XXXVI
Sitting in an almost trance–like state, Emerald stared unblinkingly at the light purple card she held so dearly in her hands. Her gaze shifted to the purple coloured flowers lying vibrantly on her office desk as her delicate fingers brushed softly against the intricate designs on the wonderfully scented card.
Thinking back to the numerous amount of cards which laid haphazardly in the drawer of her nightstand, a beautiful smile graced her face. Today marked the fifteenth day Jordan had been sending her flowers, cards and really delectable meals and she had to admit that it had now become a norm for her to the point where her heart never failed to thud with anticipation at the start of each day as she always timed the arrival of the deliveries.
Letting her eyes come to focus on the view of the flowers, Emerald allowed the surprise and awe she truly felt to show on her face. Since the first day where Jordan had had different varieties of flowers sent to her, seemingly, he had decided to change his mind and make things more interesting for her by delivering a particular type of flower each day with their accompanying cards mirroring the colours of the bouquets.
The day before, he had sent a bouquet of sweet alyssum accompanied by a white card and today, he had decided to send a bouquet of purple coloured wisteria with a purple card. She couldn't help but wonder how many species of flowers the man knew for him to not have run out of what type of flower to deliver.
Something told her he knew quite a lot and would go to any depth to have even the rarest of flowers sent to her to gain her forgiveness and that thought scared her as she looked around her office, which at this rate, would soon be a garden.
Her formerly dull and three colour–themed office was now thrumming with variegated colours and species of blooms, whose scents all wafted from their respective vases and into her nose, which tickled ominously. She could feel a sneeze coming on.
Next, her eyes were set on the words he had written on the card. Just like when she had first read it, a laugh escaped her lips again. She could've never imagined Jordan to sound so playful or to even possess anything akin to a sense of humour but in his recent letters, he had been proving her wrong with his words.
Today, he had written,
“‘Ah choo!’ That's me sneezing while getting you your flowers today. *Sigh* my men have been wondering where the flower scents around me have been coming from, but they've been too cautious to ask. I mean, isn't it weird for a MAFIA DON to smell like flowers everytime? A total contrast to what I ought to smell like, but shows how much I'd do for your forgiveness, Gem.
No matter what – ah choo! – others – ah choo! – may think, *coughs* I'll continue to send you flowers until I bloom in your forgiveness, love.”
Emerald, at this point, couldn't hold in her laughter anymore as she held her stomach and bellowed alone in her office. She may seem like she was crazy or something, but she found Jordan's words hilarious.
With happy tears in her eyes, she turned over the card like she had done many times since its delivery but found nothing at the back. Emerald wondered why the letter had ended so abruptly when her fingers shifted slightly and the apparently folded edge at the bottom of the card spread out, showing the rest of the letter.
“I'm sorry for the sneezes. I guess I'm allergic to wisterias after all.
As much as I want to keep writing to you, Gem, I have to go now. And oh, Carol packed a bunch for you for lunch today. Today's menu encompasses fairly large variants of seafoods. She hopes you like em!
Eternally yours,
J.”
And as he had said truthfully, the food containers on her desk were filled to the brim and many enough to feed her entire nuclear family. He had even gone as far as getting her her usual black coffee. She would have to thank Carol immensely for the food later. But that wasn't what bugged Emerald now, it was the fact that he had mentioned being allergic to wisterias.
Although, she didn't know to what extent his allergy was or why he hadn't been aware of it before, she still couldn't help worry about him. It was because of her after all and although, she was still a teensy bit mad at him, it wasn't to the point where she would care less about him.
Without thinking too much of it, she hurriedly grabbed the phone Jordan had gotten her to send him a text when she stopped abruptly with her thumb hovering over his name. For some reason, she hesitated but not because they still had their spat to settle, but because she felt like he didn't deserve something as simple and trivial as a text. For some reason, it didn't feel. . .right.
She looked at the card and an idea suddenly struck her mind. Rummaging through her desk drawers, she found some A4 papers with white official envelopes. Scrunching up her nose at what she had to deal with, she shook her head in defeat. These would just have to do.
She got to work.
