It was finally the day of the wedding and everyone couldn’t be busier than ever. Emerald stood at the threshold of the glass door connecting the kitchen to their huge backyard slash garden, which happened to be the venue for the nuptials to take place.
As earlier stated, the couple wanted a simple and small wedding with only close family members and friends present and thankfully, they had been wise enough to not put Maggie in charge of invitations this time.
Emerald stood, dressed casually in a brown sleeveless top and a pair of fitted knee-length denim shorts, occasionally marking away at the crammed checklist beaming vibrantly on the clipboard in her hands while adjusting her spectacles on intervals.
From where he stood with Maggie, arranging the wooden and intricately decorated chairs around the long and large table, Jordan couldn’t help but let his gaze linger frequently on Emerald who was busy instructing the deliverers on where to place the items she had previously ordered.
He was surprised to see this side of her. Although, back home, she had always been the one to put Logan and Oriana in their places whenever those two decided to put their childish antics into motion, it still amazed Jordan to see her being in charge and bossy. She dominated the entire preparations like she was indeed a professional wedding planner.
A melodious laughter suddenly snapped Jordan out of his trance and he looked beside him at the middle aged woman who was busy setting down the silver cutleries on the table to his side.
She passed him a cheeky smile as she placed a wooden handwoven circular place mat down on the maple table top from the pile she held still in her arms before moving to the next chair to repeat the same thing.
“I see you can’t take your eyes off my daughter?” She teased, causing Jordan to clear his throat as he felt the blood rush to his ears, turning it pink.
Maggie laughed, seeing his reaction. “You don’t have anything to worry about, son. I’m no telltale. Your secret’s safe with me,” she whispered the last part before passing a cheeky wink to which Jordan couldn’t help but smile.
Silence dwelled amongst the two as they carried on with their own duties until Jordan decided to voice his thoughts. For the first time, he felt like opening up and holding a conversation with someone, particularly this motherly middle aged woman.
“I’m just surprised to see this side of hers. She has always been the mature type and all, but right now, she seems. . .” he searched for the right word, “. . . feisty and dominating.”
Maggie smiled at him before casting an adoring look at her daughter, who was now showing Oriana and Armani how to wrap the orange light bulbs around the pillars of the chuppah down the aisle.
Jordan noticed the look in her eyes, it was a familiar look. It had been the same look his own mother used to have in her eyes whenever she saw him or his sister, Carol.
For some reason, he was jealous of Emerald. He was jealous of her because she was being bestowed upon with the exact same gaze he craved to see in his mother’s eyes just once more but it was all just wishful thinking. She was gone and she was never coming back.
“She wants everything to be perfect. She wants it all to go as planned. She wants no mistake, whatsoever. But in reality, she’s doing this to punish herself. She keeps blaming herself for what happened in the past. That’s why she’s constantly burying herself in guilt and straining herself beyond necessary.”
Jordan’s train of thoughts immediately tooted to a stop at her words as his eyes came into focus to see the solemn expression on her face, a sad smile making its nest at the corners of her lips.
Before Jordan could blink his eyes twice, the expression was gone as if it had never been there and she turned to him with a smile which didn’t quite reach her eyes like the previous ones had.
“I’m sorry you had to hear that. I guess I got carried away with my soliloquy,” her smile turned apologetic.
“No, ma’am. It’s fine,” he didn’t like the faux smile on her face so he whispered, “Your secret’s safe with me.” A genuine smile spread across her lips as she let out a small laugh, returning to her normal self.
“It’s Maggie. And we’ll keep each other’s secrets safe, then,” she cupped her hands around her mouth and whispered to him. Jordan nodded in reply, relieved that the tensed and glum atmosphere between them had been lifted. With small smiles on both their faces, they continued their works, not wanting to face dominant Emerald’s wrath.
Emerald heaved a tired sigh as she walked some distance away from the raised platform, where the decorated chuppah stood proudly, in order to examine the lights Armani and Oriana had wrapped around the pillars.
After what seemed like hours of scrutiny, which were mere seconds, she nodded in approval and passed a thumbs up to the two ladies, who immediately heaved sighs of relief before slumping to the floor in fatigue.
Emerald rolled her eyes as she ticked off the chuppah decorations from the checklist. Running her eyes down the clipboard as she looked for what was next to be done, she noticed that the meals were next in line to be checked.
As she raised her head from the clipboard to begin her journey to the kitchen, she saw Luca making his way towards her and she immediately spoke up, “I was just about to come find you, Lulu. How are the dishes going?”
It was only when he drew closer to her, did she notice the frown that was etched on his face. Her eyebrows furrowed at his expression. “What is the matter?” he only grumbled some incoherent words in reply, making her anxious.
“What? What are you saying, Lu?” She was starting to get worried.
“I don’t like him,” he grumbled again.
