XXXVIII
“Auntie, I really love your hair.”
From amidst all the little voices that surrounded her, vying for her attention, Emerald could make out the petite voice of a little girl. Before she could turn around to see and thank the owner of the little voice, she stopped short when she felt a light, feather-like touch on her hair.
With a suppressed grin on her face, Emerald decided to pay no attention to the soft fingers coursing stealthily through her strands as she continued to chat animatedly with the energetic kids around her, trying all her best to give them all equal and undivided attention, albeit that task was proving to be a tad difficult.
Few minutes and a earful of Disney princesses talks and Marvel characters rants later, the hesitant fingers of the little girl had turned more intrepid as she literally ran her hands through Emerald's golden locks and all Emerald could do was mentally thank Oriana for the half up half down hairdo she had made for her for the occasion, although she could only hope it would last in the hands of the little hairdresser that had decided to give her a free hairdo.
As much as she'd love to be the judge of who was prettier between the little mermaid princess, Ariel and the frozen queen, Elsa, Emerald couldn't stop herself from zoning out of the bickering of the little children. A smidgen of a smile appeared on her face when her mind wandered off to the flowers that had been delivered to her house early this morning.
She let out a small sigh, thinking of how stubborn and persistent that Mafia man was. Even after warning him against delivering more flowers to her due to his allergy, he had still resolutely continued.
Before she could sink deeper into the sea of her endless thoughts, another petite voice spoke up, “Auntie, do you have a boyfriend?” That question seemed to have intrigued the other kids because all movements immediately came to a halt as their every eyes focused on Emerald, awaiting her response but all she could do was gape at the little girl, who had asked such a question.
“What's a boyfwend?” A little boy asked, voicing the subject of confusion in the hearts of the other kids.
“Do you know Ariel, the Little Mermaid?” Stacy, as the little girl had introduced herself earlier, answered, watching as the other confused children stared at her, the boys shaking their heads negatively while the girls nodded robotically. “Alright. Do you know Superman?” she gave another instance, making the boys nod affirmatively.
“Good. So you know how Ariel has Prince Eric?” the females nodded, “and you know how Superman has Lewis Lane?” the males nodded but she was interrupted by a boy who pitched in a comment.
“It's Lois, not Lewis.”
Stacy rolled her eyes, surprising Emerald with the amount of sassiness that seemed to radiate off her at such young age. She was already giving off the ‘Queen Bee’ vibe and she couldn't be older than the age of six or seven.“Yeah, her,” she waved him off, “but you get what I mean, right?” they all nodded, waiting for her to conclude. “Good. So, to Ariel, Prince Eric is her boyfriend, while to Superman, Lewis Lane is his girlfriend. Get it?”
“Lois Lane,” the little boy corrected again.
“Whatever.” She turned her attention back to Emerald, who continued to stare at her with her mouth agape in shock. ‘Was this really a little girl?’ “So Auntie, do you have a boyfriend?” she asked excitedly, bouncing on her heels with a hopeful glint in her eyes.
Emerald gulped, her cheeks turning scarlet red as she noticed that the rapt attention of all the children were solely on her, eagerly awaiting her answer. But instead, she tried to weave through the question. So she cleared her throat and spoke, “how come you know what a boyfriend is?” Emerald asked Stacy skeptically, trying to ward the spotlight off herself.
The little girl blushed and looked away shyly before seemingly catching on to Emerald's plan and immediately using it against her. “Come on, Auntie. Tell us! You don't want to tell us, do you?!” she cried hysterically, trying to act like a spoiled brat.
As Emerald frantically tried to placate the not-so-little girl since she was beginning to gain unwanted attention from the other guests, a voice suddenly had all of hers and Emerald's movements and hushes freezing mid–air.
“What is going on here? Who has been stressing out my girlfriend?” A deep and husky voice asked, immediately drawing the every attention of all children surrounding the very surprised and flushed looking woman.
As Emerald stared at Jordan with her jaws figuratively scraping the floors, only one word from all he had said, continued to echo relentlessly in her head.
‘Girlfriend.’
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Jordan heaved a sigh for the umpteenth time tonight as his eyes continued to survey the mass of guests, his chocolate orbs persistently searching for her familiar figure hiding somewhere in the crowd, but to no avail. It was like she had disappeared into thin air since he had approached her at the kids area.
Jordan face–palmed, internally scolding himself for approaching her in such manner. Knowing how Emerald was, she had probably thought of the use of that title on her as absurd and for all anyone knew, she could have receded and be on her way home at the moment. Jordan's eyes had been following her since she had excused herself from the incessant kids plaguing her to spill the beans on the existence of her supposed ‘boyfriend’.
