55 Chapter 54: Giving the Best Performance to Accomplish His Mission

"I didn't expect that he could sing," Olivia said.

"Well, perhaps it's one of his hidden talents," Hope said. She had never seen Xavier perform before.

Well, he shut himself from the world and seldom hung out with them when he arrived in Sterlington City. Only a few people knew that he existed because of his condition. Grandfather Lockhart wanted to protect him and his identity.

She saw these three perform together with Dylan at family events back when they were little and they were very talented, though.

That's why Hope was taken aback to see him perform with them. Was he trying to serenade Zarah?

During the entire performance, Xavier's gaze never left Zarah who could not explain the emotion she felt while watching Xavier perform.

She felt happy. No one had ever done this for her before. Her heart was beating so fast while looking at him.

He became more handsome and hot on stage. The sleeves of his white shirt were rolled up to his elbows and he left two buttons open in the front. All in all, he screamed male hormones on stage.

Zarah did not expect that behind his coldness and aloofness was this overflowing charisma that charmed everyone and she was not an exception.

"Oh my gosh! He could be an idol!" Someone from the audience screamed.

After the song, Xavier sang another one. This time, he sang Ed Sheeran's Perfect.

Everyone fell in love with his sweet baritone voice. This man knew how every girl in the room was swept off their feet.

Xavier on the other hand smiled as he had finally accomplished his mission. Zarah's attention was fully on him.

She was looking at him with adoration and surprise.

After the performance was over everyone whistled and gave them a huge round of applause.

"Thank you, everyone!" Cole thanked the audience on everyone's behalf.

Meanwhile, Xavier left the stage and walked toward Zarah. Zarah's heart became erratic when she saw him getting closer.

"Hi."

"Hello."

Her three friends rolled their eyes as they did not expect Zarah to act like a shy teenager in front of this very tall and handsome man.

"Look at them. They looked good together." Trixie said to tease her sister and the latter rolled her eyes in response.

"Yeah. Whatever!"

Meanwhile, Xavier leaned forward and asked, "How was my performance?"

"Not bad," she said with a mixture of teasing and seriousness even though his performance was beyond good. Nevertheless, she didn't want to make this man so cocky about it.

There was always room for improvement and Xavier understood her intention.

"Then, I should work hard to meet your standards, Miss Jansen." Xavier teased her.

Xavier earned a lot of fans overnight.

Meanwhile, Chris and his team were having a busy night taking down the videos related to their boss' performance.

They grabbed their phones and tried to look him up on social media but they could not find him there.

Someone who made a live stream of the performance frowned as it was taken down immediately.

The comments were immediately taken down. Those who were able to watch the performance and got a glimpse of Xavier were very lucky.

One woman from the audience was bringing tissue paper and a pen and approached them, "Excuse me, can we take your autograph?"

She kind of pushed Zarah away and Xavier's hand grabbed her protectively.

He didn't push the woman though. He wanted to see Zarah's reaction.

"Go ahead. Seems like you have become famous overnight, Mr. Lockhart."

Xavier then grabbed the pen and the tissue from the woman and gave them to Zarah.

"She wanted your autograph," he said, which made the woman and Zarah equally baffled.

The woman was so focused on Xavier that she ignored Zarah's ethereal beauty beside him.

Xavier uncapped the pen and then leaned on it to whisper, "Don't worry. Every time someone wants my autograph, sign them for me."

"Why should I do that?" She asked.

"Do you want me to sign them instead?" He asked her back.

Other than official documents, Xavier would never give anyone his signature to avoid being forged.

Did she want him to sign it?

No! Never!

Zarah then wrote her initials and signed on top of it.

"Here." She gave it to the woman after she was done and genuinely smiled at her.

The woman felt like crying.

"Thank you. Ahm. I'm sorry if I disturb you," she said awkwardly.

"No. None at all. He was not used to it (people taking his autograph). He's not a celebrity after all and so I hope you understand." Zarah tried her best to explain to the woman. She didn't want Olivia's business to lose its customers over this.

