Chapter Two
Jade couldn't sleep for the next two days. Dustin's words kept ringing in her ears.
Tell me Jade, why am I going crazy for you
Kiss me
She thought them over and over and blushed everytime she remembered the kiss. She couldn't wait for tomorrow when she would go to see him in the afternoon as promised.
Unable to sleep, she took out her pocket notebook and scribbled,
I love you Dustin
I will always love you Dustin
I'm in love with you Dustin
Smiling happily at being able to express her feelings, she wrote in the next page,
To my Dustin,
I love you more than words can show
I think about you more than you could ever know
Until forever this will be true
Because there is no one I could ever love
The way I love you.
Eternally yours
Jade
She smiled happily at the little poem that she wrote. Keeping the notebook away, she went into blissful sleep, dreaming about Dustin.
The next day, she was restless the whole day. After lunch she asked her dad if she could go to meet old granny Jenny.
Her dad gave her permission and she took out her bike and sped down to the marketplace. Parking her bike, she saw Dustin watching her from inside the glass windows.
She went inside and smiled at Dustin. He gestured towards the kitchen and she straight went to the kitchen without a word as there were customers in his restaurant.
Granny was busy directing the chefs, yet she smiled at her and embraced her. "Just give me five minutes, sweetheart," she said.
"May I help granny?" She asked and granny smiled appreciatively.
"You want to help me? Thank you sweetheart," granny said handing her the cake mixture. "Here, can you mix this batter to a creamy, fluffy consistency?"
"Yes granny," said Jade, doing what granny asked her to do.
Granny walked to the oven to adjust the temperature with a smug expression on her face. Jade might be young, but she was the perfect girl for her Dustin. Dustin finished at the cash counter and when granny came to take over, he came into the kitchen to see Jade.
"Wow, you can bake?" He asked as he watched her pour the cake mixture expertly into the pan and place it in the preheated oven.
"Yeah, I can cook also," she said, looking at him.
"That's wonderful. I can't wait to taste your cooking," he said, staring at her face.
"Next time I will make something and bring it for you," she said, looking up at him.
"Next time will be when?" He asked her softly.
"Let's see, " she said.
Dustin went back to the cash counter to handle the billing of more customers who came in. Granny came back to the kitchen to handle their orders. Jade helped too. When all the customers left and Dustin could relax a little, he came into the kitchen.
Granny said to them,"Go home to our kitchen and eat the cake that Jade baked for us. Leave a piece for me too." Dustin nodded and led Jade to the backside of the restaurant. He opened his apartment door and they went to the kitchen with the cake.
He served themselves and brought it to the table. "This is too good," he said, helping himself to the piece.
"Thank you, but I just stirred the batter and baked it. Granny did the rest," she said, honestly.
"Still it's the best," he said, looking at her.
"Why?" She asked.
"Obviously. Because you made it," he said, still looking at her.
"Oh," she said, her cheeks turning red.
"Your girlfriend can't cook?" She asked, shyly. She wanted to know whether he had a girlfriend. He was 21 and so good looking. Surely he had a girlfriend.
Dustin chuckled at her question. Leaning closer to her, he said,"I don't have a girlfriend."
"Oh," she said, looking down to avoid his stare. She was so relieved that he didn't have a girlfriend.
He held her chin and made her look up at him. "When will I see you again?" He asked in earnest.
"Maybe next week. My dad won't give me permission so soon," she said. He nodded in understanding but how would he wait till next week?
"Can I come to see you then?" He asked her, staring at her upturned face with longing.
"Yes, please," she said and he smiled. "I've got to go home now." He nodded.
She got up and left. Dustin was about to leave and go back to his restaurant when he saw a small pocket notebook lying on the chair where she was sitting.
He wanted to rush out and give it to her, when he changed his mind. He would go to her school on Monday to return it. Grinning happily, he just flicked through the pages.
He stood frozen when he read what she had written. She loved him? He stared incredulously at the notebook. His heart sang and he did a happy dance. He just couldn't believe it that she really loved him.
"Is that a happy dance that you're doing?" Said his granny, chuckling. She grinned ear to ear at having caught her grandson do a happy dance. It sure had something to do with Jade.
"I actually, well yeah, it is. So what? Can't a guy dance in peace?" He said, blushing and going out, clutching the notebook to his chest like some treasure.
Jade came back home but couldn't find her notebook anywhere. Where did it go? It was in the pocket of her denims all the time. Where could she have dropped it? What would happen if someone found it and read it?
She had to get it. She saw that her dad was out. It was getting dark but she had to retrieve her notebook somehow. She sneaked out with her bike and rode to Dustin's restaurant again.
She saw many trucks in the restaurant's parking lot. She walked inside and saw that a fight was going on at the bar. Four drunk men were fighting amongst themselves. Dustin tried to intervene but no one listened to him. The bar became empty as the other customers left due to the gruesome fight. Suddenly one of the men took out a pistol from his waistband and pulled the trigger at one of his friends. The man fell to the ground with a thud.
Before she could scream, someone placed a hand on her mouth and pulled her away quietly towards the backside of the restaurant.