He had seen her talking to his sister, Carol and even stealing a few curious glances his way, indicating that somewhere in their discussion, his name had been brought up. But, when he had thought of snagging the chance of getting to talk to her alone when Carol had gone for a drink refill, she had been immediately whisked away by Alora and it was close to twenty minutes now with still no sign of her.
Jordan was about to release another sigh when he saw Alora walking over to him with a large grin on her face. Before he could wonder what else was making the middle aged woman so happy other than celebrating her 40th year of marriage with her husband, she suddenly caught his arm and began pulling him in a certain direction, leaving behind the guests and soft music. “Where are we going?”
“You'll see.” Was all Alora replied with, the grin still on her face as she walked down a flight of stairs, moving further away from the party, the soft music now only a whisper as they made their way towards a door at the end of the dimly lit, short distance hallway. Jordan could make out soft mumblings on the other side of the door as Alora unlocked it, swiftly shoving Jordan into the room before locking it up again in record time.
In shock, Jordan blinked. Once. Twice. Thrice, before he snapped out of his dumbfounded state, but as he opened his mouth to call for Alora, she spoke from the other end of the door. “You two should kiss and make up. You'll thank me later.” And what came next were her retreating footsteps as she left the basement.
In confusion yet slight anger, Jordan spun around his heel, ready to rudely turn down the person Alora was setting him up with when he saw familiar emerald green eyes shimmering at him like two rare jewels in the dark storage room. Jordan gulped, watching as her eyes went wide before she hurriedly looked away from him. He also looked away, fidgeting slightly as they both looked up and met each other's gazes before looking away again, clearing their throats awkwardly.
Moments of silence trickled by as the two of them continued to awkwardly sneak glances at each other with their nerves biting at them. Jordan shook his head with a frown, wondering when he had become so shy and cowardly. The effect Emerald had on him truly was great, he realised. As he opened his mouth to speak, Emerald also spoke,“I—” their words clashing yet merging ever so harmoniously.
Emerald bit her bottom lip as Jordan cleared his throat again. “You—” they spoke simultaneously again. “You go first,” and yet again. “No, you go first.” Emerald groaned loudly with a frustrated look on her face while Jordan laughed at her adorable scowl alongside their predicament. Her gaze softened and a small smile spread across her face as she watched him laugh, genuinely laugh with his chocolate eyes gleaming happily.
“Hi,” Jordan muttered, a small smile still playing on his lips after he had calmed down from his amused high.
“Hey,” Emerald replied and they continued watching each other, the silence between them comfortable and void of tension as their eyes communicated the words they didn't want to speak.
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An echo of soft chuckles reverberated round the dark, storage room as the couple chatted gently, their two weeks old spat long forgotten yet they still tiptoed around the elephant in the room, opting for a much lighter topic instead.
“Everything was to my liking, although, the black coffee was quite strong and bitter.”
Jordan frowned. “But I thought you liked black coffee. That's why I kept ordering that for you.”
Emerald nodded, gently pacing to and fro before Jordan, whose eyes remained trained on her frame. “I do but I wouldn't call the black coffee I take the genuine black coffee everyone else does.” Jordan's frown deepened in confusion and Emerald sighed, patiently explaining.
“The thing is Sebby has this special sweetener he adds to my coffee. Was initially against it at first but well, Sebby had always said that no woman's taste buds should ever have to endure something so bitter, therefore, he adds a little bit of sweetener, something the coffees you delivered did not have and my taste buds have grown accustomed to it.”
“Oh,” Jordan mused as Emerald nodded. As she prepared to ask him how he knew that she liked her coffee black, she felt herself being carefully pulled back into his muscled body, her back colliding with his front as he held her upper arms with a gentle yet firm hold, leaving some distance between his body and hers.
Consequently, Emerald felt her words get stuck in her throat as the warmth of his body softly reached her, merely tickling her body with its almost non-existent presence. She tightly bit her bottom lip, struggling to stop herself from taking a step back, closer to his comforting warmth.
As he held her now, albeit with some distance between them, Emerald realised that she had really missed him. She realised just how much the urge to pull him closer really overwhelmed her but instead, she held herself back, trying to see how long she would last; to see for herself how long she would continue to resist him. So instead, she waited.
“Sebby?” a soft whisper by her left ear was all that was required to pull her out of her thoughts, yet leave her mouth running dry.
She nodded, willing herself to focus on his words and not on the ardency his breath brought her. “Sebastian. The owner of Debonair Burgers.” Even her voice sounded hoarse and unclear to her ears, so she cleared her throat.
Almost immediately, she was turned around to face Jordan's slightly furrowed eyebrows. She almost reached out to smoothen the little crease between his brows when he spoke again. “How come you have a nickname for everyone but me?”
