Chapter 103 Back On Track
After finding 2 suitable dojos and a building that was suitable for both Zack and Karim\'s units, Xavier had made verbal deals with all the owners, but they didn\'t mean much.
And he knew that and wanted to secure the deals properly and also make sure that everything was clear and that there was no way that they could be forced out of the places or anything like that.
But almost as if Eddie, the lawyer he had previously tried to recruit, could read his mind, Xavier received a call from an unknown number.
Xavier had given him his number, but of course, hadn\'t been able to get the number off of the broken man.
However, after hearing his voice, Xavier was glad that he was no longer in the state he had left him in, and before Eddie could say anything he wanted to, Xavier suggested that they met up.
Eddie was eager to and told Xavier to come to an address that he sent him and that he wanted to show him something.
Xavier needed Eddie\'s help anyway and wanted him to secure the deals for him and also get to work with Zack straight away, so headed over as soon as he could.
And he was surprised that it was an address not too far away from where he lived, but that wasn\'t a particularly good thing.
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Around where Xavier lived were mostly other decrepit buildings with too many small homes to count, and it seemed as though the address was one of those homes.
However, upon knocking on the door, Xavier, who was expecting Eddie, was surprised to find a young, pretty blonde woman with a warm smile.
"Hello, there, madam. I\'m looking for Eddie. A scruffy looking asshole that likes to wear wacky coloured suits," described Xavier loud enough so that if Eddie was inside, he could hear.
The woman chuckled, and she was very cute as she did so, but from the dark eye bags that she had formed and how frail she appeared, despite being young and quite good-looking, she was clearly struggling.
"Come in," she said while ushering him inside.
She seemed very friendly and Xavier took her in on the offer, not having much to worry about, and took off his shoes and acted respectfully.
He was led into a small cosy living room in which Eddie was sitting and stroking the thin hair of his baby daughter with a smile that spanned from one ear to the other.
"Aren\'t they both beautiful?" he commented in a hushed manner, not wanting to startle the baby on his lap.
"Yeah, very, not suiting an idiot like you," retorted Xavier before walking over to him and gently lifting the baby off him.
Handing the baby over to its mother, Xavier grabbed Eddie by the collar and lifted him off the sofa he was so relaxed on before glaring at him straight in the eyes.
"I\'m glad you\'re doing better now, but I didn\'t do that whole thing with you for you to go and leach off your poor fiance and baby. Look at her, do you think she\'s in any state to be taking in a bum like you?" scolded Xavier, seeing how relaxed Eddie was.
"If you would calm down sir, I was merely enjoying the fact that I can see my daughter and that my fiance is still willing to let me in her home after I disappeared for a year. But before she accepts me as her fiance again and before I can call myself Emily\'s father, I have a lot of work to do. So that\'s why I called you," responded Eddie calmly before taking Xavier\'s hands off him and fixing his lapels.
Xavier smiled and was glad that Eddie had come to that realisation, but before he did anything else, he looked at Eddie enquiringly.
"Yes, I will be joining you, kid," he confirmed.
With that, it was settled and Xavier scurried over to Eddie\'s fiance and took the baby back off her before giving it back to Eddie.
"Let him look after the baby. Why don\'t you and I make some coffee or something to drink?" suggested Xavier.
The blonde woman didn\'t even know who Xavier was, and other than the fact that he was Eddie\'s guest and that he had just scolded her fiance, she didn\'t know anything else.
However, despite that, seeing how docile Eddie was after all that the unusual blue-eyed youth had done, she also couldn\'t help but feel relaxed and as if he was welcome in their home.
"Sure, but excuse the mess."
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With that, Xavier and Eddie\'s fiance were off to the kitchen and quickly started chattering away, with Eddie\'s name popping up in the conversation quite a few times, but they were too far for Eddie to hear what exactly they were saying.
But he didn\'t bother getting up or trying to listen in.
He was already happy to be holding his daughter, and if they were both berating him, he deserved it and couldn\'t really expect otherwise.
However, unbeknownst to him, their conversation wasn\'t all negative and was just about what each other knew.
Xavier concealed a few things, such as Eddie\'s suicide attempt and the fact that he was joining the Outlaw Gang, but other than that, said the complete truth of everything he knew.
And it surprised Eddie\'s fiance, who hadn\'t known a lot of what Eddie had been dealing with and she thanked Xavier for telling her, but also knew that it wasn\'t time to speak to Eddie about them yet.
"I\'ve already spoken to Eddie, and he is a changed man. And of course, it\'s hard to get rid of all the resentment you must feel for him abandoning you and leaving you to struggle alone, but now you can relax more and take care of yourself," reassured Xavier as she went to get some coffee from the cupboard.
However, as she did, he grabbed her arm and pulled up her sleeve.
"You are a breastfeeding mother. If you don\'t eat well, you\'ll have weak bones, lose your teeth and suffer extreme malnutrition. You probably can\'t even escape my light grip right now."
"So take care of your health a bit better now that Eddie will be helping around in the house and with money. It\'s also important, as that baby needs to get all its nutrients and food from you."
Releasing her arm, she was flustered and never expected to be grabbed and spoken to so forwardly by someone she just met.
Xavier merely shrugged.
"Sorry if I offended you, but it\'s just how I am. It\'s better to be forward and honest when you can be, and I can tell you\'re a strong woman, so I didn\'t need to hold back."
It became slightly awkward, but she started questioning who he was and how he had met Eddie, and they quickly fell into discussion again, moving past what had just happened.
By the time they had made a couple of cups of coffee, an hour had already passed, and Eddie\'s fiance had spoken to Xavier a lot and became quite comfortable around him very quickly.
With Xavier\'s forwardness, one either became close with him quickly or would hate him for appearing disrespectful, but thankfully, in this case, it was the former.
And when they returned to the living room with the coffee, Eddie had already fallen asleep with the baby also sleeping in his arms.
Taking the baby out of his arms, Eddie\'s fiance took her to another room to sleep in her cot.
Meanwhile, Xavier sat beside Eddie, who had just woken up.
"You seem to have gotten comfortable with my fiance."
"Yeah, she\'s a good woman. And since you decided to join me, I put in a good word for you. Once we get our money up and if you show her that the old Eddie is back, then I\'m sure you can even make her your wife," whispered Xavier, not wanting her to hear.
"My brother!" Eddie got excited after hearing that and appreciated Xavier as he swung his arm to link hands with him.
However, as he did, there was a slight pain in Xavier\'s hand that reminded him.
"I just remembered you gave me this scar, you asshole."
Jumping up, he flipped his body mid-air and hooked his legs around Eddie\'s head before throwing him off the sofa and pinning him to the ground.
And when the blonde woman returned from putting her baby to sleep, she found her fiance pinned in a clearly painful position and crying out for the blue-eyed youth to release him.
"Hey! Quiet down. You\'re going to wake up, Emily!" she scolded.
But she didn\'t bother getting Xavier to release her fiance as she laughed at the two of them who were an amusing duo.
After settling down and letting him go, Xavier sat down as if nothing had happened and started drinking the coffee he had made himself.
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A short while passed and Eddie\'s fiance seemed to enjoy having company, never really speaking to anyone ever since Eddie left, while Eddie was just happy to be in the presence of his fiance.
However, Xavier had to cut their friendly chatter short and had no more time to waste.
Now that Eddie\'s life seemed to be back on track, Xavier needed his help with the Outlaw Gang, and the sooner the better.