XLI

Serene and remote.

Those were the first words that sprung up in Emerald's head as soon as her green eyes had taken in the sight of the building standing before her. Since they had departed from her apartment — after Emerald had being very embarrassed to find someone else sitting patiently in the driver's seat while they had shamelessly displayed their affection for each other — Emerald had been constantly asking Jordan where they were going to, but he had stubbornly refused to utter a word.

When the ride seemed to get farther and farther away, taking more days to reach — in Emerald's perspective — she had continued pestering him but he had only shut her up with a kiss everytime she opened her mouth to ask again. Emerald had to admit that she had continued to ask him just to get more of his kisses.

Now that they had finally arrived at their destination, Emerald couldn't keep her lips from parting slightly at the pure black building standing proud before her eyes. The dark structure stood magnificently against the backdrop of the purple and blue  dimming skies behind it.

Emerald's eyes followed every exterior detail of the house as far and wide as her eyes could go. The lights in the house were turned on, casting their orange glow on the translucent glass of the car windows as they pulled up in front of the house.

Emerald stepped out of the car with Jordan's help after he had opened the door for her. Her gaze drifted around the space surrounding the house but only long and wide expanse of grasses and the tarred road greeted her.

The house was the only building in the vicinity, Emerald noticed. How he had even managed to score such a secluded and serene place to himself when Manhattan was as populated as can be, was surprising to her. The vicinity was so quiet, one could almost hear crickets chirping.

She looked down at the ground beneath her and a slow smile spread across her lips. Even the tarred road around the house was black in colour. Looks like she wasn't the only monochromatic one.

She was led into the house with a gentle push by Jordan, whose big palm rested comfortably on the small of her back. Emerald took in the sight of the interior as she crossed the threshold. The interior of the house was even much better than the exterior. The colour, white and little grays here and there dominated the interior space, giving the orange lights more room to shine so brightly.

The house was minimally decorated with basic furniture, comprising of wood, marble and wide, wide expanse of glass everywhere she turned. Looks like one of the perks of being the only inhabitant of an entire neighborhood would be that you were able to have almost all corners of your house made of glass, yet still keep your privacy very much intact.

He led her into the living room and Emerald couldn't stop her eyes from wandering around. The house looked unique and extraordinarily beautiful despite the lonely and reclusive vibe it gave to onlookers. Emerald felt a dash of sadness surge in her heart for some reason.

The sudden sound of a throat being cleared was enough to break Emerald out of her reverie and she turned around in time to see a nervous Jordan behind her. His eyes were glued to the floor as he rubbed his nape.

Since she had been too nervous and shy earlier to take in his appearance, Emerald let herself admire his simple, comfortable yet elegant garb. He was wearing a shirt much similar to the one he had worn for Alora's and Levi's anniversary party, but in black this time. A gray pair of slacks was snug against his lower part and his feet were clad in white sneakers.

He looked well put together and very comfortable.

Emerald smiled at the rare sight of seeing a nervous Jordan but it didn't hinder the confused frown from appearing on her face. ‘Why was he nervous?’

But before she could utter a word, Jordan looked up at her but couldn't hold her gaze before looking away again. Emerald almost chuckled when he spoke.  “I hope you don't mind.”

Her confusion was further heightened at his words. Her eyebrows were slightly furrowed as she questioned, “mind what?”

“Bringing you over to my house,” he sighed, running his hands through his hair. “I didn't know the perfect venue for our date. Everywhere seemed either too noisy or too crowded and I didn't think you would want something like that. I wanted something that included just you and me, like our own little bubble. I wanted our first date to be just us, in our own world,” he groaned, his ears turning pink from embarrassment. “Sounds stupid, doesn't it?” he grumbled.

“No, it doesn't,” Emerald shook her head, moving closer to him to hold onto his hands, which wouldn't stop making his hair more disheveled. She brushed her lips almost transitorily against his tatted knuckles, blowing a warm breath on a particular callous knuckle adorning the image of a ship anchor, causing a calming shiver to run down his spine.

Emerald gave him a wide smile as she reached up to rearrange his disheveled locks. “Your words are nowhere near stupid, Cal.” Jordan's eyes grew wide at the mention of his middle name but Emerald continued speaking with a knowing smile dancing on her lips as she continued brushing his hair with her fingers.