“What?” His question came as a shock to Emerald, especially when she picked up the slight tone of jealousy in his deep, husky voice.
“Uh uhn. You have one for Oriana, one for Logan, for Armani, Luca, Alora, Levi, Sebastian and even for my sister.”
Emerald blinked, trying to find the right words to answer him. “Uhm actually, I don't have a nickname for Carol,” she tried to justify herself but seemed like he was having none of it.
“That is not the point, Gem,” the envy in his voice was now prominent as he took a step closer to her, causing her to bite her bottom lip again. He was finally granting her subconscious wish. “You have one for every important person in your life and—”
He came to an abrupt stop, piquing Emerald's curiosity. “And?” she prompted.
“I get it now,” his hold on her arms slowly loosened and he retreated two steps backwards. “I'm not an important person in your life.” Emerald frowned at his words, watching as he chuckled humourlessly, his expression turning cold. “I finally get it. Is that what you've been trying to tell me all along? That I do not have and will never have a chance with you?”
Emerald couldn't respond as she stood there, frozen and unresponsive, wondering how their smooth conversation had taken such a turn down a rocky path. Jordan appeared to have taken her silence as his answer, so he nodded stiffly.
“I see. I'm sorry for ever disturbing you.” He pulled away, his warmth and touch completely deserting her. Emerald's eyes widened in alarm when he turned his back to her. She immediately snapped out of her daze and moved forward to hug him tightly from behind, halting his movements.
Due to her frantic thoughts, she had failed to notice how Jordan's body sagged with relief and how his face shone with immeasurable happiness. His plan could've gone wrong in so many ways but with an ounce of confidence, he had decided to carry out his plan, hoping against hope that Emerald did have feelings for him. All someone like her needed was a little push to bring her out of her world of insecurities.
“No! That's not it,” Emerald shook her head vehemently against his back, her heart pounding in her chest at the thought of Jordan giving up on her. “I will find you a nickname,” her mind ran many miles per minute as she scrambled for a suitable nickname for him, “how about J?”
Jordan sighed and held her arms which were wound tightly around him, wanting to stop his act and turn around to hug her but she appeared to have taken it the wrong way. “Ok, ok! I'll find something better,” she cried, holding him even tighter, almost suffocating him.
“How about Jordie? Jo? Jojo? Ja—”
Jordan halted, contemplating whether to continue with the act or just give it up but his curious side wanted to see how far Emerald would go to keep him. He wanted to push her just a little bit more to see if she would finally voice out her feelings. So he interrupted, “It's not just about the nickname, Emerald.” They were finally addressing the elephant in the room.
She shut her eyes tightly on hearing that he had called her by her name instead of the usual ‘Gem’. “I–I. . .” she hesitated, not knowing what to say.
Seeing that she wasn't going to speak, Jordan pushed further, trying to pry her arms off him. “Wait!” she sighed. “You are important to me, Jordan. Really important, actually,” she confessed solemnly.
With an accomplished grin on his face, Jordan tried to remove her arms to turn to her again but still, she was having none of it. “I mean it, Jordan, I really do. I'm sorry for making you waste your time, money and efforts on apologizing to me when I am the one really at fault,” her voice turned wobbly as it grew smaller and smaller until it was almost a whisper of shame.
“I'm the one in the wrong here and I made you buy me flowers and cards, I made you have to think about what to write on those cards, I made you get me coffee, although I have no idea how you found out about my preferred taste,” Jordan held in his chuckle, not wanting to interrupt her. “I even made you trigger your allergy and I still wasn't considerate enough to get you a properly designed card, instead, I had sent you a plain envelope.
I even made you leave our home without prior notice.” Jordan froze at her words. ‘Our home,’ she had said. Jordan couldn't fathom the ocean of happiness that filled his whole being and overwhelmed him. He was beginning to see the whole world in rainbows. “I really am the worst,” she sighed, her hold on him loosening slightly and Jordan didn't waste a second in using that opportunity to his own advantage.
He immediately turned around and pulled her impossibly closer to him, catching her mouth in a kiss that caught Emerald completely unawares. They pulled away from each other, panting when they both started to get light-headed. Jordan watched as the woman before him slowly opened her eyes, her long eyelashes fluttering as she appeared dazed.
His heart swelled when he saw the effect he appeared to have on her, knowing that she had just the same effect on him. “I—”
“Shh,” Emerald tried to speak but Jordan shushed her by placing his lips on hers in a light kiss. “Don't say a word. I let you rant, now it's my turn.” He ran his hand through her hair, smoothening the disheveled strands the little girl had caused earlier.
“Nothing is or was your fault, Gem. My money, my time and my efforts, I decided solely on my own to use them on you and I assure you, it was everything but a waste. You have forgiven me, right?” she didn't hesitate to nod her head, eliciting a smile from Jordan.
