Chapter Twelve : Kaoru’s Cake House, IV
Part One
It seemed like there were weighs chained onto his being as Izz felt reluctant to face Liyana. However so, there was already a small box—a present for the girl—that he held onto tightly in his palm.
Now and then, Bob glanced into the kitchen from the round gla.s.s that was placed on the wooden door as part of its design. He could see Wing and Izz, standing before each other at the far corner of the kitchen. Both of them weren’t talking. They were just standing there as if they were being pressured.
On the other hand, Denny had used his head to gesture his question of how the two men in the kitchen were. Bob’s answer, like the past three times, was only the raising of his shoulders that said that he didn’t know.
Love is like a river, flowing without stop but growing wider as time pa.s.ses instead…
“Izz, weren’t you all gung-ho about this just a while ago? You said you would be brave, but what happened to that bravery now? If you don’t go see her now, it’ll be a waste of your money buying that,” Wing motioned at the gift in Izz’s hand.
Izz remained silent. His heart is still hurt. No, it wasn’t that he didn’t want to face Liyana, it’s just that two years of loyally waiting was a long period. Until today, he had been and is still hoping for a positive answer. However, the chances of getting the answer he wanted were only a small percentage. No matter how hard he tried or whatever he did, the answer he received was still the same.
“Izz, there are people who like to watch from afar instead of taking action, but that can only last for how long? In the amount of time spent waiting, there is a possibility of receiving multiple chances. Waiting loyally at the sidelines for that one moment may never bring it to you, but the moments that aren’t being waited for are the ones that will bring a larger, more positive change,” Wing’s advice was full of meaning. Izz smiled and nodded his head. Never, had he thought that Wing would be able to say words like those, but they were enough to make him regain his nerves. He had to see Liyana!
If love comes once, it doesn’t mean that it won’t return. It will come again, but from the other person instead. It could be the ‘him’ from the past or the ‘him’ that will soon enter your life…
Jasmine and Liyana sat down at a table on the right corner of the shop, close to the gla.s.s door. Opposite from them was where Ginn, Mike, Moon and Elle sat. From there, Elle sneaked glances at Jasmine. Ginn, with anger growing inside of him, noticed his friend’s actions.
Jasmine ignored them. She left them to their own discussions. Now, she needed to put her full attention at listening to Liyana’s confession. Her best friend’s confession was about the truth between herself and Kaoru’s Cake House. It was about her and Izz. This is Liyana’s time, not Jasmine’s and Ginn’s!
“Unbelievable. This is what we call fate,” Jasmine commented after listening to Liyana’s tale.
“I don’t think it is fate. I still can’t cure my ‘illness’,” Liyana replied in an upset tone.
Jasmine fell silent. That illness, the spontaneous illness that even a psychologist couldn’t cure, is the phobia of love. Whenever Liyana was touched by the man she loved, she would immediately faint.
“Hmm…that’s weird. From then until now, you’re still not cured from that problem?” Jasmine questioned worriedly. Liyana replied with a shake of her head.
“After two years of meeting many boys, you’re still like this?!” Jasmine exclaimed in disbelief. Liyana is a beautiful person with long waves of light hair, large brown eyes and a personality to match her demure. It was only natural to have boys attracted to her like bees to flowers.
Liyana looked at her friend and gave her a smile. She placed her hands on the table and then, said, “Min, the other boys aren’t the same with Izz. I don’t have any feelings when I’m with them. I only get them with Izz. He’s someone that I really care for deeply. He’s someone that I only have this over-pouring love for. Even if you put Brad Pitt next to me, Justin Bieber, One Direction, Taylor Lautner, Robert Pattinson, Alex Pettyfer, Super Junior, Big Bang, U-Kiss, Kimura Takuya, Tomohisa Yamas.h.i.ta, Jay Chou, Fahrenheit…”
Jasmine fanned her hand in front of Liyana’s face before cutting the girl off. “Enough already! Enough! You don’t have to name all the celebrities that you like, ok? I understand what you’re trying to say!” she told, earning a giggle from Liyana.
Then all of a sudden, they heard a voice greeting them. It belonged to Izz.
Liyana was shocked. Words wouldn’t leave her lips as her eyes were fixed on the guy she loved. Jasmine on the other hand, was panicking inside. Liyana could faint anytime. So, before that could take place, Jasmine stood up. “Hi, Izz! Finally, the two of you meet! Liyana, is there anything you would like to say?”