“I love that you thought about what I would want. I love that you're so considerate and thoughtful as well,” she looked into his eyes, “I also want our first date to be memorable. I want to think back to this day and have a vivid memory of it being just us together. I want to remember spending time with you, just you and I, in our own bubble, away from every other person,” she smiled, her eyes moving between the beautiful chocolate orbs gazing intensely at her.

“So you're not stupid, Cal.” Satisfied with her work, she moved her hands away from his now well arranged hair and rested them on his shoulders. “It's perfect,” she whispered, standing on her toes to place a peck on his cheek before pulling back with a smile.

Jordan remained silent as he continued to watch her, her green eyes scintillating celestially underneath the orange glow from the lights above them. They gazed at each other, two people, all alone in their own world. Truly happy.

“You called me Cal.” Jordan whispered, his eyes gazing at her like she was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. Maybe she indeed was.

“Well, I did my research.” Emerald whispered back with a grin, unwilling to break the tranquility that surrounded them.

She and Carol had had an exceedingly long talk on the day of the anniversary party and Emerald had discovered some of the secrets Jordan had been hiding from her, along with the white lies he had been telling. Giving him a nickname formed out of his middle name, was just the tip of the iceberg.

Jordan shook his head, a little smile spreading across his face. “Can you be any more perfect?”

Emerald's smile dimmed a little, not going unnoticed by Jordan, who mentally kicked himself for saying that. It must've triggered something in her.

Not wanting to ruin their first date, Emerald immediately smiled again, albeit, it was a sad one. “I am anything but perfect,” she muttered lowly, busying herself with brushing imaginary dust off his shirt.

Jordan took both of her hands in his before copying her earlier action of kissing his knuckles. He looked her dead in the eyes as he muttered as well. “Neither am I.”

Held captive in each other's gazes, they slowly met each other halfway, interlocking their lips in a slow and sensual kiss. This particular kiss conveyed all of their pains, all of the agonies they had both been up against, their joys and happinesses, their tears and laughters and most importantly, their imperfections as well as their perfections.

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“This meal is really delicious, Cal.” Emerald mused as she busied her mouth with the task of chewing the chicken dish, savouring the burst of flavour that exploded in her mouth as it melted, coating her tongue in its creamy goodness.

She struggled to stifle a satisfied moan, but to no avail as her eyes fluttered close. Emerald never thought of herself to be a foodie until she tasted ‘Carol's’  meals — or rather, Jordan's — for the first time. She knew about the white lie he had been telling and it was finally time to call him out on it.

Jordan's sudden groan was successful in whipping Emerald's eyes open. She shot him a questioning look whilst still chewing her meal. “You might want to suppress your moans, Gem. I know I'm an excellent chef but I don't think you and I are ready for what those sounds of yours are doing to me,” he spoke, his voice sounding more husky than usual and his chocolate eyes appeared darker than normal as he stared intently at her.

Emerald's eyes widened momentarily with a blush tainting her cheeks when his words finally registered in her brain. She hurriedly grabbed her wine glass and downed its contents — the new Cabernet he had released a few months ago yet its limitedness still drove people crazy till today.

Jordan chuckled at her expression before adjusting himself while wiggling subtly on the seat.

The memory of the Cabernet made Emerald realise how far she and Jordan had come since the moment he had knocked on her door and blurted out his intention to sleep with her, quite literally. She smiled at the reminiscence and cleared her throat before speaking.

“What did you call the name of the meal again?”

Jordan swallowed past his busy mouth before replying. “Coconut lime chicken,” he answered, “why do you ask?”

“I have got to have the recipe, that's why.” She shoved another forkful of its creaminess into her mouth, making Jordan chuckle at her rarity of a gusto. He never knew she could eat with such vigor and it gave him great joy to see the huge difference between the old Emerald and the one currently eating so animatedly before him. A loving smile snaked his expression.

“And you're certain you made this?” she asked, clearing her plate.

“I am.”

She looked at him with raised eyebrows. “Absolutely?”

“Absolutely,” Jordan nodded, “why? You don't believe me?”

“No, that's not it. It's just that your food tastes awfully the same as Carol's,” she mused, noticing how his movements seemed to come to a halt altogether. “It tastes exactly the same, especially the tenderness of the chicken and the unique marinade she seemed to always make use of whenever she made any chicken related dish.”

She looked into his eyes, placing her cutlery down on her empty plate and giving him her undivided attention, an innocent look hiding the mischievous intent in her eyes.