“See? It all paid off. You aren't the only one at fault here, Gem. I had also allowed my insecurities to influence my actions. Also, regarding my allergy, if I hadn't been getting you flowers, I would have never known of its existence to begin with, so for me, it's an advantage and a fore–warning to stay away from wisterias from now on. I should thank you, rather than blame you.” He stared deeply into her smaragd eyes, overwhelmed by how much he had missed them.
“Concerning the cards, I would like to admit that having to brainstorm about the perfect thing to write was quite challenging but exhilarating.” His eyes grew clouded as he smiled. “I remember calling Carol and Keelan non-stop and asking for advice. Even Owen and the Google search engine were witnesses to this insanity of mine,” he chuckled while Emerald pouted in shame at the trouble he had to go through just for her.
He gently pulled on her cheeks, disengaging her cute, little pout. “Hey, it was completely worth it,” he voiced seriously and Emerald could see the sincerity swimming in his chocolate orbs.
“As for the coffee, how I had come to know that you liked your coffee black and bitter,” he tightened his hold on her, bending slightly to lean his forehead against hers, “is a secret,” he whispered, his breath fanning her eyes.
They both let the comfortable silence dwell amongst them for a few seconds, the only sounds in the room being their soft breathing. After a few seconds had passed, Jordan leaned towards her ear and whispered, “I love that you had called your apartment ‘our home’ and although, it was a bit saddening that I was asked to leave, we could always get our own home in the future.” Emerald blushed at the underlying adumbration in his words.
He pulled away to look into her eyes again, gauging her reaction. “That is only if you're willing to.” His eyes asked the question his mouth couldn't voice out. He wanted her to be in his future. He had actually made plans for her in his own future.
Emerald's heart swelled with raw emotions for this beautiful man standing strong before her but was she really worth it? Was she worthy of such kindness, of such happiness, of being offered any place in his future?
“But why would you want someone like me in your future, Jordan?” she asked timidly as she tried to unclasp her arms from around Jordan but he wouldn't allow it as he held on to her tightly. “I'm broken. I'm completely damaged and worthless.” She whispered, on the edge of breaking down.
“The irony of our situation, Gem, is that we are both broken. I am as broken and as damaged as you are, if not more. I need someone to mend me and you need someone to mend you, what better match is there than the both of us?” he moved closer to her and began rubbing his nose delicately against hers. “We are like two pieces in a puzzle, love and what do two missing pieces in a puzzle do, Gem?” he asked.
“They stick together?”
“Exactly, sweetheart,” he muttered, his lips brushing hers in a tease. Emerald tried to control herself but to no avail and consequently, a quiet groan escaped her lips as her fingers dug into Jordan's shirt, trying to pull him closer to her. She had never been so stimulated or bold before and that goes to show how much his presence affected her.
Jordan chuckled at her impatience. “Then are you willing to stick with me? If not now, then maybe in the future?” Emerald looked into his eyes which revealed nothing short of sincerity, hope and plea. She nodded with a determined smile. If he was willing to include her in his future, then she would do the same as well.
“I am,” she said, “I am willing, Jordan.”
Jordan grinned, his face an epitome of the word ‘happiness’. “Promise me, Emerald. Promise me that we won't hide anything from each other. I don't want our inner demons to cause a rift between us like last time. I promise to let you know all of my doubts and insecurities, Gem. Now, you promise me as well.”
She nodded again. “I promise you, Jordan. I promise to always make you aware of all my doubts and insecurities.” With a huge sigh of relief and a joyous laughter, Jordan pulled her into a warm hug, even lifting her off the ground as he gently twirled her around the storage room.
Emerald couldn't hold back her groan when he set her back on her feet. She pulled him closer again, lightly nibbling on her bottom lip in nervousness. Jordan decided to tease her again. Tonight was all about bringing her out of her reclusive shell and he was determined to go all the way.
“What is it?” he tilted his head to the side, feigning ignorance.
“I—” she hesitated, “I really missed you, Jordan.”
“I missed you too, Gem. And? Is there anything else you want to say?” he prodded.
“Yeah, I. . .” she blew out a breath, “C–can I kiss you?” she blurted out, looking down at his chest.
Jordan smiled widely, unable to contain the joy and contentment that spread through his heart like a virus. When Emerald's confession only met with silence from Jordan, she cringed, chastising herself for being so forward and she was about to apologise when Jordan suddenly guided her face to him and met her awaiting lips with his hot and needy ones.
In the confinements of the dark storage room, away from the bustling party and from prying eyes, the couple finally reconciled with a promise to have a future together. Their promise was further sealed with a kiss as both their tongues danced together in a sweet and passionate embrace.