▬▬▬▬▬
Pushing open the glass door, causing the familiar bell stationed above the entrance to ring, Emerald walked into the flowery scented shop with a few thoughts running across her mind. She had finally been able to compose a meaningful letter after countless failed attempts and although, she didn't known what address to post it to, be it his home or company, she had resorted to dropping it off at her reception and had informed Claire to pass it on to whoever came to deliver the flowers tomorrow for Jordan.
She had been extremely tempted to just squeeze and chuck the letter into the bin, but seemingly noticing her boss's inner turmoil, Claire had quickly grabbed the envelope from her grip before tucking it safely into her own drawers. Emerald had passed her a grateful smile before heading to Alora's.
She knew that if Claire hadn't snatched the letter away from her, she would've thrown it out and would be drowning in regret by now, but that still didn't ease her thoughts. ‘What if the letter didn't make it to him? What if he didn't think the letter was worth his time? What if he thought the letter was too plain?’
Emerald was so engrossed in her world of what–ifs to take heed to the words of the middle-aged folks, who loitered around the shop's counter, gossiping rather loudly amongst themselves.
Sebastian Novak — the owner of Debonair Burgers, the restaurant beside Alora's flower shop and Emerald's middle-aged friend — had left his restaurant slash café to come visit the couple, who were friends of his, but as soon as they had gotten their pleasantries out of the way, they had dived into the topic of the mysterious, young and handsome man, who had been frequenting their respective shops for more than two weeks now.
“He came again today and he purchased a bouquet of wisterias with a purple card,” Levi whispered, simultaneously pointing at their well polished shelf, which displayed wide sizes and colours of cards for various occasions.
“Hmm. . .he got his usual order of two black coffees as well, espressos precisely,” Sebastian mumbled in response.
Alora remained quiet as she appeared deep in thought before she suddenly snapped out of it with an ominous dreamy look in her eyes. She squealed rather loudly before clasping her hands together with a jump. Levi, who knew very well what that look and reaction meant, could only groan and shake his head, mentally preparing himself for the dog food his wife was about to feed him.
“I'm so happy for the woman he must be courting! She's so lucky,” she cooed, “he's been sending her flowers and love letters for more than two weeks now.”
“Hmm mm,” Levi hummed thoughtfully, “that's an awful lot of flowers to send to a woman, though. Isn't that a waste of money?” he thought out loud, resultantly earning a murderous glare from his wife.
“How is it a waste of money?” she pointed angrily at him. “Do you mean you can't do the same for me?!” she hollered and her husband immediately stepped back while holding up his hands in surrender.
“No, that's not it at all, honey,” he chuckled nervously, “you know I'd buy the entire world for you if I have to. I'm just trying to decipher why he would need to send such amount of flowers to a woman and for such long period of time unceasingly.”
He tried to get her mind off the murderous intent she had towards him and it had worked successfully when he saw his wife bite her fingers in thought. With a sigh of relief, he looked at Sebastian who was trying to keep his laughter at bay. The terrified expression on his friend's face had been hilarious.
“That's true. There could be various reasons for that,” she mused, “he could be trying to woo her, but what woman would see a man as breathtaking as that and not crumble at his feet, despite his enigmatic aura? Certainly a blind woman, she is.” Levi could only turn green with jealousy as his wife fawned over another man. A much younger one at that! She could as well be his mother or grandmother!
“Or!” she exclaimed like she had finally hit the jackpot. “He could've been caught cheating and is now trying to rectify his mistakes,” she grimaced at her own assumptions. “If he had indeed cheated on her, then that's just plain disgusting. Handsome men nowadays with their big egos,” she scoffed, “unable to keep their family jewels within restraint.”
Levi's and Sebastian's eyes hurriedly went wide at Alora's words. They tried to defend their fellow male specie before Alora could arrive at a completely misunderstood assumption.
“Lori, you can't just judge a man based on your assumptions about him,” Levi chastised while Sebastian nodded in agreement.
“Levi's right, Lora. For all we know, he could just be courting the woman newly and she, as well, could be playing the game of hard to get with him. We all know how hardheaded you women are. Always finding ways to torture the male species,” he mumbled as he and Levi burst into a fit of laughter which they immediately stymied at the sight of Alora's heated glare.
