Page 28 of Til Death
“Yes sir, it’s handled.” I nodded, tightening my hold around Xylina’s waist. She was leaning into me, hugging my waist, smiling like she had no cares in the world.
“I told you my hubby would come and get me.” Xylina giggled. “Can you believe they wanted to call me a rideshare?” She twisted her face up as if she’d smelled something bad.
Ignoring her, I dug into my sweat pocket for my wallet and pulled out a hundred-dollar bill. “Still, here’s for all the trouble. Sorry about this and thanks for calling me.”
He accepted the bill and nodded. “Thank you and no problem, sir. You two enjoy the rest of your evening.” He nodded again and turned to leave.
“That guy was so annoying. I kept telling him I was fine and he didn’t have to call you,” Xylina slurred.
“Stop talking,” I chastised.
She poked her bottom lip out. “You’re such a meanie. You need to be nicer to me. Iamyour wife.”
“Don’t remind me.”
Keeping my grip on her, I led us through the restaurant to the front door. It was packed inside. I wanted to get out without much hassle. Xylina wasn’t a global celebrity, but she was well known around the city and people knew who I was because of my growing success. The last thing I wanted was to be subjected to gossip. There had been a few times Xylina was talked about in the blogs. The larger her following on social media grew, the more interest people had in her life.
Soon as we got outside, the humidity from the rain earlier slapped me in the face. I walked to the valet and handed him Xylina’s ticket for her car. While her car was retrieved, I led Xylina to my car parked a couple feet away. Roman was waiting in the passenger seat. Before coming here, we parked his car at my house and he came with me so he could drive Xylina’s car back.
When Roman noticed us he stepped out the car and waited for us to approach. He was grinning as he eyed her.
“Looks like someone had a good time.” He laughed.
“Shut up,” I gritted, pushing past him so I could put Xylina in the seat he just got out of.
“There you go again being a meanie. You should smile more, hubby, unless you want frown lines and wrinkles.”
While Roman thought the situation was hilarious, I felt my annoyance growing the longer we stood there.
Drowning both of them out, I secured Xylina in her seat and grabbed her seat belt to put it on.
I was caught off guard when I leaned over to buckle her in and she moved forward, planting a kiss on my cheek.
“Thanks for coming to get me, hubby. Glad I could count on you.”
I faced her and I could be mistaken but the once drunken happiness on her face was suddenly replaced by a somber expression.
When she noticed I was paying her attention, she hurried to put a smile on her face, but it was clearly fake and tight. Her normally bright eyes were dimmed.
“Her car’s here,” Roman said behind me.
Not putting any more thought into it, I pulled up and went to close the door. “Are you leaving my car?” she said in a panic.
“No. Wait here.”
Closing the door, I met the valet to get the keys to the car. Going into my pocket, I pulled out two twenties and handed them over.
“Here.” I turned to give Roman the key fob.
“I hope no one sees me driving this girly ass car.”
Chuckling, I left him and went back to my car.
In just that short period of time, Xylina had fallen asleep. Her head rested on the door, her purse in her lap, and small snores fell from her mouth. It amazed me how young and innocent she looked when she was asleep. She was wearing a face full of makeup, fake lashes, and not a hair out of place, yet while she slept, she seemed like an ordinary girl. My eyes scanned her frame, taking in how she was dressed. She always left the housedressed like she was about to walk the runway. The whole time we were married, I rarely saw her dressed down. You would think there was a photographer waiting to capture her at every turn or something. Right now I didn’t see that girl, though.
Roman beeping brought me out my thoughts. Sticking on my hand out the window, I waved for him to go before taking one last glance at Xylina. The somber expression on her face popped into my head for a second. Part of me was curious about what brought it on. Xylina rarely showed when she was upset. If she wasn’t pouting about not getting her way, she was smiling and performative.
Not bothering to give myself a headache, I reached for the gear shift and put my car in drive. Whatever was bothering her, I was sure she’d get over it by the time she sobered.
