***

"Hey Bri. You called?" AJ asked once his friend had picked up the phone. "She told me you called like she said she would." AJ defended. "More studio time? Today? Fuck..." AJ whispered, trying not to wake Xanda again. "Give me the time and I'll be there. That's in less than two hours! Yeah yeah, I know. See ya." AJ put the phone back in its cradle. He watched Xanda sleep and wondered what in the world was going on between the two of them. They were as different as night and day yet he liked her...a lot. "Hey baby, wake up." AJ whispered to Xanda as she stirred. "Do I have to?" She asked with closed eyes. "You don't have to but you'll be here all alone because I have to leave in a while." Xanda's eyes flew opened as she smiled at AJ. "Where are you going?" She said, stretching. "Brian wants me in the studio at 10. That's why he originally called." Xanda looked AJ over and smirked. "You sure he didn't just decide to drag you into the studio this early just to piss me off?" She joked. "Honestly, you two better learn to get along quick. I'm starting to care for you and I love Brian like a brother. We've been through a lot together over the past decade. The least you two could do is TRY to be nice to one another when I'm around." AJ stated as he stood up and walked over to the bathroom.

Xanda felt bad for her relationship with Brian but she honestly could not stand the man and could not see how anyone could like a man as rude, anal, and obnoxious as he seemed to be. AJ walked out of the bathroom, towel drying his hair when he noticed that Xanda was sitting on the edge of the bed lost in her own little world. "Wake up." He said, while trying to figure out what to wear. Xanda stood up and walked over to his closet and pulled out a pair of over-sized jeans and a button down white shirt. She found a black wife beater and handed everything over to AJ. AJ looked the outfit over and glanced back up at Xanda. "Good choice." He grinned while he got dressed. "It's you." She shrugged.

AJ walked down stairs and made breakfast while Xanda showered. Once she was out she walked around his room in a towel trying to find her clothes. "You can wear that." AJ pointed to a short black skirt and maroon button-down shimmering shirt. "Where did you get that?" She asked as she examined the outfit. "A friend left it last time she stayed the night." Xanda raised an eyebrow in response. "Relax, she's our choreographer. She's from LA and I invited her to stay while she was in town choreographing our last tour." AJ explained. Xanda put the skirt and shirt on and smiled. It fit perfectly but it was definitely too short. She tried to pull it down but realized that it wouldn't go any further. AJ laughed at her and shook his head. "Babe, it's short. Get used to it." Xanda frowned as she looked at the outfit from the day before. She had split wine on the shirt during dinner with his mother and knew that she had no other choice but to wear the outfit that AJ had given to her. "So, are you gonna take me home?" She questioned as they walked downstairs. "Well, I was thinkin' of having breakfast then taking you to the studio with me. You said yourself last night that you didn't really understand what I do so I thought I'd show you." Xanda shrugged in response. She was curious about what he did and didn't mind going with him, but she was worried about another run-in with Brian. "Don't worry about Brian. I told him if he couldn't get along with you, then he should just ignore you. That's goes for you." He warned.

They ate a quick breakfast in quiet. AJ glanced at Xanda occasionally but didn't say anything. He knew that something was bothering her. "Talk to me." He demanded after he couldn't handle the silence. "Talk to you about what?" She questioned. "What happened to you?" He asked back. "What!?" She didn't understand what he was talking about. "You. Your mom. Last night. You were upset. I want to know why." He explained. "My mom...touchy subject." She stated before taking a sip of her coffee. "Please Xanda. Tell me." He knew in order to get to her body he had to get to her heart. She was a challenge and that was the real reason he liked her. It had nothing to do with wanting to love her or wanting to be with her because he cared for her. He wanted the challenge, he welcomed the challenge of getting close to her. He felt bad about his feelings for Xanda but he knew if given enough time then he could grow to honestly care for her. "My mom..." She repeated to him. "My mom married my dad when they were fresh out of high school. My dad was from a very wealthy family and was due to inherit the family fortune. Unfortunately, my grandfather, who I never met, cut my father off once he found out that my mother and father eloped. My grandfather said that my mother would bring him and the family business down. My dad loved my mom more than anything but we weren't rich or close to it. Things were tight in our small family. I was an accident, of course. My father loved me more than anything but to my mother I was more of a nuisance. After a while, my mother met a man at the airport when she went to pick up my aunt who was visiting for the summer. The man was an Egyptian business man who owned a multimillion dollar business overseas. My mom started to have an affair with that man and when my father found out about it he confronted my mother. My mother told him that she was leaving him for that man and my father couldn't handle it. He committed suicide which was convenient for my mother. She married that man and moved to New York City with him. As for me, I went back and forth between New York and Los Angeles where my aunt lived. My aunt started to demand more and more money for my care. Eventually she received enough money and put me in a boarding school for girls. My dad was the only one who loved me. To my mom, I was just a waste of her time and especially her money. My aunt was the same. I always promised myself that when I had a baby that I would love him more than I could love myself. I would be everything that my mother wasn't." Xanda stopped talking and looked out the window. "Shit, Xanda." Came AJ's quiet reply. 'What the hell am I doing? I am only going to fuck her up more.' He thought. He felt like holding her, comforting her, making all the pain go away, care for her. Care. He actually wanted to care for her, something he hadn't felt toward any woman for as long as he could remember. He thought that the only woman he could ever love was his mother. "Come here, Alexandra." AJ whispered as he stood up and grabbed her hand. Xanda stood up and placed her head on his shoulder as he hugged her tightly to his body. "You didn't deserve that. I don't know why you're still in contact with that gold digger." AJ replied harshly. He held grudges and Xanda's mother was now on his list. "AJ, she's my mother. I can't just forget about her." Xanda defended. "It seems like she's already forgotten about you." AJ replied. "No, she calls me once in a while. Ever since she moved to Cairo, I hardly hear from her." Xanda said quietly.