Page 10 of Plain Jade

He reached out and brushed some of her hair off her face. “I wanted to make sure you’re nicely healed.”

She tried not to move or show how much she liked him touching her. It was next to impossible to do so. Taking a deep inhalation, she tried not to smell him, but she did. He invaded her senses and made her ache.

“Everything is fine.”

She wanted to reach out and touch him, to assure herself that he was indeed real and she wasn’t imagining him.

“No problems?” he asked.

“No. Are you a doctor?”

“No.”

“How did you know how to treat my … head?” She pointed at her head as she asked.

“I have my ways.”

He was so evasive. She had to wonder what he had to hide.

Jade nodded. “Do you want to stay for dinner?”

She had no intention of inviting him to eat with her, but the words just slipped out. It was like they had a mind of their own, and she could do nothing but sit back and wait.

“What are you having?” he asked.

“I … don’t know. Whatever I have in the fridge.” She pointed behind her and then forced herself to walk away from him to go and check what she had for leftovers. She did know what dinner was this morning, but now she couldn’t quite wrack her brain around what she needed to know. It was simple—a meal—but it seemed so hard for her to understand.

Opening the fridge, she saw it.

“Leftover lasagna,” she said.

She had made a big batch over the weekend, for her to enjoy the whole week. Some nights she ate it with fries, other nights, salad, and she alternated. There were a couple of large slices left and when her knight agreed to the lasagna, she grabbed both slices.

Putting them on a baking tray, she’d already preheated the oven before she opened the fridge.

“They shouldn’t be long,” Jade said.

She hoped he didn’t disappear into the night, like last time.

Jade had expected to see him the next morning, but he’d been gone by the time she woke up.

There hadn’t been anything other than a few more painkillers, and the water. No note. No sign he’d even entered her apartment.

She didn’t quite know how he did it, but he was like a ghost. There one moment, gone the next.

“So, ugh, how have you been?”

“I don’t make small talk.”

Jade nodded. “I guess I can see that.” She clicked her fingers, not exactly sure what to say.

“You haven’t been out,” he said.

“How do you know that? Wait, I have been out. I go to work and I go to the store. I live a very adventurous life.” She wanted the ground to just open her up and swallow her whole. That would be the best thing to happen.

Did the ground open up? No.

She stared at this man in front of her, and she honestly didn’t know what to do or say.

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