“Sebby?” A soft whisper by her left ear was all that was required to pull her out of her thoughts, yet leave her mouth running dry.
She nodded, willing herself to focus on his words and not on the ardency his breath brought her. “Sebastian. The owner of Debonair Burgers.” Even her voice sounded hoarse and unclear to her ears, so she cleared her throat.
Almost immediately, she was turned around to face Jordan’s slightly furrowed eyebrows. She almost reached out to smoothen the little crease between his brows when he spoke again. “How come you have a nickname for everyone but me?”
“What?” His question came as a shock to Emerald, especially when she picked up the slight tone of jealousy in his deep, husky voice.
“Uh uhn. You have one for Oriana, one for Logan, for Armani, Luca, Alora, Levi, Sebastian and even for my sister.”
Emerald blinked, trying to find the right words to answer him. “Uhm actually, I don’t have a nickname for Carol,” she tried to justify herself but seemed like he was having none of it.
“That is not the point, Gem,” the envy in his voice was now prominent as he took a step closer to her, causing her to bite her bottom lip again. He was finally granting her subconscious wish. “You have one for every important person in your life and-”
He came to an abrupt stop, piquing Emerald’s curiosity. “And?” she prompted.
“I get it now,” his hold on her arms slowly loosened and he retreated two steps backwards. “I’m not an important person in your life.” Emerald frowned at his words, watching as he chuckled humourlessly, his expression turning cold. “I finally get it. Is that what you’ve been trying to tell me all along? That I do not have and will never have a chance with you?”
Emerald couldn’t respond as she stood there, frozen and unresponsive, wondering how their smooth conversation had taken such a turn down a rocky path. Jordan appeared to have taken her silence as his answer, so he nodded stiffly.
“I see. I’m sorry for ever disturbing you.” He pulled away, his warmth and touch completely deserting her. Emerald’s eyes widened in alarm when he turned his back to her. She immediately snapped out of her daze and moved forward to hug him tightly from behind, halting his movements.
Due to her frantic thoughts, she had failed to notice how Jordan’s body sagged with relief and how his face shone with immeasurable happiness. His plan could’ve gone wrong in so many ways but with an ounce of confidence, he had decided to carry out his plan, hoping against hope that Emerald did have feelings for him. All someone like her needed was a little push to bring her out of her world of insecurities.
“No! That’s not it,” Emerald shook her head vehemently against his back, her heart pounding in her chest at the thought of Jordan giving up on her. “I will find you a nickname,” her mind ran many miles per minute as she scrambled for a suitable nickname for him, “how about J?”
Jordan sighed and held her arms which were wound tightly around him, wanting to stop his act and turn around to hug her but she appeared to have taken it the wrong way. “Ok, ok! I’ll find something better,” she cried, holding him even tighter, almost suffocating him.
“How about Jordie? Jo? Jojo? Ja-”
Jordan halted, contemplating whether to continue with the act or just give it up but his curious side wanted to see how far Emerald would go to keep him. He wanted to push her just a little bit more to see if she would finally voice out her feelings. So he interrupted, “It’s not just about the nickname, Emerald.” They were finally addressing the elephant in the room.
She shut her eyes tightly on hearing that he had called her by her name instead of the usual ‘Gem’. “I-I. . .” she hesitated, not knowing what to say.
Seeing that she wasn’t going to speak, Jordan pushed further, trying to pry her arms off him. “Wait!” she sighed. “You are important to me, Jordan. Really important, actually,” she confessed solemnly.
With an accomplished grin on his face, Jordan tried to remove her arms to turn to her again but still, she was having none of it. “I mean it, Jordan, I really do. I’m sorry for making you waste your time, money and efforts on apologizing to me when I am the one really at fault,” her voice turned wobbly as it grew smaller and smaller until it was almost a whisper of shame.
“I’m the one in the wrong here and I made you buy me flowers and cards, I made you have to think about what to write on those cards, I made you get me coffee, although I have no idea how you found out about my preferred taste,” Jordan held in his chuckle, not wanting to interrupt her. “I even made you trigger your allergy and I still wasn’t considerate enough to get you a properly designed card, instead, I had sent you a plain envelope.
I even made you leave our home without prior notice.” Jordan froze at her words. ‘Our home,’ she had said. Jordan couldn’t fathom the ocean of happiness that filled his whole being and overwhelmed him. He was beginning to see the whole world in rainbows. “I really am the worst,” she sighed, her hold on him loosening slightly and Jordan didn’t waste a second in using that opportunity to his own advantage.
He immediately turned around and pulled her impossibly closer to him, catching her mouth in a kiss that caught Emerald completely unawares. They pulled away from each other, panting when they both started to get light-headed. Jordan watched as the woman before him slowly opened her eyes, her long eyelashes fluttering as she appeared dazed.
His heart swelled when he saw the effect he appeared to have on her, knowing that she had just the same effect on him. “I-”
“Shh,” Emerald tried to speak but Jordan shushed her by placing his lips on hers in a light kiss. “Don’t say a word. I let you rant, now it’s my turn.” He ran his hand through her hair, smoothening the disheveled strands the little girl had caused earlier.
