16. Xavier

CHAPTER 16

XAVIER

I pull up in my driveway, turn off the car, and sit with the dumbest grin on my face. The whole drive home I spent reliving the events of last night. I had zero expectations or plans going into that conversation with Ella. I just wanted to suss out how she was feeling and get a general vibe of if she was interested in something more. I did not anticipate showering with her, fucking her, and eating her out for breakfast. I can still hear her perfect little moans and her sharp intakes of breath as she nears her climax. I'm getting hard again just thinking about it.

"Down boy. Seriously, did you not get your fill last night?" I talk down at my crotch as I adjust my pants. I then inwardly cringe as I realise I'm literally sitting in my car and talking to my own dick. I sigh at myself and get out of the car. I go inside the house and plug my phone in to charge—it must have gone flat during the night. I head to the bathroom and have a quick shower. I can still smell the faint tropical scent of Ella on my skin, mixed with a hint of sex. It's not a bad smell, but I do have a meeting at lunch time with my dad and I don't want to have even the slightest scent of a woman on me. That's not a conversation I wish to have with my parents today.

I quickly rinse off and hop out, getting dressed into some grey track pants and a black t-shirt. I have a few things to do around the house before I have to meet with dad. First up, feed the chickens. I enter the coop and Meryl Cheep instantly spots me. Some days, she loves me, and others she will peck the shit out of me. Today, she saunters over, looks up at me, clucks a few times, then pecks my foot before running around in a circle, waiting for her food.

"You are such a weird bird." I laugh as I scatter the food around the coop. Guess today is a good day for Meryl. She's definitely my favourite chicken out of the three that I own. Nuggs may be the best layer and Hen Solo is the most placid, but Meryl has character, and I like that. As they start eating, I freshen up their water and inspect the fence to make sure the fox hasn't made another attempt at getting in. Thankfully, there isn't any evidence of digging. I say goodbye to the girls and make my way back inside the house. I check my phone and notice there is already a message from Ella, as well as a missed call from Lena. I call Lena back and put her on speaker while I open up the message from Ella.

"Hey boss man, what time are you coming into the pub today?" Lena pipes up. She's sounding especially cheery this morning.

"I have a meeting with Dad at midday. Why?" I ask as I read the text from Ella.

Ella

I'm in school prayer right now and I can't stop thinking about all the dirty things you did to me last night. And this morning. These are not very Godly thoughts I am having. Pray for me *prayer emoji*.

I snort with laughter.

"What's so funny?" Lena asks.

"Hmm? Oh, nothing. Just laughing at… the chickens," I say, trying to control my laughter. I can just imagine Ella sitting in some church set up, squirming in her seat thinking about the ways I made her come last night. Brilliant .

"Uh huh. Anyway, I might be an hour late arriving to work today. Something's come up. I'm all good but I'm a little behind schedule. Hope that's okay," she says .

"Oh, yeah that's fine. You worked heaps of overtime last week so don't stress. Just update me if you're delayed further." I type out my reply to Ella, only half focussed on what Lena is saying.

Xavier

You were praying to me plenty this morning as you came on my tongue.

Ella

FFS. I'm going to ignore you for the rest of the day. K bye.

Xavier

You can try, but I know you'll be thinking about me *winky face*

Ella

*seen*

"Xav? Hello?" I remember I'm on the phone with Lena.

"Shit, yeah sorry Lena, what were you saying?"

"I was saying I might need to take next Saturday off, if I can. You all good over there? You seem distracted of sorts," she asks tentatively.

"Yeah, I'm all good, sorry. Late night last night. Um, next Saturday should be okay, but let me double check the roster when I get into the office. I'll let you know for sure when you get in. Okay?"

"Sure, sounds good. I'll see you in a bit then. Bye." She ends the call.

