The Faith of a Mustard Seed

Chapter Thirteen

           

Three loud raps at the door wakes Jasmine from her sleep as Nathan pokes his head in, "Hey, Mom and Dad had to leave early it's just you and me here. I'm heading to the kitchen to find some food. Wanna join me before we start on our projects?"

Stretching Jasmine yawns, "Sur-rre. I'll be down in just a moment."

Laughing Nathan shuts the bedroom door and makes his way downstairs. Shaking her head Jasmine crawls out of bed and makes her way to the bathroom, after a really quick shower and making sure she has enough make-up on to cover her bruises, she swiftly dresses and heads downstairs where she finds Nathan standing in front of the refrigerator with the door standing wide open looking for food.

At the sound of her footsteps Nathan turns around a carton of eggs in his hands, "I was beginning to think you'd went back to bed. How does eggs and bacon sound for breakfast?"

Smiling Jasmine responds, "Sounds good. Need any help?"

"Nope I can handle it. I actually used to cook on the weekends when Gracie would come over. It was kind of our little tradition. She'd always make fun of the way my eggs tasted, but whenever she tried to cook when we were at her house, she'd always set the fire alarm off. So, I decided I'd just cook for us."

Chuckling Jasmine shook her head, "I'd probably do the same. I've never really learned to cook all that well. I can take something from a box and pop it in the microwave but that's about it."

Nathan laughs as he begins to put bacon in a skillet and starts cracking eggs. After a few minutes Nathan asks, "Would you like something to drink? We have juice, milk, water, coffee, hot chocolate, tea."

"Tea? What kind of tea do you have?" Jasmine asks excitement in her voice.

Looking surprised Nathan replies, "We have some sweet tea, but we also have some tea bags. The tea bags are in the cabinet over there and the sweet tea is in the fridge. Do you like tea?"

"I love hot tea, especially with honey. Would you mind if I had some hot tea? I haven't had any in ages."

"Not at all help yourself." Nathan nods towards the cabinet that holds the tea in it.

Jasmine smiles her thanks as she opens the cabinet and pulls out a bag of herbal tea. When she turns back around Nathan places a coffee cup and a jar of honey on the island in front of her. A true smile on her lips Jasmine starts to make her tea and several minutes later she's seated at the island the coffee cup clasped tightly in her hands as she smells the earthy aroma of her tea savoring its long-forgotten scent.

"It's been that long since you've had a cup of tea?" Nathan asks curiously from where he's standing at the stove a cup of coffee in one hand and a spatula in the other.

"Yeah, over six months. My Aunt and Uncle don't allow me to drink tea, but I love it. I don't like the taste of coffee but give me a cup of tea and I'm ready to roll. I've really missed this. I hadn't really realized how much until now."

"Well, I'll make sure we have plenty of tea for whenever you're over here." Nathan smiles as he turns around with two plates full of food in his hands. Sitting down at the table Nathan and Jasmine begin to eat. When they are almost done Nathan asks, "So, what are we going to do for an art project? "

"I don't know. He wants us to paint something that will make people question the meaning of life, but what is the meaning of life?"

"I don't know either, how are we supposed to paint something that is the meaning of life without knowing what the meaning of life is?" Nathan sighs rubbing his eyes with the palm of his hands.