Summer of Love

Spring was in the air. The robins had come out to play and sang cheerfully as the sun warmed the earth. The snow had long since melted and nature was beginning to awaken. Grass returned to richness, the trees sprouted fresh spring leaves and flowers began to grow. Bumblebees appeared to pollinate.

Jordan hadn’t showed up on Valentine’s Day. He hadn’t even bothered to call so I just gave up. I didn’t care anymore. The little party I had with Cian was fun and I enjoyed watching comedy movies and munching on junk food. I felt slightly guilty that I hadn’t even thought of Jordan or the fact he hadn’t showed up. I deserved to have fun and I did...without him.

It had been a few days later when I finally heard from Jordan through text message. He couldn’t even be bothered to call. He apologized and said he had just gotten my voice mail. I could hear a change in his voice and in his attitude so I wondered what had happened. I was suspicious when he asked if he could come over. Reluctantly I agreed. I still cared for him and I was curious to see what excuses he would feed me this time. When he had arrived, he seemed back to his old self. He told me about his father and all the trouble he had gone through. He had him admitted into a special place to help him with his drinking and drug problems. He apologized over and over for shutting me out and ignoring me. He promised to take me out on a late date for Valentine’s Day. With a promising kiss, he left.

I still couldn’t help but feel suspicious though. Even after three weeks of telling me everything, I still felt something wasn’t right. He had dropped right back into his easy ways, always smiling and cuddling like he used to. However, I found it harder to fall back into that easy state with him. He had definitely hurt my feelings, acting the way he did and it hadn’t gone away. Warning rang inside my head every time I saw him and I wondered what it was. I felt like I couldn’t trust him as much as I had in the beginning. It bothered me very much and I was growing worried.

Today was the day Chief was going to tell us about her plans. We had a meeting the day after she had called me, but nothing was definite. Now, she would be telling us the news. At the end of the day we all gathered in the staff room and waited as Chief smiled.

“Well...I’ve decided to do it!” she said happily, her hands clenched into excited fists.

Everyone exclaimed happily and congratulated her. She blushed under the praise, nearly vibrating with excitement.

Caroline turned to her curiously once the chatter died down. “What’s going to happen to this place while you’re away?”

Chief smiled. “Well, I’ve been thinking long and hard about this and decided that my sister would take care of it for me!”

I stared. “You have a sister?”

“Oh yes! She’s from Miami, but she agreed to come down and help me out!”

I exchanged a look with Caroline and she gave a shrug. She had been here the longest and she didn’t even know about Chief having a sister. She rarely spoke about her family at all.

“It will be a week or so before I leave, girls so don’t worry. The building I purchased needs to be fixed up a bit and furnished so that will take some time. Until then, everything will go as normal,” she assured and I smiled. She looked so happy.

“What’s the theme for the other franchise?” Tori asked curiously. The Chief smiled with that special twinkle in her eye.

“The theme is Butlers!” she said excitedly, clapping her hands. I looked at the others and they seemed just as surprised. Then it dawned on me the theme she was aiming for and I smiled.

“Oh, I get it. Your sticking with the same theme you have here, but with male servers instead of maids!”

She nodded. “This place is so unique and popular, I thought I would stick to the theme but with all men working! Oh, that reminds me!” She pointed at me with a smile. “I want you to ask Cian and Jordan if they would be willing to come and work there!”

I blinked in surprise and smiled nervously. “Uh...I’m not sure, Chief but I’ll be sure to ask.”

“Great!” she said happily, lacing her fingers cutely. “Meeting dismissed!”

I was surprised when I left the building to find Jordan waiting for me with a smile. I forced one in return as we started walking home.

“How was work?” he asked with a warm smile. I felt my skin crawl. There definitely wasn’t something right.

“It was good. Chief is opening a new cafe with butlers instead of maids. She wanted me to ask you if you wanted to work for her.”

He chuckled and ducked his head. A habit I used to think was cute but now it just seemed fake.

“Well, tell her I’m flattered and I’ll think about it. It sounds interesting.”

I looked ahead with a sigh and wondered what happened between us. Either he couldn’t notice the difference or he was just ignoring it. He walked with ease, his shoulders relaxed with a smile on his face. I saw no worry or concern there. I don’t know if that bothered me or not. Wasn’t he paying attention to me at all? Did he even notice the change in me?

“Jordan...” I began but he cut me off. He took my hand and kissed my palm.

“Misa, would you let me take you out tonight, just the two of us?”

My shoulders slumped. I guess now was as better time as any to get the answers I was looking for. I nodded and he gave me that heart-stopping smile. It no longer gave me the happy sort of butterflies. It felt more like birds trying to tear themselves free of my body.

I sipped my drink slowly and gazed around the restaurant. Jordan was talking away and I was barely listening. All he could talk about was everything dealing with him. He kept apologizing for what he had done and I was beginning to get annoyed every time he said it. After the 10th time, I set my glass down with a little more force than necessary. He stopped talking and looked at me with surprise.

“Misa, what’s wrong?” His eyes were concerned now. Good, because I had a lot to say.

“This isn’t working, Jordan.” There. I had said it without thinking, without hesitating.

He stared at me in silence for a few minutes before his eyes turned sad. “I should have known this was going to happen. I’m sorry that I ignored you, Misa, but I had to take care of my father.” There was something strange in the way he talked about what he did while he was away. There was something that changed in his voice that I hadn’t picked up on before. Now, it was clear as a bell.

“Jordan, I want you to be honest with me,” I said, leaning forward. “What did you really do while I was gone?”

A flicker of emotion passed through his eyes, but disappeared as quick as it came. I saw it, though. Fear. He plastered on a smile and shook his head innocently.

