First (James Yammouni)

Chapter Ten.

After last nights events everyone had silently gone to their own rooms. James was still locked inside his even though it was nine in the morning and everyone else was already awake. I was coming down the stairs and into the kitchen, getting ready for work, when Mary and my father stopped me.

"Do you have work today?" My father asked.

"Yeah, from ten till five" I said, reaching into a cabinet for a box of cereal.

"Oh, well, when you get home we might not be here" he said "we have a business dinner and we'll probably be out late"

"You don't have to explain yourself" I said, pouring the cheerios into a bowl "you're both adults, and I can take care of myself" I said.

"I know" Mary interrupted "but i just don't want you to feel uncomfortable here, especially after..." She trailed off.

"You mean last night?" I asked.

"I hope you didn't take what he said to heart" Mary sighed "james can be a bit, well, mean sometimes"

"I'm fine" I assured her "people get frustrated and upset, don't worry, it's not the worst thing someones said to me"

She looked like she wanted to say more but didn't, I spooned the cereal into my mouth quickly and tied my shoes, running out the door and into my truck.

I drove to the bakery silently, and as I was coming in Marie was heading out, leaving me alone for the first time. I felt honored in a way, her pride and joy was this little shop, and she was leaving it in my hands. Business was as usual, with a few people ordering some chocolate chip cookies. I spent the first few hours of the day mainly organizing ingredients and just baking, but when I heard the front door open I quickly rushed to greet the customer.

"Hello, how can I help you?" I asked in a chirpy voice.

"Hey, emma" I looked up at the mention of my names and my blue eyes quickly met James's brown ones.

"James" I said, swallowing a lump in my throat that had quickly formed "what are you doing here?"

"I came here to apologize" he said, scratching the back of his head. "About last night..."

"It's fine" I said "I forgive you"

"I was a dick" he said "I was irritated and pissed off, i didn't mean to involve you, I'm sorry"

"It's fine" I said once again, biting my bottom lip.

He did the same and we stood there for a minute, silently willing each other to break the silence.

"Do you want to go grab something to eat? He asked.

"Uh, sure" I said, looking down at the time "but I'll have to be back here in an hour"

"That's fine, I'll have you back" he said.

I untied my apron and hung it up on the rack where it belonged, I grabbed the shop keys and turned off all the lights, locking the door and hanging the "closed" sign before we left.

In the parking lot his car sat alone, a sleek black model I couldn't name if my life depended on it. I opened the door and climbed in, looking around in awe at the inside. My mother used to tell me "old people don't play with buttons inside Cars because they're too scared of them" and that's exactly how I felt as I sat there. James climbed in and pushed a button, starting his car without a key. He looked at my face of confusion and held up a little black square "it's a push to start, all you need is this". I couldn't help but wonder what he'd do if his little battery died, since I couldn't find an ignition. I pushed the question out of my mind as he pulled out of the parking lot, I was so used to the loud humming and vibrations of my truck that when he pulled off the smooth driving gave me slight anxiety. He drove, and we sat in silence for a while.