Positive reviews from customers were what they needed now for the bar to survive in this fierce competition. Positive reviews pulled curious customers in.

"Yeah. I understand. No offense taken. Don't worry, my ratings won't change. And by the way, you look so beautiful. May I know the skincare products you use?" She was of Zarah's porcelain white and glass skin.

It turned out that the woman was a known blogger and social media influencer.

She looked so beautiful that she could write a ten-page blog about her and this encounter with these two crazily beautiful creatures.

Zarah chuckled and said, "I just kept myself hydrated. Eating healthy and getting enough rest. As for my skincare, I made them myself."

"Oh! I thought it is available in the market."

"Nope."

"Well, if you're going to make a blog about it, I'm sure it'll be a hit." She told Zarah.

She did have a blog about it but she hadn't visited the page for a while now.

"I'll think about it." She said and the woman was glad.

After the quick exchange, she left with Zarah's autograph. It was not a total defeat for her as she got the chance to talk to Zarah.

It's such a shame that she only gave her initials on the tissue.

However, she was positive that they would meet again.

The others who wanted to follow her and get Xavier's autograph immediately turned around in defeat.

Xavier then grabbed her hand and they walked out of the bar. Xavier made sure that no one would bump her as they headed out.

Brian gave him his coat to protect him from the cold outside. Zarah was already comfortable with her hooded sweatshirt underneath her leather jacket paired with her sweatpants and sneakers.

Brian and a few guards followed them but kept their distance to make sure they had their privacy.

It was almost eleven and people were catching their last trip home. The public places were no longer crowded compared to peak hours.

They walked close to each other but didn't dare to hold each other's hands.

Xavier wanted to hold her hand but he thought that maybe she didn't want to.

The back of their hands touched each other and they could feel the spark and they flinched.

It was not there before. This was not the first time they held each other's hands.

Xavier and Zarah looked at each other and Xavier gulped hard especially after seeing her flustered face. She was blushing.

He wanted to lean in for a kiss. However, he didn't want to cross that line.

'Be patient!' Xavier told himself. It had been his mantra ever since Zarah agreed to be pursued by him.

Thus, he looked away reluctantly and decided to look ahead of them even though his attention was focused on her.

There were a few couples who decided to sit on the bench eating barbecue skewers which were sold from the night market nearby.

"Do you want some?" Xavier asked after he saw that Zarah was looking at the couple.

He didn't expect that Zarah was thinking of the past.

Josh and her would do these late-night dates in the early days of their dating period.

"Zarah?" Xavier asked after realizing that she had become absent-minded.

"Are you okay?"

"Eh?" Xavier's concerned voice made Zarah snap back from her memories.

"Shall we go back?"

"No! I'm sorry. I just remember something." She honestly said and Xavier's mood turned sour. He felt like this might be related to Josh again.

Xavier would always be insecure. After all, Josh was her first boyfriend. He felt that he had to do extra to surpass him in her heart.

Zarah could feel his foul mood and so she invited Xavier to sit on the park bench with her.

Xavier looked hesitant and so she had no other choice but to grab his hand and drag him with her.

"Sit," she commanded, and Xavier reluctantly obeyed her.

She also sat down next to him. Zarah let go of his hand and Xavier felt empty and cold. She felt the same way, too.

"I know what you're thinking." She started.

"What was I thinking?" He asked her back.

She got annoyed and told him, "For d*mn sake, let me finish first, will you?"

"Go ahead."

"You're insecure," Zarah said and Xavier denied this immediately.

"Insecure? Why should I? I'm Xavier Lockhart!"

Zarah ignored his childishness and continued, "Yeah. Sure! I know that feeling. I was like you when I was dating Josh."

Zarah paused and heaved a sigh before she continued, "Natalie was Josh's first love. They were high school sweethearts. I was rejected by him because of her. So, when he pursued me, I was hesitant. It took me a while to entrust my heart to him."

Zarah was glad that he decided to listen and not interrupt her and so this gave her the courage to continue.

Zarah looked away from him and continued, "He was patient. I have to give him credit for that. Over time, he successfully won my trust and my heart. I was over the moon. We were over the moon. Though our relationship was not perfect we managed to reach a year."