“Who?” Emerald asked impatiently. Her curiosity and worry were now at their peaks.
Luca gestured towards where the two long and narrow maple tables were surrounded by the wooden chairs on each sides. Emerald followed his gesture to find her mother and Jordan talking and laughing with each other as they did their assigned works.
Those two had grown incredibly close since they had met two days before. It was like they had clicked when her mother had pulled Jordan into a hug during their introduction and he had reciprocated it, albeit reluctantly at first.
A warm smile graced Emerald’s stressed countenance – the first expression she had worn on her face since the start of the day, other than a blank or frustrated look – as she watched the two of them interact like long lost mother and son that had been finally reunited.
“You’re smiling as well. Stop smiling, piccolo. You’re supposed to be angry like I am,” Luca complained like a whining toddler.
Her one eyebrow rose quizzically across her forehead. “And why should I be?” she enquired.
“Can’t you see what happening? He’s clearly trying to steal your mother away from me,” he continued to whinge, eliciting an eye roll from Emerald. “With his flirtatious smiles and magnificent physique.”
“Don’t exaggerate, Lu. Or perhaps. . .” she smirked, “. . . are you jealous?” She teased.
He scoffed, “Jealous shmealous. Of course, I’m not. Who is Maggie getting married to in a few hours? Uhn? Me,” he pointed to himself. “Whose baby is she carrying, uhn? Mine. Who has she kissed countless and countless of times, piccolo? All me,” he smirked. “So tell me, why should I be jealous?” A smug smile graced his face, making Emerald roll her eyes again.
“I’ll be coming to examine the food in a bit. Please make sure it’s not poisoned, Dad.” She instructed as she walked away from him and towards her mother and Jordan who were still engrossed in whatever discussion they were having.
“Hey,” she greeted, “I see you’re both having a great time,” she said, referring to the bright smile on both their faces.
Looking now at the usually brooding man, she noticed that lately, Jordan had been smiling more often and he had more of a carefree aura than usual. She didn’t know why she liked it very much but she couldn’t deny that his smile, although small and almost non-existent, was beautiful and refreshing for some reason. Most times, she couldn’t seem to stop herself from smiling as she watched him from afar.
“We were just talking about the stunts you used to pull as a kid.” Maggie giggled but immediately burst into laughter after seeing her daughter’s wide-eyed reaction.
“Mom!” Familiar pink hue graced Emerald’s cheeks in embarrassment as she looked at her mother, unable to meet Jordan’s gaze which was glued to her face. “Why would you talk about that?”
Maggie giggled some more but before she could reply, Jordan spoke up, “I’m actually glad she did. Who would’ve thought you were adventurous as a kid? Paint bombing your teacher.” Without looking at him, Emerald could hear the amusement in his voice.
“Hey! That was an accident. Besides, everyone has embarrassing moments. I’m pretty sure you have thousands of them,” she retorted with narrowed eyes.
Jordan was loving this new side of hers so he continued to tease her. She was cute. “Oh, I assure you, I don’t.”
Maggie cut in, “He’s a man who would want to maintain his flawless and impeccable reputation, Maree. You don’t expect him to own up to it, do you? If you’re curious about such things, then it’s his mother you’d have to ask,” she laughed.
“I’m certain she’d have thousands of tapes,” she continued, not realising the tension that had stuffed the air at the mention of Jordan’s late mother.
Emerald who had been looking at Jordan, noticed how he had stiffened and how the faint smile had immediately left his face, leaving behind a stoic and cold countenance – one that was very similar to when they had first met.
She could guess that his mother was a touchy subject for him, since Carol had been really evasive about the topic during her therapy sessions, so to put an end to his misery, she softly held her mother’s hand to gain her attention before slightly shaking her head, hoping she understood her signs.
“Yeah, you’re right. She would have,” he murmured, looking down at his feet before he looked up again. “Please, excuse me.” Both mother and daughter watched him walk down the path that led towards the deeper part of the garden, directly facing the full rise of the orange ball.
“His mother passed away, Mom.” Emerald cleared her mother’s confusion.
“Oh.” Maggie’s eyes went wide in panic. “Oh dear, I didn’t know. I’m so sorry.” Her apologies were frantic.
“I know you weren’t aware and I’m certain he does too. I guess she’s just a touchy subject for him.”
“I really am sorry. Well, what are you still doing here? Go after him. Make sure he’s okay,” she lightly pushed Emerald towards the path he had taken.
“But-”
“No buts. Go after him and make sure he’s okay,” Maggie grabbed the clipboard from her. “I’ll take care of this while you’re gone. Well, hurry up.”
“Fine. The next thing on the list is to check the dishes, okay Mom? Make sure Dad doesn’t get it poisoned,” she walked away after getting the ‘okay’ sign from her mother.
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