Duskwood After Story

Reunion, Part 4

Note for this chapter:

Hello lovely people!

I took a line from the song Sweet Child O' Mine by Gun N' Roses to describe Jake's eyes. I hope that's okay. :p If you want to listen, it's here:

Other than that, enjoy!

- End of Note -

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I arrived at the restaurant right at 7:50pm. It was a Thursday night but they were still a bit busy. Luckily, having foreseen this, I had made a reservation in advance and asked specifically for the 2nd table from the door, by the window. I also secretly booked the table behind me for Jake. It was a bit overkill, I thought, but it was better safe than sorry. I wouldn't want to risk him being seen in public with me. I knew he would not like that.

I gave the hostess my name and she walked me to the table. I positioned myself at the chair facing the entrance just like I told Jake. Then it was just waiting for him to show up. My heart was pounding inside my chest. These nerves of mine. I took several sips of water trying to calm myself down and kept looking out the window to look for anyone that could look possibly just a bit like him walking towards the restaurant. It wasn't that I knew what he looked like. But my guts were telling me that I would recognise him anyway. Every time the bell at the entrance rang, I sat up a bit taller in my chair and looked eagerly at the door for any sight of him. And every time it was a woman, some young couple, or an old man, I slouched back a bit in disappointment.

8pm passed by and he still wasn't there. A waitress walked by to ask if I wanted to order anything while waiting but I refused. I looked at my phone several times to check for any notifications from him, but sadly, nothing. By 8:10, I finally ordered a glass of wine to calm my nerves. I took a big sip out of it and felt my pulse slow down a bit. "Good, the alcohol is working". Then, "Bing". A notification.

You're very stubborn. Do you know that?

I almost jumped out of my chair when I saw Jake's message. He was still typing when I responded.

You know I am. :)

I'm not giving up, Jake. No matter how long I have to wait.

I put down the glass of wine and held the phone in both my hands while waiting for him to reply. The effect of the alcohol soon faded away and I felt my heart trying to pound out of my chest again.

Jake is typing...

My eyes were glued to the phone, so much that I didn't notice someone was taking the seat in front of me. They sat down and called out my name in a deep, warm voice that sent chills along my spine.

"Hello, Bailey."

I looked up immediately from my phone. The phone dropped from my hands to the table. My face was drawing a big O like Jessy earlier and I could feel my jaws open wide in shock.

In front of me was a black-haired man wearing a black leather jacket on top of a dark gray hoodie. His hair was messy, but in a natural good-looking way. All of his facial features could easily make anyone drop down to their knees. And his eyes were so beautiful. They were of the deepest blue color, as if they thought of rain, and were so clear. They were staring directly into mine and mine alone. I blinked several times in disbelief and uttered out:

"J-Jake..?"

"Yes, Bailey?"

He responded with a slight smile on his face.

"I'm sorry I'm late."

My hands went up to cover my mouth as an instinct. My eyes were starting to water but I bit my bottom lip to try containing the tears. Jake saw that and he reached out from across the table to grab my hand. His thumb started caressing the side of my hand trying to comfort me as he spoke again.

"I'm sorry I made you wait for so long, not just today. I should have contacted you earlier but I couldn't risk -..."

"S-stop. I understand. You don't have to explain to me."

I spoke quietly, interrupting his sentence. His hand was still holding on to mine, squeezing a little harder. Then the waitress from earlier passed by again, asking if Jake wanted to order anything. I quickly withdrew my hand from his and hid it under the table. I could only look down at my legs as my face must have been as red as a tomato. Seeing this, Jake looked a little shocked. He also withdrew his hand and told the waitress to only get him a glass of water.

I didn't know what came over me. It was so easy over text and the phone. I could be as quirky and straightforward as I wanted to. But sitting here face to face with him, I suddenly could not remember a single thing I wanted to tell him. My feelings that I had tried to bury all of this time were trying to crawl their way up. It was hard to fight back the tears.

"Bailey, are you mad at me?"

Jake asked in a worried voice. I looked up in protest:

"No! Of course not!"

Our eyes met again. For some reason, his stare had a powerful grip over my confidence. I melted every time I looked at them. I quickly turned away, my face was still blushing.

"N-no... I'm just a little bit... shocked, you know? And you didn't follow the instructions. I told you to take the seat behind me!"

I said in a sulking voice, feigning disappointment at him for breaking the rules. He put one elbow up on the table and rested his head on the palm of that hand. For the whole time, he never broke his gaze from me and always maintained a gentle smile.

"I can't possibly let you sit alone. And also, I want to have a good look at your face. I miss you, Bailey."

Does this man know how much power he has over me right now? I thought to myself in frustration. Everything he did made my heart beat a bit faster. Surely he doesn't want to give me a heart attack right?

Hearing his words, I started to feel bad about how I was acting till then. We finally met and all I could do was avert his gaze and make him worried. I gathered my courage with a big inhale then I turned my head to look at him. My nerves were still eating me slowly but I tried not to let them ruin this special night.

"I miss you too, Jake. More than you would ever know."

I swallowed, then continued.

"Nonetheless, tonight, we're playing by my rules!"

I declared in a big, decisive voice that made Jake chuckle. My shoulders relaxed a little at the sight of him laughing. I went back to my normal voice and asked him gently.

"I already had something else planned for us. Wanna get out of here?"

Jake nodded and we both got up from our seats. Jake stood up first and held his hand out waiting for me to take it. I got taken aback at his gesture again. After the initial moment of surprise, I shyly took his hand and we walked together out of the restaurant. I apologized to the waitress for not ordering anything and to Jake for not having a dinner date like we planned. He smiled at me saying it was okay. He wasn't hungry anyway. I assured him at the next spot, he would be able to eat to his heart's content, nevertheless. This made him laugh. And his laughter made my heart dance.