Alora sighed and just then, she noticed the presence of the beautiful woman, who was like a granddaughter figure to her. A blinding smile crossed her face as she exclaimed, “Gem!”
Hearing a familiar voice call her, Emerald finally snapped out of her thoughts to see the small yet energetic woman making her way towards her. With a wide smile, they pulled each other into a hug, snuggling up against one another.
“I've missed you, Gem.” Alora mumbled.
“I've missed you too, Lori.”
Alora slightly pulled away from the hug to take a look at Emerald. She slowly analysed her from head to toe, trying to decipher if there was really a change in her or if she was just overthinking.
“How are you doing, sweetheart?” That simple question carried with it a whole lot of baggage, which Emerald was able to understand and another wide smile spread across her face at Alora's genuine concern for her.
She pecked the woman's cheeks before answering, “I'm doing really good, Lori. How about you? How have you been? And oh! Where's Levi?” she immediately looked up to meet the disapproving glares of the two men standing by the counter.
She passed them sheepish smiles as she mumbled, “hello, Lee. Hello, Sebby.”
Levi released a sigh as he drew closer to the two women. “So you're just noticing our presence now?” he asked disappointedly. “Women,” he shook his head, “we would never understand them.”
“Oh, come on, Lee. You know it's not like that,” Emerald coaxed.
“It's exactly like that, Gem. Let them be, they're just jealous. Let them wallow in it,” Alora taunted the two men, even going as far as sticking out her tongue at them as she pulled Emerald closer to herself possessively, earning a chuckle from the younger woman.
“I guess I should get going then,” Sebastian piped up, doing a show of removing imaginary dust from his pants. “Clearly, I'm not needed.”
“Really, Seb?” Emerald managed to release herself from the couple's midst and she quickly walked over to hug the other man, who was also pouting in jealousy. He didn't make a move to reciprocate her hug.
Emerald looked up at him and he immediately turned his face away from hers. Emerald smiled gently before her eyes glimmered like a light bulb had shone over her head. She widened her eyes to just the right size before sticking out her bottom lip to form a pout. “Won't you even look at me, Sebby?” her voice came out softly and wobbly as though she were really close to tears.
The man only scoffed, turning his head further away from her, but Emerald knew he could see her well from his peripheral vision and she could sense his resolve breaking. She tried not to smile. “You won't hug me back either, Sebby?” he didn't reply.
“Ok then. I'm sorry for bothering you,” she made a move to untangle herself from him when he instantly wrapped his big arms around her. Emerald grinned.
“You should be glad your hugs are comfortingly warm, if not, I won't be hugging you back,” he mumbled gruffly, earning a giggle from Emerald and simultaneous laughters from the couple.
“I still haven't forgiven you, though.”
Emerald nodded, “I know, Sebby. Don't worry, I'll make it up to you,” she pecked his cheek.
“But what about me?!” The moment was then ruined when another certain man exclaimed, his voice heavy with envy. “Don't I get a hug?”
As Alora watched the bickering of the two grown men fighting over a young woman, who was only but as young as a granddaughter to them, with a thoughtful frown etched on her face, she couldn't help but picture Emerald being together with the young yet inscrutable man, who had been patronizing her flower shop for over a fortnight now.
Emerald's gentle, diaphanous and ethereal aura coupled with the man's dangerous, mysterious and chthonic ambience. Alora's face lit up at the thought. ‘A match made in heaven! Or hell,’ she couldn't tell, but the imagery of both of them being together fit so perfectly and immediately, a mischievous smile graced the middle-aged woman's face as she began plotting.
It was time to play cupid.
“Oh, Gem!” she called out in a sing–song voice as she skipped over to the bickering trio with a wide grin.
▬▬▬▬▬
With her luggage trailing haphazardly behind her, Oriana trudged groggily up the small set of stairs leading to hers and Emerald's apartment.
Misery, pain and fatigue could be read clearly on her face as she dragged both her drained body and bags to the entrance. From the dim lights illuminating the insides of the house, Oriana could tell that someone was home, however, she couldn't tell who.
