‘. . . I don’t wanna be this cold (cold)
Shivering to my bones (bones)
Someone reset my soul, oh, oh
And I don’t wanna be locked up (up)
I don’t wanna feel this down (down)
I just wanna scream and shout.
I’ll go out, grow my hair too long
Sing your least favourite song
At the top of my lungs (oh, oh, oh)
I’ll go out, kiss all of your friends
Make a story and pretend
It was me who made this end (oh, oh, oh). . .’
The low tune contrasting the silence that stretched through the car accompanied by the never-ending tension between the two beings was strained so heavily in the air like the thick smoke emitted from the chimney of a nuclear power plant.
Other than their arguments about being dropped off or not and the persistent insistences of Jordan to drop her at her doorstep, the only few words that had been spoken again had consisted of him asking for her address and her replying with a simple ‘Apartment 40F, Gramercy Park.’ Nothing more had been uttered since.
The only sound in the car, the one thing-other than their steady breaths-that signified that there was life in the confinements of the metallic automobile was the soft music which presently reverberated round the four walls of the vehicle. The silence was so deafening that even the lowered music sounded as though it were on the highest volume.
‘. . . She said to me,
Forget what you thought,
‘Cause good girls are bad girls
That haven’t been caught.
So, just turn around
And forget what you saw,
‘Cause good girls are bad girls
That haven’t been caught. . .’
As Emerald decided to reel her wandering mind back within the moving horseless carriage, her ears caught the lyrics of the song smoothly flowing out of the car’s stereo system.
It brought a smile to her face when she remembered that this was the exact same song Oriana was quoting as though she were the genius mastermind behind its existence.
Unconsciously, a chuckle that was meant to be unheard made its way out of her lips at the memory of the numerous trips and falls of her best friend that night but the immense gravity of the muteness was so much that her meant-to-be-a-soft-chuckle echoed through the car, making Jordan snap his head in her direction when the melodious timbre of her velvety voice made its way into his ears.
He watched as a gentle smile continued to play on her face while she subtly bobbed her head to the music. He couldn’t see her eyes well because her head was turned to the sights outside the tinted windows but he could make out the soft stretch of her Cupid’s bow lips which were as pink as blooming dahlias after the light spring showers.
Tightening the grip he had on the steering wheel such that his knuckles turned pale white from the lack of blood circulation in that area, he shifted his gaze back to the road in hopes of preventing an imminent accident that was sure to happen if he continued to stare at the gemstone beside him.
And he wasn’t talking about a road accident. . .
Another song flowed out of the car’s stereo system, making Jordan gulp and wipe down his face at his seemingly unfortunate fate.
‘. . . She got that smile,
And that body is to die for.
One of a kind,
And that’s why it makes me cry.
‘Cause I found a girl,
Who’s in love with a girl.
She said that she tried,
But she’s not into guys.
Oh, why, tell me why,
Did I fall for those eyes.
She said, I was nice,
But she’s not into guys.
I found a girl. . .’
It was like the forces of the Earth were deliberately torturing him as they made the radio presenter air a song that was literally describing the woman seated beside him.
Jordan’s eyebrows furrowed when he paid close attention to the lyrics.
‘. . .’Cause I found a girl,
Who’s in love with a girl.
She said that she tried,
But she’s not into guys.
Oh, why, tell me why,
Did I fall for those eyes.
She said, I was nice,
But she’s not into guys.
I found a girl. . .’
In annoyance, he turned off the stereo casting the car in the same deafening silence, causing it to engulf both beings entirely as their only sign of life was put off.
Imagining that his gemstone was attracted to the gender alike hers was very unsettling, much more than he would like to admit. So, they remained in the quietude while they continued their journey.
As they arrived at a red stop light, the tomato paste coloured illumination falling gently upon the hood of their car as the streetlights acted as shields from the dark starless night, Jordan’s grip on the wheel had eased up and Emerald was still in her little bubble of thoughts when a vibration resonated round the car, successfully pulling her out of her thoughts.
She brought out her phone to see Logan’s name flashing through the screen. Rolling her eyes, she muttered a small ‘excuse me’ to the quiet man beside her before her thumb tapped the green button, successfully answering the call.
“Eme poo!” his high pitched voice called over the receiver as Emerald could hear the booming music from the speakers in the background. As expected, they had gone to the club again.
“Hmm. . .?” she responded passively as she looked out the window, watching the neon and psychedelic colours of an illuminated cowboy boot logo on a shop across the road. AJ’s Bistro shimmered sequentially beside the seemingly to-and-fro movement of the boot.
“Oh, come on, Eme!” Logan’s caterwauling voice brought her back to reality as her mind had begun wandering again. “Don’t tell me that’s how you intend to reciprocate my sensational salutation. A mere ‘hmm?’, that’s unfair,” he wailed pestilentially.
With a burked groan, Emerald could only wonder how she had gotten such friends. On a par for the course day, their presence was quite refreshing and there was never a dull moment with them. Doing the simplest and easiest of things with them always seemed like an adventure.
