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.
▬▬▬▬▬