I chuck on a load of washing before making myself a coffee and perching myself on the outdoor couch under the veranda. I have an hour before I need to be at work so I make the most of the beautiful morning. I look out over my property with a sense of pride. Even though Jade and I bought this place together, there was no chance I was moving out of it when we broke up. It's my dream home. I'm surrounded by native bush, with a row of huge gumtrees lining my driveway. I'll often find kangaroos in my yard in the mornings and almost every night I'll spot a possum or two. I really do get the best of both worlds living out here—it's about a 30-minute drive into work on the outskirts of the city, yet I get to live a somewhat country lifestyle. If I'm honest, it's my idea of paradise.

I finish off my coffee and get changed into my work clothes, which more often than not is just a button up with black jeans and R.M. Williams boots. We're a pub, not a law firm, so I refuse to wear a tie even though Dad does. I'm pretty sure I've seen that man in a tie more often than not in my lifetime. I attempt to tame my hair and give my beard a quick tidy before I deem myself work appropriate and head back out to my car. Once again, I'm hoping my conversation with Dad today is about me taking over the business, but I've stopped getting my hopes up.

I get to work and walk through the bar, saying hello to a few members of my team before ducking into my office. I check the roster for Lena and sure enough, we have someone available to cover her for next Saturday. The time has just hit 12 noon, so I make my way into Dad's office. I knock before opening the door and sticking my head in. "Hey, Dad. You ready for me?" I ask.

"Hey mate, yeah yeah, come on in." He's sitting at his desk, which is an absolute mess as usual. I once pointed it out and got a stern "it's my organised chaos, I know where everything is, so it's not an issue". Since then, I try to ignore it as best as I can. "How's the week been?" he asks.

"Not too bad." I reply. "Bit quiet early on in the week, but Tuesday quiz night has picked up. We've managed to secure quite a few regulars out of it. This weekend we have two functions on, so it'll be a busy one."

"Good to hear. Seems your new marketing strategy is paying off, with all that Intergram stuff."

"Instagram, Dad."

"Yeah, that's the one. Keep it up!"

"Will do. Anything else you wanted to discuss?" I ask hesitantly. I really can't push him on the handover stuff. I tried once about a year ago and he didn't appreciate it, said I was calling him old and useless and declared I wasn't ready. It was absolutely not the case, all I had said was that some of our practices were a little outdated and could use some modernising, and that I'd be happy to take over. He sulked for a week. Eventually, I was able to convince him of at least some of my ideas—like our marketing strategies—and took some jobs off his hands. It's not enough, though. So, I keep patiently waiting.

"Yeah, actually there is something I wanted to bring up," he says. My heart rate picks up slightly and I sit up a little straighter as he takes a brief moment to pause and focus his train of thought."There's a new brewery opening up out west and I was thinking we could stock them on tap, have a monthly special going or something. Whaddya reckon?" he asks.

My heart sinks a little, and I hide my disappointment as best as I can. "Oh, um… yeah. That sounds good. I'll get in touch and organise a meeting with them next week if that works?"

"Excellent! We can post about it on Instagrid." He beams.

"Dad, it's Instagram. GRAM."

"I know, I'm just teasing. I'm not that old, Jesus." He laughs and so do I. I know for a fact that he is not teasing. Frustrated as I may be, he still makes me laugh.

"Old enough," I say as I stand up and go to leave. "Call me if you need me."

"Will do. Hope the arvo shift goes alright. Catchya mate," he says with a wave.

I head back into my office and sit down at my desk, taking in a deep breath. I'm frustrated, but I sort of get it. I get why he's holding onto this role. It has been his job for 40 years. He's taken this place from a standard everyday pub to a local waterhole, one fit with a state-of-the-art beer garden and function space. Jimmies is essentially his second child. It's all he's ever known. He'll never admit it, but I bet he's afraid of the change retirement will bring. I'm just tired of constantly having to prove myself to him, and feeling like he just doesn't see it.

I give myself a few more minutes to sort out my thoughts, before heading out to the main bar to brief my staff on the functions we need to start setting up for this weekend.