Sometimes, Emerald embraced this perennial personality of theirs and other days, it was just too much for her to handle that sometimes, she would leave their vicinity with one excuse or the other.
On the days where they appeared to be sane, being around them was bearable, while on the other days where it seemed as though they had lost their marbles-whereas, such days were frequent, if not all the time-tonight was one of them and Emerald was not particularly in the appropriate state of mind to handle such trouble that was beginning to be a part of her everyday life cycle.
She had seen enough of humans for one day and had enough of human interaction to last her a weekend. All she wanted now was to take a shower to wash off the remnants of the day’s activities and snuggle beneath her bedspread to catch up on her reading or for a much needed slumber.
But still, she responded, “I apologise Lolo. I’m just too tired to handle your tantrums tonight. . .” she gave no room for him to retort because she knew she wouldn’t hear the last of it, so immediately, she continued as the car began moving again when the red light turned green.
“Where’s Ori? Thought you guys left the house together,” she asked while she watched as the little bistro slowly dissipated from the rear view mirror the farther they went.
“Oh, you know how she is. She’s had a couple drinks and then she decided to go prince charming hunting as usual. Typical McStuffins,” he filled her in and Emerald could only hum in response as she heard him shout ‘Hey! Watch it!’, a sign that the clubhouse was unimaginably packed and indicating that possibly, a drunk or gyrating flirt was trying to feel him up.
Emerald could only sigh in relief that she wasn’t with them as a grimace made its way unto her face at the thought of being sandwiched amidst the countless sweaty and stinky bodies of hormonal and most definitely, horny humans. Not to mention the likely chance of stepping in someone’s disgorged upchuck. She shook her head to clear her mind of such disgusting thoughts as Logan spoke again.
“I’m really hoping she finds a princess royal instead. Maybe we could get her to question her sexuality again,” he laughed, making Emerald’s subconscious harken back to her college days when Oriana had met/kissed her mistakenly and had spent weeks doubting her sexuality only for her to regain her sanity after feeling the familiar cliche butterflies in her stomach when she had kissed a guy.
“Oh goodness, those were good times. Remember when she asked you to french kiss her so she could test the flutters of the butterflies in her belly?” Emerald couldn’t help but join in the laughter as she recalled how Oriana was close to setting up a kissing booth just to be sure of the direction of her sexual appetencies.
“I recall vividly that we had to stop her countless times from setting up a kissing booth,” Emerald added as she continued to laugh, unaware of the concupiscent hell she was putting the man beside her through just from the sound of her laughter.
Jordan didn’t know why he was angry, he didn’t know why he wanted her to speak to him with the same intimacy and familiarity with which she spoke to the person on the phone.
He didn’t know why his pants stretched painfully from just the sound of her laughter. It irked him how his body was acting weirdly around this nescient seductress, who wasn’t even aware of the effect she had on him.
His self control seemed to always slip out of his grip in her presence, his continence against the wild urges to take her, to plunge into her sweet and milky wet abyss was seemingly always hanging on a thin thread just at the thought of her existence.
Sneaking a glance at her, he saw her still engrossed in whatever conversation she was having with the person on the phone and that seemed to have been a grave mistake on his part; looking at her.
“Fuck!” he quietly hissed as he felt something wet and sticky stain his pants. His hands tightened and shook slightly around the wheel when he discovered that his pants had been soiled with his pre-cum.
‘What the fuck is happening to me?’ he asked himself as he looked at the oblivious gemstone beside him before accelerating with the urgency to drop her off before he did something he would regret.
For some reason, taking her roughly or without her conscious consent like he did to other girls didn’t sit well with him. His jaw ticked and goosebumps rose on the surface of his skin just at the thought of her writhing under him in pain more than pleasure, pleading with him to not almost rip her into two, to not wreck her and leave her sore like he did with other girls.
He felt like his gemstone was not like the others. She didn’t deserve to be treated like the others at all. He didn’t know what he would do if someone attempted laying their filthy hands on her.
With the possessive thoughts running through his mind and the new and unfamiliar emotions surging through his veins, he glanced at her again.
▬▬▬▬▬
“Thank you very much for dropping me off and escorting me to my gate, Mr Kale. I appreciate it even if it wasn’t exactly required of you,” she nodded before facing her gate to type in her security code.
Since it was already so late at night, Gramercy Park was peacefully serene-the major reason why Emerald had purchased a house in such neighborhood in the first place, other than its advanced security systems-as most, if not all, of its inhabitants had retired to bed.
The gentle wind blew past the trees and greeneries, caressing them as mother nature cherished and embraced the coolness the balmy howls of the night breeze brought.
Emerald shivered in delight as she inhaled the night breeze before turning around to bid her client-turned-blind-date goodbye.
He responded with a curt nod as always but as Emerald placed her hand on the handle of the cold black metal, she froze in place when she heard a loud noise disrupt the peace of the neighborhood as its noxious and prejudicial echoes silenced the mellow breaths of the wind.
She stood transfixed as her mind tried to process what she had heard.
It was a gunshot. . .