“Nothing is or was your fault, Gem. My money, my time and my efforts, I decided solely on my own to use them on you and I assure you, it was everything but a waste. You have forgiven me, right?” she didn’t hesitate to nod her head, eliciting a smile from Jordan.
“See? It all paid off. You aren’t the only one at fault here, Gem. I had also allowed my insecurities to influence my actions. Also, regarding my allergy, if I hadn’t been getting you flowers, I would have never known of its existence to begin with, so for me, it’s an advantage and a fore-warning to stay away from wisterias from now on. I should thank you, rather than blame you.” He stared deeply into her smaragd eyes, overwhelmed by how much he had missed them.
“Concerning the cards, I would like to admit that having to brainstorm about the perfect thing to write was quite challenging but exhilarating.” His eyes grew clouded as he smiled. “I remember calling Carol and Keelan non-stop and asking for advice. Even Owen and the Google search engine were witnesses to this insanity of mine,” he chuckled while Emerald pouted in shame at the trouble he had to go through just for her.
He gently pulled on her cheeks, disengaging her cute, little pout. “Hey, it was completely worth it,” he voiced seriously and Emerald could see the sincerity swimming in his chocolate orbs.
“As for the coffee, how I had come to know that you liked your coffee black and bitter,” he tightened his hold on her, bending slightly to lean his forehead against hers, “is a secret,” he whispered, his breath fanning her eyes.
They both let the comfortable silence dwell amongst them for a few seconds, the only sounds in the room being their soft breathing. After a few seconds had passed, Jordan leaned towards her ear and whispered, “I love that you had called your apartment ‘our home’ and although, it was a bit saddening that I was asked to leave, we could always get our own home in the future.” Emerald blushed at the underlying adumbration in his words.
He pulled away to look into her eyes again, gauging her reaction. “That is only if you’re willing to.” His eyes asked the question his mouth couldn’t voice out. He wanted her to be in his future. He had actually made plans for her in his own future.
Emerald’s heart swelled with raw emotions for this beautiful man standing strong before her but was she really worth it? Was she worthy of such kindness, of such happiness, of being offered any place in his future?
“But why would you want someone like me in your future, Jordan?” she asked timidly as she tried to unclasp her arms from around Jordan but he wouldn’t allow it as he held on to her tightly. “I’m broken. I’m completely damaged and worthless.” She whispered, on the edge of breaking down.
“The irony of our situation, Gem, is that we are both broken. I am as broken and as damaged as you are, if not more. I need someone to mend me and you need someone to mend you, what better match is there than the both of us?” he moved closer to her and began rubbing his nose delicately against hers. “We are like two pieces in a puzzle, love and what do two missing pieces in a puzzle do, Gem?” he asked.
“They stick together?”
“Exactly, sweetheart,” he muttered, his lips brushing hers in a tease. Emerald tried to control herself but to no avail and consequently, a quiet groan escaped her lips as her fingers dug into Jordan’s shirt, trying to pull him closer to her. She had never been so stimulated or bold before and that goes to show how much his presence affected her.
Jordan chuckled at her impatience. “Then are you willing to stick with me? If not now, then maybe in the future?” Emerald looked into his eyes which revealed nothing short of sincerity, hope and plea. She nodded with a determined smile. If he was willing to include her in his future, then she would do the same as well.
“I am,” she said, “I am willing, Jordan.”
Jordan grinned, his face an epitome of the word ‘happiness’. “Promise me, Emerald. Promise me that we won’t hide anything from each other. I don’t want our inner demons to cause a rift between us like last time. I promise to let you know all of my doubts and insecurities, Gem. Now, you promise me as well.”
She nodded again. “I promise you, Jordan. I promise to always make you aware of all my doubts and insecurities.” With a huge sigh of relief and a joyous laughter, Jordan pulled her into a warm hug, even lifting her off the ground as he gently twirled her around the storage room.
Emerald couldn’t hold back her groan when he set her back on her feet. She pulled him closer again, lightly nibbling on her bottom lip in nervousness. Jordan decided to tease her again. Tonight was all about bringing her out of her reclusive shell and he was determined to go all the way.
“What is it?” he tilted his head to the side, feigning ignorance.
“I-” she hesitated, “I really missed you, Jordan.”
“I missed you too, Gem. And? Is there anything else you want to say?” he prodded.
“Yeah, I. . .” she blew out a breath, “C-can I kiss you?” she blurted out, looking down at his chest.
Jordan smiled widely, unable to contain the joy and contentment that spread through his heart like a virus. When Emerald’s confession only met with silence from Jordan, she cringed, chastising herself for being so forward and she was about to apologise when Jordan suddenly guided her face to him and met her awaiting lips with his hot and needy ones.
In the confinements of the dark storage room, away from the bustling party and from prying eyes, the couple finally reconciled with a promise to have a future together. Their promise was further sealed with a kiss as both their tongues danced together in a sweet and passionate embrace.