XXXIX
An apartment that was usually drowned in darkness and discomforting silence was now bedazzling in rays of the white lights streaming from the ceiling as soft music wafted from Emerald's boom box and echoed round the entire house, loud enough to chase away all whispers of muteness.
Completely acting in contrary to what she would normally do, Emerald had turned on all the lights in the ground floor of the apartment, ranging from the ones in the living room to the ones in the kitchen and down the hallway till up the stairs. She had also gone further to patronise Spotify, rather than basking in the quietude she usually craved.
Ever since Jordan had left — or rather, ever since she had told him to leave — Emerald had become irritated with the same silence and darkness she usually couldn't do without. Whenever she stayed in a dark and quiet place for a little while, her ears would start to zing in the silence and for some reason, now, the darkness seemed to scare her, rather than welcome her like it used to. Or maybe, it was she who repelled the darkness.
Hearing the front door open and close followed by a series of footsteps heading towards the kitchen, Emerald looked back just in time to catch the sight of her friend walking into the room, her heels in hand with a confused frown on her face.
Emerald tilted her head to the side in question, halting her movements as she had been irrigating the new batch of flowers Jordan had sent in the morning; hopefully, that would be last of them. Oriana, still frowning, looked at Speakie, as she had weirdly named the little blue boom box now sitting on the marble counter, filling the whole apartment with its soft tunes before looking at her best friend again.
“You're back?” Oriana finally asked, setting her shoes down on the counter after passing a wary look at Emerald, who narrowed her eyes at the heels lying on the counter. She held her tongue and said nothing about it.
“Mhmm,” she hummed, turning off the tap when the amount of water was enough for the blooms. She placed the vase in the centre of the marble counter, which was apparently the only reasonable space left for decorations — spare the bathrooms.
“How come all the lights are on?” Oriana asked again as Emerald dried her hands with a napkin.
It took her a few seconds to reply. “The darkness was quite unsettling,” she replied, meeting Oriana's gaze directly.
In surprise, Oriana's eyebrows almost disappeared into her hairline at her friend's response. Someone who had always dwelled in the darkness due to its ability to hide one's deepest and dismal secrets from the outside world, was now the same person baring her secrets to the bright lights; willingly.
Oriana schooled her expression. “Oh really? What about Speakie?” she gestured towards the boom box. Emerald shrugged, returning the napkin to where she had taken it.
“The house was too quiet. The silence was deafening. I couldn't take it.”
Opening the refrigerator, she grabbed a bottle of cold water before reaching for a glass, letting the silence hang between them. Emerald knew very well, what her friend was thinking. She felt the same but she could only tag the changes in her as positive. She was starting to open up; her walls were starting to crumble piece by piece around her and she would only be lying if she said she didn't feel immense relief.
She passed Oriana the glass of water, watching as her friend took it with a smile that didn't quite reach her eyes and a mumble of appreciation. Her usually glinting amber eyes had gone dull, the skin underneath her eyes bagged dark circles and her smiles were appearing more faux than the last.
Under the scrutiny of her friend's intense green eyes, Oriana couldn't help but squirm, feeling like a specimen being examined under a microscope by a mad scientist. She felt her soul being bared completely by Emerald's piercing gaze as she continued to gingerly sip the water, gripping the glass like it would sustain her somehow. She refused to lift her head to meet Emerald's eyes, she refused to detach her lips from the rim of the glass because she knew the questions that awaited her on the tip of her best friend's tongue, but she didn't think she was ready to open up to her.
Oriana almost laughed at the irony of the situation. She, who was always the one advising Emerald to open up, was now the one on the receiving end of that speech. The irony.
But it seemed as though Emerald was truly more patient than Oriana had thought since she continued standing there, watching as Oriana continued to sip the now empty glass. She had initially planned on wasting so much time until Emerald couldn't take it anymore but it didn't seem to have worked.
“You could as well eat through the glass if you're that thirsty.” Emerald finally spoke, making Oriana sigh dejectedly as she finally set down the glass.
“You couldn't let me have this one too?” she asked desperately.
“I've left you all to yourself since you arrived, Oriana. That didn't seem to have yielded a positive result.” Emerald walked closer to her, putting off the music as she pulled out a stool for the two of them. “Sit,” Oriana complied and Emerald followed in suit. “Now, mind telling me what the matter is? You've been like this since you got back from Wyoming.” Oriana winced noticeably at the mention of that dreaded place.
With immense patience, Emerald waited for her friend to speak, to say anything but a very long while of silence and heavy breathing passed by until Oriana shook her head. “I don't think I'm ready to speak yet,” she croaked, her voice sounding a far throw from her usual cheerful self.
Emerald sighed and nodded understandingly. “Alright. I won't coerce you into telling me anything, but just remember,” she pulled Oriana into a warm hug, nestling her own nose into her friend's natural red hair. “I'm always here for you whenever you need someone to talk to. And I'm not saying this as a therapist but as your best friend.” She concluded, rubbing soothing circles on her back.
