Love Metamorphosis

Chapter 33

                  
Jemma was surprisingly calm as she walked toward the restaurant; she was the picture of tranquility. With June quickly approaching the air was warm and inviting and she seemed to glide through it. She walked through the open door, and a doorman held the second door open for her, he gave her a slight nod. She in turn gave him a soft smile; a sense of general humanitarianism was overtaking her.

After speaking with Mary and her visit to Jeff's grave she had come to a conclusion. She was ready to give him an answer. She saw his back and recognized him instantly. He was wearing the same suit he had worn to Mary's birthday and it was like her eyes were drawn to him. She didn't wait for the hostess to seat her; she walked straight over to his table and sat down.

His face lit up in a smile when he saw her and his voice was filled with a nervous excitement, "I wasn't sure you would come."

"Of course I would," Jemma assured him, her entire body free of guile and uncertainty.

"I want to say something before you answer," he said his fingers sliding up and down the spine of his wine glass his voice filled with anxiousness, "I know you are not the sort of person who would lie to people even for good reasons. I know you have this goodness in you that makes you unable to openly deceive people and I just—"

"Yes I will." She interrupted, her face set in a serene but serious smile.

"—want to apologize for having..." his eyes tore away from his wine glass and he looked upon her with utter amazement, "You will?"

"Yes," she answered as her smile spread a little wider, "It was a logical plan, and I admire you for thinking of it. Mary is not opposed to the idea and now neither am I."

He didn't seem able to gather his wits because they were slipping onto the floor like marbles and rolling away to the corners of the room. "You already told my grandmother?" He asked clearly baffled.

"Yes," Jemma said and paused to tell the waiter to bring a bottle of champagne for celebration, "I wanted to have her approval before considering your offer. I also want to tell you my conditions."

"You have conditions?" He was still bewildered as he sank back into his chair, "Of course you have conditions. What are they?"

"I don't want payment, I simply want you to put an agreed sum of money away for Adele, a college fund of sorts, and I want to continue working," she thanked the waiter after he opened the bottle and told him her order of the same salad she always ordered from there before continuing, "I would like instead for you to purchase me a car as payment. I need a car and have for some time. Besides that my fee will be covered by room and board."

He was nodding his head, and chuckling, "Have a specific kind of car in mind?"

"I do," Jemma said with a smile, because of the satisfaction on his face, and touched her fingers to the bottle of champagne, "And we aren't getting married we just don't plan to correct the tabloids and their accusations. I will serve as a caregiver for Adele. Shall we celebrate?"

He reached across the table, "You are the best friend in the world."

She took his hand across the table and they smiled at each other, "You may have to throw in that cheesecake from southern Italy."

He laughed and it drew some of the attention around them, "That is an easy deal to agree to."

"Did I mention I wanted a new cake delivered every month?" She said with mischievous smile as she poured the champagne into a glass and held it out for him.