Mirror Crown
Xavier stood there in the middle of the hallway, feeling like the walls were closing in on him. The grand estate stretched out in all directions, with corridors that seemed to twist and turn into infinity. Each room looked similar to the last—opulent, elegant, but cold and unwelcoming. The silence of the mansion was deafening, the kind of silence that seemed to be waiting for him to make a mistake.
The meeting room, he thought, his mind racing. Where is it?
Christian had been here so many times. He knew this house like the back of his hand. He would have known exactly where to go. But Xavier? He had no idea. None.
His eyes flicked down the long hallway, trying to decipher the signs, but everything felt foreign, like a maze he was trapped in. He had been told the meeting was about to start, but no one had actually pointed him in the right direction. It was like they just assumed he would know.
How could I possibly know? Xavier thought, his heart racing. I've never been here before. How can they expect me to know the way?
He took a deep breath, forcing himself to move, even though every step felt like he was walking in the wrong direction. His mind was cluttered with a thousand questions, but there was no time to answer them. He had to keep moving, had to keep up the act.
"Are you coming, Christian?" a voice called out from behind him.
Xavier froze. He hadn't realized anyone had been behind him. Spinning around, he saw a man standing at the end of the hallway, looking at him expectantly. The man's sharp eyes scanned him with a knowing look, as if expecting Xavier to already be at ease in the mansion, like he was supposed to belong here.
The man's presence made Xavier uncomfortable—too confident, too sure of himself. He was dressed in a suit, his hair neatly combed back, exuding the kind of authority that Xavier had no idea how to deal with.
"I... I'm trying to find the meeting room," Xavier said, his voice a little too shaky for his liking.
The man raised an eyebrow, a smirk tugging at the corners of his lips. "You've never been there before, have you?" he said, stepping closer. "Come on, I'll show you."
Xavier nodded, relieved that someone was finally offering to help. He couldn't have admitted how lost he was—how could he? He was supposed to be Christian, supposed to know everything. But right now, he felt like a complete outsider in his own skin.
The man led him through the maze of hallways, each step making Xavier feel more and more like an imposter. He tried to focus on the man's footsteps, trying to keep his composure, but everything around him felt so unfamiliar.
Eventually, they reached a door at the end of the hall—tall, imposing, with a gold plaque that read Meeting Room. The man gave Xavier a small nod, pushing the door open and stepping inside.
Xavier followed him, his heart pounding in his chest. As he entered the room, he was met with the sound of hushed conversations and the clinking of glasses. A large oval table sat at the center of the room, surrounded by well-dressed individuals who immediately fell silent the moment Xavier stepped in.
"Ah, Christian, you're here!" one of them said, rising to greet him.
Xavier didn't know who this person was, but the familiar greeting was enough to make his stomach churn. The pressure to be someone he wasn't was suffocating, and it felt like every eye in the room was scrutinizing him, expecting him to act like Christian, to speak like Christian, to be Christian.
He forced a smile, nodding in acknowledgment, but inside, he was unraveling. How long can I keep this up?
The man who had guided him into the room gave him a knowing look, his eyes scanning Xavier as if measuring his every move. "Shall we begin, then?" he asked, his voice firm, as he motioned for Xavier to take a seat at the head of the table.
Xavier hesitated for a moment, glancing around the room, searching for any sign that would tell him how to act, what to say. But there was nothing. He was on his own in this.
The people in the room were waiting for him to take the lead, to speak with the authority that Christian had carried so effortlessly. But Xavier had no idea what he was supposed to say. How could he know? He wasn't Christian.
"Of course," Xavier finally said, his voice sounding almost hollow to his own ears. He moved to the seat at the head of the table, trying to remember how Christian would have sat, how he would have spoken, how he would have controlled the room.
As he sat down, a strange silence fell over the group. Everyone seemed to be waiting for something—some cue, some sign that Xavier was truly in control. But Xavier was too busy trying to hold it all together to even think about that.
He glanced down at the papers in front of him, trying to focus on something—anything—other than the suffocating reality of the situation.
"This meeting," a voice from the other side of the table began, breaking the silence, "is about the new expansion plans. Christian, you've been working with the board on the project, right?"
Xavier nodded mechanically. "Yes," he said, the word slipping out with far more confidence than he felt. "I've reviewed the plans. Let's get started."
But even as he said the words, he had no idea what the plans were. He had no idea what anyone in this room expected from him. The reality of the situation hit him like a wave—he was lost. Completely lost.
The meeting proceeded, with everyone directing their questions and comments to him. But all Xavier could think about was how long he could keep pretending to be someone he wasn't. How long before someone figured it out? How long before the mask he wore shattered and exposed him for the imposter he truly was?
As the conversation continued, Xavier's mind wandered, struggling to make sense of the chaos around him. He didn't belong here,and everyone in the room seemed to know it—except for him.