“Thank you, Mera. I really do appreciate it,” she mumbled against Emerald's shoulder.
“You're welcome.” After a few more seconds, they pulled away from each other with small smiles, the gloomy atmosphere subsequently lifted.
“Now, now, tell me. How did the anniversary party go?" Oriana asked excitedly, causing Emerald to roll her eyes at her friend's not-so-subtle attempt to change the topic, but nevertheless, a little smile danced at the corners of her lips.
“Well, for starters, Alora and Levi were pretty bummed you couldn't make it.” She grabbed the used glass and headed for the sink.
“I know and I'm sorry about that. Mr. Hyde had called me last minute, saying he had caught wind of a scandal between an actress and her driver, so I had to grab a scoop.” Oriana couldn't fetter the snort that left her mouth at the look on Emerald's face when she turned to face her.
“Now, that's some juicy stuff. With her driver,” Emerald muttered, eliciting a laughter from Oriana.
“Yeah. Unbelievable, right? Well, was that all that happened at the party?”
A small smile unconsciously spread across Emerald's face, a blush creeping up her neck and cheeks at the reminiscence of a certain memory. She quickly turned to place the glass back in its cabinet, trying to avoid Oriana's gaze but it was already too late.
“Wait. You're blushing?!” Oriana squealed, wide eyed. “Then something really must have happened. Come here,” she immediately pulled her back to the stool she had previously occupied. “Ok, spill the beans, Mera. Come on, don't keep me waiting.”
Emerald cleared her throat, puffing out breaths as she tried to cool down her flaming cheeks. “Okay, so uhm. . . Let's just say in summary, Jordan was at the party.” she muttered, causing a moment of graveyard silence to befall the whole house before Oriana squealed again, clapping excitedly.
“Don't give me all that ‘in summary’ bullshit. I want to hear everything, all the juicy details. How come he was there?” she rambled on.
Emerald rubbed her ears, trying to recover from Oriana's ear-splitting squeal. “Well, coincidentally, it turns out the flowers he had been sending me were all from Alora's shop.”
Oriana gasped dramatically. “Coincidence shmoincidence. Do you know what this means, Mera?” her expression turned comical as she gripped onto Emerald's shoulders while gently shaking her up.
Emerald frowned thoughtfully, trying to grasp the hidden meaning behind her friend's words. “You don't think he's stalking me, do you?”
“No, silly,” she rolled her eyes. Emerald could be dumb sometimes. “This all points to one thing,” her amber eyes grew wide for effect.
“And what is that?” Emerald questioned hesitantly, carefully eyeing her friend who was starting to act crazy.
“Fate! Mera,” she shook her. “Fate. You and Jordan are clearly destined to be together. Motherfucking MFEO!” her grip on Emerald's shoulders tightened as she squealed in excitement.
Gently, Emerald shrugged Oriana's hands off her shoulders with a deadpanned expression on her face. “MFEO meaning?” she asked with genuine confusion etched on her countenance, not bothering to correct her friend.
Emerald couldn't deny yet didn't want to openly admit that Oriana's words had sparked a feeling deep within her. It was contentment. She was indeed happy that someone was rooting for her and Jordan, although, they still didn't know what they had, for now.
“Made For Each Other!” Oriana exclaimed with a clap.
▬▬▬▬▬
Completely engrossed in the novel she was reading, Emerald was suddenly jolted out of her world of fiction by the shrill sound of her ringtone bouncing off the walls of her now, brightly lit room. She let out a quiet groan, rubbing her head as she had jolted upright without thinking twice, thereby hitting her forehead against the one-layered bookshelf constructed over her bed.
Making a mental note to have it finally removed, she answered the call without bothering to check who the caller was. “Who is it?” she asked brusquely, her voice coming out gruff.
The other end remained quiet for a second before replying. “Am I interrupting something important?”
Hearing the familiar voice, Emerald's eyes went wide as she immediately straightened up. She looked at the name displayed on the screen before moving the phone back to her ear. “Uh. . .no, not really. Hi,” she breathed, her cheeks heating up.
“Hi,” Jordan's husky voice replied before letting silence hang between them with only the sounds of their heavy breathing caressing each other's ears.
Emerald absentmindedly toyed with the corners of the novel resting in her laps, feeling her eyes go drowsy at the soothing sound of Jordan's breathing coming from her phone's receiver. He need not speak a word for her body to sag in relief and undoubted comfort. He was like a drug to her and slowly yet surely, she was becoming addicted to him.
“Is something wrong?” Emerald finally asked, noticing that Jordan didn't seem like he would talk or hang up anytime soon.
Emerald's feather-like voice wafted into Jordan's ears, causing his lashes to flutter so lightly. He could listen to her speak all day. “No, not at all. Well, actually I have something to ask you.”
He sounded nervous for some reason, Emerald noticed with a frown. What could be making Jordan Kale nervous? 'Jordan' and 'nervous' were two words which didn't go together in a sentence. “Ok. What is it?” Emerald asked with a hint of worry in her voice.
Jordan took several seconds before answering.
“Will you go on a date with me?”