Zarah looked down because she was going to tell the saddest part of it.

"But then in just a snap of a finger, everything changed. It changed when Natalie came back. Josh broke both my trust and heart."

Xavier grabbed her chin and made her look at him.

"Look at me, Zarah. Should you allow me, I won't do the same thing to you. I'll treasure you more than my life," he promised, however, Zarah shook her head.

"Don't give me those promises Xavier. Promises are made to be broken."

"But--" Xavier wanted to explain himself but Zarah placed her index finger on his lips to silence him.

"I'm not done yet."

Xavier reluctantly nodded his head and decided to listen to whatever she wanted to say first.

"Josh's betrayal shattered me. The last time I check, I'm still collecting the broken pieces and trying to fix them into another whole that represents me."

A person would never be the same after a breakup. You changed.

Zarah then smiled bitterly and continued, "Are you sure that you're willing to love a broken shoe like me?"

"Of course! You don't have to ask me as I am more than willing to do that!" Xavier said with conviction.

"Isn't this unfair to you? You may look like my rebound," Zarah taunted him.

She thought that a man as excellent as Xavier would never agree to be a rebound. They were born to be alpha males. Born to be a king. How could they allow themselves to be at that level?

This was her last challenge for him. Should he pass this, she would also make her decision.

However, Xavier thought otherwise, "So what if I am your rebound? It would be unfair if I see you smiling happily with another guy and not me."

Zarah was caught off-guard by this. "But I don't love you," she mumbled.

"Yet. You don't love me yet." He was aware of that. "However, even if we're already dating, I'll pursue you every day until you learn to love me. Dating you is just the beginning of everything, Zarah." He continued patiently.

"Would you do that?" She asked him again. She wanted to make sure that her decision was right.

"Yes! Just be my girlfriend, please." His eyes were desperately pleading with her.

"Good. Because the decision to love again is quite taunting for someone like me who is still nursing a broken heart. Don't promise me anything as it would only break me more should you fail to keep it. I'd rather like it if you show me."

"What do you mean?" Xavier suddenly became nervous. He could not explain the emotions he felt in anticipation.

Zarah grabbed his hand and she could feel how cold they were. 'Is he nervous?' She asked herself and thought that Xavier looked cute.

"I appreciate all of your efforts, Xavier. And so, please take care of my broken heart the same as I keep yours safe." Zarah finished with a genuine smile.

Xavier's mind exploded in euphoria that he went blank for a couple of seconds.

Zarah didn't disturb him and gave him time to recover.

"Is that a yes?"

She could tell that he was not fully recovered and so she decided to tease him, "Why? Don't you want me to take it back?"

Xavier pulled her immediately into a tight hug and said, "No! Please don't!"

Zarah chuckled and this vibrated in his chest making him very happy.

She's real! She's finally real!

He could finally hold her openly with no more reservations.

Being hugged by Xavier, Zarah felt very happy. She was satisfied with his reaction.

This giant acted like a happy kid because of her.

Xavier deserved to be happy. However, she would never let him find this kind of happiness from others.

Call her selfish but she had already learned her lessons.

Brian and the others were wearing a smile as they looked at their boss finally hugging his woman in the distance.

Brian could feel his phone vibrating inside his pocket and he answered it through his earphone.

"What's up? Do we have an official lady boss, now?" Rupert asked his friend.

Brian hummed and said, "Mission accomplished!"

Rupert's phone was actually on speaker, thus everyone heard what Brian said.

The first one who got happy from the news was Hope.

"Yes! Finally!" Hope thought that those two just needed a push and she was glad that she did it.

She was so over the moon that she grabbed Cole's hand and invited him to dance.

Of course, there was no way for Cole to decline her invitation. He willingly got up and they danced to the slow music being played from downstairs.

Trixie and Olivia were happy for their best friend.

At least, Zarah had something to look forward to. They did not doubt her when she said she had already gotten over Josh

Perhaps the news of Zarah dating another guy would wake Josh up that his chance was over.

***