Jordan stared at the tray of food that had been sitting on his nightstand for some minutes now. When he had emerged from the bathroom, he had met his room filled with a delectable aroma with an underlying scent of a very much familiar redolent fragrance-an indication that she had brought his meal as usual.
It had been close to a week now since the first time she had brought him dinner and he had given the condition of only eating her meals if she continued to serve him dinner every night.
Other than the first night, the other nights that had followed, she would only quietly walk into his room, drop the dish, speak the now repetitive sentence of “I’ve brought your dinner. Goodnight,” as though she were a robot or she would just set down the tray and walk out without calling him out to know if he was even in the room.
He wondered if she was being cold because of how he had snapped at her the other night and had accused her of wanting to poison him but he had been peeved and those words had tumbled out of his mouth without any prior thought of what damage or hurt they could cause.
Sighing, he raked his hand through his wet ebony hair before heading into the closet and reemerging fully clothed in comfy raiments. He stood, still looking at the packed tray as he let his thoughts roam his mind in the dimly lit room.
His dark brown eyes scanned the room and his ears were filled with the earsplitting shrill of silence. It was quiet; too quiet. Jordan was a man who embraced the quietude. He welcomed such familiar emptiness, yet for the first time, he didn’t want to be embedded in the same abyss that he had always allowed to swallow him.
For the first time, he felt lonely. Truly lonely.
Coming to a conclusion, Jordan carried the tray of food and walked out of the room before heading down the stairs. The living room and hallways laid in the wake of the darkness yet there were rays of light coming from the kitchen. Like a light at the end of a dark tunnel. Like a beacon of hope.
He arrived in the dimly lit cooking space to find a body hunched over the kitchen island. It was Emerald. He stood completely still, taking in her form. She was dressed in an homespun cotton shirt which was twice her size and a pair of thigh length shorts.
Her golden hair was in a messy bun and she seemed to be engrossed in her thoughts. He contemplated going back to the room but the overwhelming urge to escape that deafening silence made him take a step towards her before moving further and taking a seat two chairs away from her.
A few seconds passed before she finally noticed his presence. Surprise flitted across her face, followed by confusion before her signature blank look made its nest on her visage.
As they stared at each other, Jordan took his time to look very well at her. Her smaragd eyes looked dull and weary, her usually confident and straight shoulders were slumped and her posture looked like she was slouching. Clearly, something was bothering her.
“Why are you here? Are you done eating?” her tone was emotionless as she spoke, shifting her eyes away from his when she began to feel uncomfortable beneath his burning gaze.
“No,” was all he said.
Her eyebrows rose at his reply, “Then why are you here?”
It was his turn to look away now and suddenly, he found the dark marble top counter fascinating as his eyes shifted downwards. His eyebrows furrowed when he couldn’t come up with a good excuse as to why he had come downstairs.
He couldn’t possibly say that he was lonely. How would that sound?
“I didn’t want to have dinner in the room,” he finally said and proceeded to remove the lid off the covered meal.
“Oh,” was all Emerald could say before returning to stare at the chocolate chips shining vividly on the two remaining chocolate cookies in her plate.
Silence engulfed the both of them as Emerald returned to her thoughts and Jordan began eating, all the while watching the distant look that filled her eyes as she stared down at the baked goods.
Jordan didn’t know if he preferred the strangulating silence that currently cloaked them or the lonely one that had been a penumbra of desolation back in the room. Either way, he didn’t like both, so he cleared his throat and began,
“Why aren’t you eating dinner?” he asked awkwardly. He wasn’t one to instigate conversations so it was new to him.
That seemed to snap her out of whatever daze she had been enshrouded by. She blinked rapidly before looking up at him. Her eyes held amazement as she stared at him. The feeling howbeit, was mutual as Jordan also didn’t know what he was doing or why he was doing so.
Looking back down at the plate and glass of half filled milk before her, she replied. “This is dinner.”
His eyebrows pulled tightly together at her words. He looked down at what she had given him before his eyes shifted to what she was eating. “But you served me this.”
She had made him Cajun shrimp and rice skillet while she was here eating a few cookies with a glass of milk. Jordan was confused.
“If you’re worried that it might be poisoned, I assure you it isn’t. Unless you want me to taste it again,” her blunt words came as a jab to him.
Now it was confirmed that she still held his words at heart and she was still angry. “That’s not what I meant,” he mumbled and the stillness settled in the kitchen once again like a thick fog.
“I’m not a heavy eater, especially at night.” Feeling as though her words had been too harsh, she finally spoke, answering his question.
“Oh.”
As the muteness settled in again, loud footsteps followed by the voices of two people arguing filled the kitchen as Logan and Oriana descended down the stairs and walked into the kitchen, only to stop abruptly at the sight of the man seated beside their friend.
For a moment, all four of them only stared at each other and although begrudgingly, Jordan took it as his cue to leave the room. But before he could move an inch, Oriana spoke up.
“Oh! I’m famished. What’s for dinner, Mera?” she walked into the kitchen with a huge smile on her face and Emerald couldn’t tell if it was fair dinkum or phony.
“Good evening, Mr. J. K,” she greeted Jordan but was unable to meet his eyes. He nodded, clearly confused by her behaviour.
“Yeah, Meme. What’s for dinner? I could perceive the aroma all the way from upstairs,” Logan walked in as well. “Good evening, Mr. Kale.”
Jordan nodded again before looking at Emerald who at the same time, also looked at him. She was also confounded by their uncanny behavior.
“Well. . . Uhm, I made some shrimp and rice skillet with Cajun seasoning. It’s over there in the pan,” she pointed and watched as her two friends hurried towards the pan, fighting for who would take their meal first.
Although Jordan found their actions juvenile, he couldn’t help but be amused and when he looked over at the woman seated beside him, he found her shaking her head with a dazzling smile pulling at the corners of her lips.
Her previously dull green eyes now sparkled gently as Jordan continued to stare. He quickly looked away when she turned her head to look in his direction.
“Are you guys going to eat here?” Emerald asked, surprised when she saw her friends taking their seats in front of her and Jordan.
She didn’t think they would want to be in the same room as him.
“Yes, why? You don’t want us to?” Logan asked.
“No, of course not. I was only asking.”
“Then let’s dig in.”
And together, all four of them had their dinner; two of which ate hurriedly like pigs while the other two could only watch in amusement while occasionally stealing glances at each other.
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Translations
Piccolo – Little one
Come stai amore – How are you, love?
Il mio amore – My love
Mimma – Child
Prendersi cura di voi stessi – Take good care of yourself.