ilene stopped playing with the cube as well, settling it beside her as it seemed to lose any importance it might've had.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have asked about something so personal." she said finally, a twinge of guilt in her tone. Xavier shook his head, glancing out the window before turning back to her. "It's alright, really. It was a long time ago." They sat in silence for a few moments, nothing but the slow hum of an electric fan around to disturb them. It wasn't an uncomfortable silence. Not really. That was another thing that the two discovered they had in common - the invaluable ability to differentiate an unpleasant quietness from an appropriate one.

"So tell me, Mr. B...what about this, huh?" Ilene finally questioned while motioning to the top of Xavier's head, clearly trying to get their conversation back onto a positive note. "Is this natural, or are you secretly a closeted brunette?" she jeered, her gaze settling on Xavier's thick, deeply orange hair. "Very funny." he scoffed, giving his head a subtle scratch. "This is what happens when an Irishman marries a Scot." he explained, almost triumphantly. Ilene gently rocked back and forth on the cushion, looking at Xavier with an almost child-like fascination. "You should feel special. I've never seen anyone with such intensely red hair." She reached out to feel a tiny wisp of it, making Xavier seize up for a second or two from surprise. Her smile was warm and sweet. "It's like a superpower."

~

It was two days later when Ilene came upon Xavier perched at his desk, looking at his computer screen with such confusion he might as well have been trying to decipher an alien language. Ilene poked her head around the doorway, hardly able to keep herself for giggling at how intently Xavier was staring at his console, his expression equal parts determination and complete befuddlement.

"Xe?" she called out, realizing how funny she must look to anyone who would happen to pass by at the moment. Xavier's head turned before his gaze did, but the sight of Ilene seemed to visibly smooth the wrinkles on his brow, his eyes blinking ferociously after squinting for what Ilene figured must've been quite some time. He looked both relieved and, after noticing that leaning forward had made his shirt ride up just a few inches in the back, a bit embarrassed.

"Ilene, hi." he said, casually tugging at the rather taught fabric with such a feigned 'coolness' Ilene was already smothering a giggle. "Hope you don't mind me coming by a little earlier than usual." she said, causally letting herself in. Before answering, Xavier's intense concentration seemed to catch up to him, making him rub at his pink eyes. "Not at all." he replied, switching off his monitor as Ilene sat across from him on the bed. "What's going on? Are you working on something?" she asked, helping herself to the usual small saucer of wrapped candies on the night table.

Xavier sighed, looking like he hadn't had a very restful sleep the last night. His usual black dress shoes were today replaced by a pair of scruffy sandals, showing off his large but strangely chubby feet and toes. Even the slacks he had on looked like they hadn't had a proper wash in a while, though perhaps they'd been beaten against a rock sometime in the recent past. Although they were a lovely navy blue color, they looked one or two sizes too small, as did Xavier's desk chair. Anyone else might not have noticed how well he filled the aging seat, but then again, Ilene wasn't like most other people.

"I'm just trying to get this hunk of junk to cooperate with me. For once." Xavier lamented, giving the aging computer a dirty sideways glance. "I just want to check my e-mail, but even that seems to be beyond me. I'm just no good with this kind of thing." He sighed again, looking as if he were seriously considering throwing the whole thing out the window down to the frozen pavement below. Despite a moment of amusement at seeing Xavier so worked up over something, Ilene sat up straight, crunching up the peppermint she had in her mouth quickly and resting her hands on her knees. "You know, I know a thing of two about hunks of junk like this one." she said, approaching the computer cautiously, as if about to disable a particularly nasty jungle beast. Her eyes nearly sparkled with eagerness as she ran a hand across the plastic keyboard. "I could help you out, if you'd like."

The offer hung in the air for a few moments before Xavier seemed to completely digest their meaning. His eyes darted from Ilene to the computer. "No, really, that's alright, I'm sure you're busy..." he started, feeling his usual sheepishness start to bubble to the surface. Ilene didn't look the slightest bit deterred, already pulling over a folding chair in front of the offending device. "Are you kidding? I've got more time than I know what to do with right now. Besides, I've taught a room full of thirty hyperactive kids how to do this stuff before. I think I can handle teaching you." Even after such a strong argument, Xavier itched at his hands restlessly. "I dunno. I think I might be a lost cause." he said, finally.

"Alright, well how about this." Ilene started, folding her arms against her chest. "I'll make you a deal." Xavier also sat up, looking attentive, if a little hesitant. "If I show you how to work this here computer - don't worry, we'll take it slow," she added after seeing Xavier's eyebrows curl up with skepticism. "...then YOU can teach me to cook something. Something easy. How's that sound?" From the look on Xavier's face, it didn't seem like an offer he had seen coming, but still, he remained intrigued. "You want me to teach you how to cook?" he asked slowly, sounding out each word as though he hadn't put the sentence together adequately enough in his head. Ilene nodded, looking more and more excited with each passing second. "Why not? It could be fun, and trust me, I bet I'm way worse at cooking than you are at computers." Unable to do so with a straight face, Ilene offered her hand out. "Well? What do you say? Deal?"

It didn't seem like there was anything to lose, and since they spent so much of their free time together anyways, Xavier decided that if nothing else, it would be a memorable experience. He took her hand in his own, which had to be twice as big, and gave it two swift shakes.

"Deal."