“I already told you. I was taking care of my Dad,” he said as his smile fell, his eyes searching. “You don’t believe me, do you?”

I pulled away with a sigh and pinched the bridge of my nose. Nasty habit, that. “I don’t know what to believe to be honest.”

“Misa...” I lifted a hand to silence him.

I faced him, looking him dead in the eye. “This isn’t working for me anymore, Jordan. I’m breaking up with you.”

His mouth opened in shock. “You’re b-breaking up with me?”

I nodded and sipped my water. My heart was racing in my chest because I hated to hurt people in any way. This was harder than I thought.

He swallowed, his eyes slightly watering over and I felt the guilt sink in. I hated to see him look so hurt. He pulled his hand from mine and stared down at the table. He took a deep breath and shook his head.

“Uh...okay, I guess.” His voice cracked. I had to get out of there before I changed my mind.

I rose to my feet and grabbed my purse. I looked at him sadly. “I’m so sorry, Jordan.”

Turning on my heel, I walked out of the restaurant. Tears filled my eyes and I sniffed. The look on his face replayed in my head, but I knew it was for the best. I just didn’t feel the same about him anymore. That time apart we had created distance between us, one that changed the dynamics of our relationship. I can’t help what I feel. I was full out crying by the time I got home.

Cian, who had been lounging on the couch watching a movie, jumped up as soon as I walked through the door. As soon as he saw the tears, he crossed over and held me tightly in his arms.

“What happened?”

He led me to the couch and sat me down. He turned his body to face me seriously as I wiped away my tears.

“I broke up with Jordan.”

His eyes widened in surprise. “You broke up with him?” Was there hope in his voice?

I nodded silently and he sighed. He drew me into his side and wrapped an arm around me.

“You know it was for the best, right? After everything, he should have known things would be different.”

“I just feel so bad. You didn’t see his face,” I croaked and sniffled.

He kissed the top of my head. “I can imagine. Don’t worry, Misa. Everything will be okay.”

I knew it would. It was only a matter of time before this happened anyway. It didn’t help with the guilt I felt though. That was just something I was going to have to ride out. I took a deep breath to calm myself and pulled back with a smile.

“Hungry?” I rose to my feet, not waiting for an answer and stepped into the kitchen. He followed close behind, his face etched with worry.

“Are you sure you’re okay?” he asked quietly. I nodded and searched through the fridge, making plans for something to make. I hadn’t even eaten at the restaurant.

I pulled out ingredients for spaghetti. “Yeah, I’m fine.” I grabbed a large pot and the cutting board.

He stepped closer. “Do you want help?”

I smiled up at him. “Sure.”

As we chopped up vegetables and prepared spaghetti in a pot, we talked about anything other than Terra or Jordan. It was then I remembered what Chief had asked.

“So at work today, Chief said that she for sure is opening another cafe.”

“Oh, that’s great. Good for her.”

“Yeah, she said it’s going to be the same as the original but with men dressed as butlers instead of maids. It’s going to focus on attracting female customers and she wants you to work there,” I said with a smile.

He took his eyes from the bubbling pot in surprise. “She wants me to be a butler?”

I laughed. “Yeah, she thinks you’re good looking and believes you’ll bring in good business.”

He blushed and ducked his head. “I’ll think about it.”

I smiled to myself as I slipped on my oven mitts and dumped the steaming water into a strainer. After mixing the sauce with the noodles, dinner was ready and smelled amazing. I fixed two plates seeing my other friends had yet to come home. Cian had set the table for two and even lit two candles I had stored away. I smiled at the scene and sat down. He was trying hard to cheer me up and it was working.

Over dinner, we talked about the old days having grown up with each other. Actually, all of us except Fox had grown up together. I always knew, even as a little girl Sara would end up with Jack. I had hopes for Hannah, but she was always too shy and a little afraid of men. Until she met Fox when he transferred in middle school and they instantly clicked. Being able to laugh with Cian made me happy. Those feelings I had felt for him before Jordan leaked into my system and roused the butterflies in my stomach. I had an inkling that I was beginning to fall for him again.

“Here I’ll clean up,” he said as he grabbed our plates. “You go settle yourself in the living room and I’ll grab us a glass of wine.”

Chief was good that way. Though I was going to turn 18 in June, she supplied a few bottles of wine here and there just for fun and always with a wink.

“I used to be a teenager once too,” she always said.

I moved to the living room and sat down with a sigh. I drew my knees up on the couch and rested my head back on the arm. Cian appeared in my line of vision with a glass of red wine, a dish towel slung over his shoulder. I smiled and accepted the glass, sitting up to take a sip as he disappeared back into the kitchen. I sat in silence, listening to Cian washing dishes, thinking about what had happened earlier with Jordan. I was sad yes, but I kept telling myself it was for the best. It just wasn’t working anymore, I didn’t feel the same. All the warnings I had felt around him disappeared once I made the decision. It wasn’t easy, but I didn’t give myself room to hesitate, to rethink.

Cian sat beside me with beer bottle in hand and grabbed my legs, settling them over his lap. He smiled down at me. He set his beer on the table and rubbed my leg thoughtfully.

“Things have been pretty rough lately, haven’t they?” he questioned. His stared out the window, his gaze faraway.

I nodded and ran my fingers through my hair. “It has indeed.”

He flashed me a smile. “Well, it can only get better from here. I have hopes for the future.”

I returned his smile. Hearing him say it, made me believe too. “So do I.”

We sat together in silence, just enjoying each other’s company.

Sometimes, a comfortable silence speaks louder than words.