They were currently seated in the second floor of the house, out on the spacious balcony situated on one side of the house, where Jordan had set up a simple yet very beautiful dinner date setting. A round table, two chairs on opposite sides, a bouquet of assorted flowers, excluding wisterias thankfully with scented electronic candles — the type you had to shake to turn on.

The moon was fully out now and accompanying it, were millions of stars lighting the dark canvas of the night sky. It was a beautiful sight to behold because here in Manhattan, it was an almost rare sight to be able to see the night sky past the so so many skyscrapers blocking the space.

Another hindrance would be the exhausts and fumes from industrial chimneys but right here, right now, all of those things seemed to be nonexistent as she continued to stare at a stiff Jordan, admiring his sinister beauty against the light from the silver ball behind him and the glow from the fake candles in front of him.

The glow from the candles cast a shadow of his jawline, making it seem more pronounced. The almost non-existent scar that ran from the corner of his lip and towards his jaw seemed to make him look even more perfect and beautiful despite the mark of imperfection the scar bore with it.

Emerald's fingers itched to trace it and her curiosity bit at her to know the story behind every scar, every mark and every tattoo on his skin. But now wasn't the time.

“Well? Aren't you going to try to explain or come up with some sort of lame excuse?” she smirked, “maybe how you had taught her everything she knows? Or how the marinade and spices are a family recipe only you two know about.” A knowing brow was raised on her forehead as she regarded his defeated look.

Jordan let out a sigh before setting down his own cutlery as well. “You know, don't you?” he asked.

“What do you think?” Emerald asked with a teasing smile as she took a sip of her wine.

“How did you find out?”

“Let's just say Carol and I had a long talk,” Emerald dragged out and returned her wine glass to the table, laughing at Jordan's groan. “Why did you do it though? I can't imagine the stress you had to go through because of me.”

“Hey,” Jordan called out, placing his hands over hers resting on the table. “Believe me when I say I loved every bit of it,” he smiled, “I've never done something like that before and it was really exhilarating,” he laughed.

His grip around her hands tightened as he grinned widely. “All of this is so new to me, but I love every single moment of it all, believe me. As long as I get to do it all with you and do it all for you, then I would do so willingly, Gem.”

Emerald smiled a watery smile, directing her eyes to look up at the night sky so she could somehow drive away the tears that welled up in her eyes, but all to naught. A twin drop trailed down both her eyes as she smiled, wondering if perhaps, she had saved an entire nation in her past life to deserve such a man.

“What did I ever do to deserve you, Jordan? I've been bad, I've been worse and I didn't think I deserved such happiness, yet here I am. But why doesn't it feel wrong? Shouldn't I feel bad for being so happy? Do I really deserve this? I feel like it's too good to be true. It feels so. . .” she heaved a shaky breath, “. . .so surreal.”

Jordan smiled and stood to his feet, pulling her up with me. Together, they walked to the railing of the balcony and Jordan stood behind her, holding her firmly against his warm body. They let the silence dwell longingly between them, only their calm breathing filling the night air as Emerald calmed herself.

“If you think you've been bad or you've been worse,” he started softly, “then I've been way more than ‘worst’. I've done bad things, Gem and using the word ‘bad’ is just me putting my gruesome acts lightly. If you think that you do not deserve happiness, then I deserve eternal damnation. In fact, if there was something more cruel than that, that would be befitting. So Gem,” he turned her around and placed a soft kiss on her forehead before drawing back to stare her in the eyes.

“You deserve every bit of happiness in this world and much more. If there's anyone who should never be happy, then that'll be me. You shouldn't feel bad for being truly happy because after everything you must've been through, you deserve true happiness, love. Unlike me,” he smiled ruefully.

“No,” Emerald shook her head firmly, “we both deserve happiness. You deserve as much happiness as I do and even more, Jordan.” Jordan began to shake his head, but she stopped him by cupping his face in her small and delicate hands.

“No, listen to me, Jordan. Everyone deserves happiness. Everyone deserves a second chance regardless of whatever atrocities they might have committed in the past. And that's what it is, Jordan, the past and it will always remain in the past. You taught me that. You made me realise that, Cal and you should believe in yourself as well. You deserve as much happiness as everyone out there. You and me both, Cal.”

Silence fell like a cloak over the both of them as they stared at each other, unyielding. Jordan opened his mouth to speak but was interrupted by the ringtone of a phone.

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Is it just me or are our ML and FL really facing some huge characters development? Do you love the new Emerald and Jordan duo? I am not so good with mushy contents, so please pardon my incompetence.