She stopped in front of the door for a few seconds, straining her ears in attempts to pick up a sound — any sound, however unsettling — as an indication that there was something naughty going on in the house, because she was just too damn tired to barge into something she ought never to see.
But as she listened intently, even going as far as placing her ear against the door, only silence greeted her in response. She heaved a sigh before unlocking the door with her own set of keys, stepping inside while hoping that her eyes wouldn't be corrupted tonight.
As she turned the corner to get a glass of water from the kitchen, she stopped at the sight of her friend alone in the kitchen, reading a book while sipping a glass of milk with a plate of shrimp fritters by her side.
Unconsciously, Oriana's stomach grumbled lowly at the sight of the delicacy. All due to her fleeing in a hurry to escape the claws of her bullies, Oriana had left Laramie with a stomach filled with half a cup of coffee, no more, no less and now that she was finally home after such a long trip, she could feel the consequences of her action. She winced as the worms in her stomach gnawed at her insides.
Steeling her face from revealing the physical and emotional pain she was going through, Oriana cleared her throat and spoke up, gaining Emerald's attention. “Shouldn't you have been knocked out by now? Or did Jordan not do the job well?” she asked with a mischievous smile on her face.
In response, Emerald only looked up and remained eerily quiet, silently staring at her with those glimmering green eyes of hers. Oriana struggled to keep her calm as she could feel her skin crawling and squirming underneath Emerald's scorching gaze. She felt like her friend was looking deep into her soul.
She almost dashed out of the kitchen when Emerald finally spoke, “you look like shit.”
Oriana chuckled in relief as her stiff shoulders finally dropped, a stray tear strolling down her cheek. Only her best friend had the power to see through her façade like it was as thin and as transparent as nylon.
“I've missed you too, Mera,” her voice broke, “but unlike me, who looks like total shit, you're looking quite radiant. At least one of us is having the time of their life,” she kept quiet as she walked closer and let her eyes sweep over Emerald's frame.
“But uhm, friendly piece of advice, darling. When you have sex—” she stopped abruptly when she saw Emerald's raised eyebrows. She smiled, “Pardon me, I meant, when you make love to a man, you never ever wear another man's shirt. It bruises a man's ego, especially if the man happens to lo—like you like Jordan does.
Speaking of Jordan, has he seen you in that? Where is he?”
In utter confusion, Emerald looked down at her outfit. She was simply donning a pair of black spandex shorts with an oversized cotton shirt, one which she had snagged from Logan. Looking back at her friend, Emerald saw the expectant look on Oriana's face as she awaited her response and then, Emerald finally realised what she had meant.
She rolled her eyes before slipping her corner bookmark around the top corner of the page she was reading. “You don't only look like shit but now, you think like shit too. Your trip must have messed with your brain somehow.” She gulped down the rest of her cold milk before placing the glass in the sink.
Oriana smiled sadly. Although, she had said it jokingly, Emerald had no idea how true her words really were.
“Jordan and I didn't do anything of that sort,” her expression grew sad, “besides, he left,” she muttered softly, hoping Oriana wouldn't hear but unfortunately, she did.
“He what? Left? For a trip or what?”
Emerald sighed. “No, I sent him away.”
“You did what?!” Oriana exclaimed, discarding her bags as she hurried over to Emerald who was facing away from her. “You threw him out?!”
“‘Throw out’ is a strong term, Ori. Plus, he has his own home, remember?” Emerald gently pushed the rest of the fritters Carol had sent to her towards Oriana before grabbing her book in attempts to escape to her room.
“Why?” Oriana's question halted her movements. “Why, Mera? Is something wrong?” Oriana asked softly. “Tell me,” she prodded, noticing Emerald's reluctance.
With a defeated sigh, Emerald loosened her hold on the book before turning to face her friend. She might as well spill everything and get some advice.
She needed to resolve these jumbled feelings of hers after all.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: I am sorry I went MIA for SO long. I just stumbled upon the comments section today and it appears that my readers think that was the end of the book but it's nowhere near! I'm so sorry, I've been busy with college and other personal things. But to compensate, I decided to do a mass release. I hope you love the coming chapters!
