The whole family continued with their handed tasks-the two sisters and their father majorly handling dinner, Maggie busy chatting everyone’s ears off, occasionally whining and singing while also stealing meals and toying with the left over blue colored balloons she had tied to her special chair from the baby shower, while Jordan alternated between chatting with the parrot of a pregnant woman, passing ingredients to the three chefs, setting the dining table and stealing kisses from Emerald, who was more than happy to succumb to him.
Armani was in the middle of faking a gag at yet another shared kiss between the lovey-dovey couple who couldn’t seem to keep their hands and eyes off each other, when the doorbell rang, its chime failing to bring a halt to Maggie’s chatters.
“Expecting any visitors, il mio amore?” Luca interrupted his wife, who tapped her chin in thought before shaking her head.
“None that I can remember.”
“I’ll get it,” Jordan was quick to volunteer. He shot Emerald a wary glance-of which she wasn’t aware-before approaching the door with clenched fists and a stoic expression. Just as the doorbell went off again, Jordan flung the door open, eyes widening at the sight of the person, or rather, people, on the other side.
“What are you doing here?” he asked, still in shock at seeing his sister, her husband and his best friend standing behind Oriana and Logan.
On hearing Jordan’s voice, Emerald abandoned her work to see what was happening. “Cal, is something wr-” she trailed off, stunned into silence when the faces of the people standing at the door came into view.
For a few seconds, no one spoke a word and if a cricket would pass by, its chirps would be very audible enough to be heard over Maggie’s chatters, which didn’t seem to have an end.
Appearing to finally snap out of the trance of muteness and stillness, Jordan asked again. “How did you three get here?” His gaze moved over the intruders.
“That would be Ori’s doing,” Logan finally spoke, snickering at Oriana’s deer–caught–in–headlights expression. “Now, if you’d excuse me, I smell food. Lu, my man!” he called out, walking past Emerald and Jordan, who were still at the door. The couple turned back around to face a bashful Oriana, whose lips were stretched into a sheepish smile.
Emerald stared at her friend, her green orbs going down and up her frame before doing a double take at the sight of Keelan’s hands encasing Oriana’s. Her one eyebrow rose before she met gazes with Oriana, who was quick to detach her hand from Keelan’s, but it was already too late.
Emerald smirked at her friend’s reaction; seeing as Oriana refused to meet her eyes, Emerald made a mental note to corner her and squeeze the gist out of her later.
Oriana cleared her throat before looking at Jordan, who was still awaiting her response. Her sheepish smile grew wide as she shrugged, her shoulders almost touching her ears and her palms upturned.
“Surprise?” she squeaked.
▬▬▬▬▬
Clad in another one of Jordan’s shirts with only her panties on, Emerald stood before the foggy mirror of the bathroom, constantly running the already damp terry through her wet hair. She stared at her reflection, recalling how the night had gone since the unexpected arrival of Carol, Leonardo and Keelan.
Carol had been more than happy to babble about how Oriana and Keelan had discovered that they both had something in common, their friends, Emerald and Jordan. Apparently, Oriana had also managed to let it slip that she knew where the couple had disappeared into and similarly babble-mouth Keelan hadn’t been able to withhold such information from Carol, who had begged him to convince Oriana to take them to the couple.
This came to that and Oriana was able to persuade Logan, resulting in both friends arriving with the whole calvary. As usual, Maggie had been overjoyed to receive more guests and her reaction had been very akin to that of a kid in a candy store.
Taking into consideration how tonight had gone, Emerald couldn’t have been more grateful for her family’s peculiar trait of always preparing every meal as though it were for a feast. Her parents had always preferred having leftover meals to having their family or guests left unsatisfied and that particular quirk of theirs had come in handy tonight.
Returning the towel to its rack, Emerald ran her fingers through her mildly damp hair, staring into her own eyes with the smidgen of a smirk playing on her lips. She thought back to how cozy Oriana and Keelan had been at dinner and although she had planned on cornering her best friend, the sneaky little thing had managed to escape her grasp.
‘But only for tonight,’ Emerald decided before walking out of the bathroom to meet with the sight of Jordan’s dorsal view facing her from where he stood by the sliding glass doors leading to the little balcony Emerald had installed in her teenage days’ bedroom.
“Cal?” she called out, frowning slightly when he doesn’t respond. His posture was tense and stiff as he stood with his muscular arms buried in the pockets of his sweatpants. His upper body was bare, Emerald noticed as she approached him.
Gently placing her hand on his forearm, she tried again. “Cal?” He jerked at the sound of her voice and quickly, his head whipped around to face her. Emerald frowned when she noticed the barely evident look of relief that shadowed his countenance for a millisecond before dispersing.
“Are you okay?” she asked cautiously as he wrapped his arms around her frame, pulling her into his chest. She felt his head drop to place a kiss on her forehead before he mumbled a response.
“I’m fine, love.”
Emerald looked up at him, trying to gauge his expression but was only met with a small smile dancing on his lips. “You sure?” she pressed on, to which he nodded before turning her around so her back could rest against his front. His arms wound tightly around her and she, in return, rested hers on his forearms.
They both continued to stare out the balcony, allowing the chilly night air wrap around them like a blanket as they dwelled in the comfortable silence the night provided. Few moments passed before Emerald spoke up, her voice only an octave higher than a whisper.
“If this is about your family’s unexpected visit, then you have absolutely nothing to worry about. My parents were absolutely glad to have such august visitors,” she assured, remembering how he hadn’t seem to have taken their sudden appearance quite well.
“No, that’s not it, Gem. I promise,” he sighed. “I’m actually glad they came, albeit unexpectedly, I was already planning on introducing them to your family. I’m happy it happened soon.”
Emerald looked up at him to find him already staring at her. He leaned down, still holding her gaze, before taking her lips in his for a slow kiss. They pulled away and unconsciously, Emerald bit her bottom lip, absentmindedly tracing the apex and nadir of Jordan’s abs while Jordan could only continue to stare at her lips.
Just as he managed to pry her soft, pink and slightly swollen lower lip from the confines of her teeth, Emerald breathed out. “Cal?”
“Hmm?” He hummed distractedly, his eyes still trained on her lips as he gently ran his thumb along the incredibly soft flesh, delineating and committing to memory, the lines which gave life to her perfect cupid’s bow shaped lips.
“I’ve been meaning to ask you something,” she whispered, appearing to hesitate to ask.
“What’s that?” He whispered in return, deliberately letting his breath fan her face. The baby of a smirk graced his lips when he heard her sharp inhalation; he was loving the effect he had on her.
Emerald hesitated for a bit before putting her thoughts to words. “Why do you seem to hate Leonardo?” She finally asked.