Izz and Liyana were confused for a moment. They looked at Jasmine, bemused by why the sweet girl would ruin the supposing romantic reunion. Jasmine ignored the looks tough. Her only intention was to lighten up the atmosphere so things wouldn’t be too awkward. She was hoping that it would at least help Liyana to relax slightly and not faint.
At the cashier counter, Bob and Denny could be seen watching the three. They wanted to know what was going on. Maybe the conversation between Jasmine, Liyana and Izz wasn’t clear enough, but Jasmine’s actions puzzled Bob and Denny. Wing who had exited the kitchen, didn’t give any reactions. He could tell that something exciting would take place soon though.
“Min, I’m okay,” Liyana a.s.sured while using the nickname she gave Jasmine. The other girl quirked an eyebrow. “Are you sure?” Jasmine asked with a sweet smile.
Liyana nodded her head in reply, causing Izz to smile as well. Sure, he was a little embarra.s.sed that Jasmine knew the whole truth, but if she didn’t, he wouldn’t be able feel sure about himself and Liyana. That wasn’t important now, though. The girl he loves is in front of his eyes and she had to be given attention.
Besides, from when he was first introduced to Jasmine by Wing, Izz had actually already known who Jasmine was. He knew about the girl when he met Liyana. However, that time he wasn’t formally introduced to her. When he was with Liyana, he only knew Jasmine as his lover’s best friend. He had only seen Jasmine’s face from afar and in Liyana’s photo alb.u.ms. So, it wasn’t a weird if Jasmine knew about the whole truth…it’s just that in that time, they’ve have not formally meet each other or maybe she had never seen his face before judging from when Wing introduced him that day, Jasmine hadn’t given any reactions that showed that she knew him.
“Well if that’s the case, I should leave you guys alone,” Jasmine offered, smile widening.
“No. I’d like to talk with Liyana outside, if you don’t mind,” Izz replied while giving a tender glance at Liyana.
Liyana turned to Jasmine to get her best friend’s reply. Jasmine nodded her head to show that she agreed. Then, Liyana got up from her seat and made her way out to the front lawn of Kaoru’s Cake House with Izz following her from behind. His hand remained in the side pocket of his trousers all the while. Inside his pocket was where he kept the small, Tiffany gift box.
Part Two
When an obstacle is met in the flowing river that represents love, a bridge will be built to cross it…
“So…what happened?”
The attention of both Denny and Bob on Liyana and Izz was interrupted when Ginn’s voice brought them back to reality. How long had he been standing at the cashier counter? Denny and Bob didn’t know, but Elle, Mike and Moon were standing beside him. They were watching Izz and Liyana exit Kaoru’s Cake House.
However, Ginn was staring at Jasmine’s direction. Jasmine had also averted her attention to him. From where Jasmine stood, nearly thirty meters away from the cashier counter, both she and Ginn were smiling at each other. The pleased feeling they shared didn’t have to be spoken out loud for everyone to know how they felt.
Seeing how Ginn and the others were done, Bob hurriedly left the cashier counter and headed to the table they had sat at. He proceeded to clean it up.
“I’m a.s.suming that you have already decided on the wedding dress?” Wing who realized that his companion was about to leave asked from the kitchen bar counter.
“The wedding dress has been decided for quite a while already. I think about an hour ago? We just wanted to hang around a little longer. After all, this shop got cozier with all the chrysanthemums,” Ginn replied while glancing at Jasmine who was walking to the cashier counter. He knew she could hear his compliment since his voice was clear and loud.
Hearing his answer, Wing then excused himself back into the kitchen so he could start closing up the shop. On the weekends, Kaoru’s Cake House would close at four in the evening. The other customers had long left. The clock’s hands were pointing to 3.30. The sky outside was turning orange-pink and today was a Sat.u.r.day as well.
“Chrysanthemums are refreshing flowers. However, not everybody thinks of them as more than flowers used to make drinks,” Jasmine commented once she reached the cashier counter, staring deeply into Ginn’s eyes without blinking.
Elle could clearly tell what the un-breaking stare meant. It was accompanied by smiles from both people. Behind him, Moon reached for her fiancé’s hand and held it. They exchanged smiles. Elle could feel their actions as well.
Even though love made me fall, I will still continue to fall again no matter what.
“The total is RM 52.65,” Denny’s voice broke the silence. Although Ginn hadn’t asked him yet, he had done it on purpose to break the moment with heavy concentrations of love radiating in to the air. It was a moment that he was veryenvious of.
Ginn frowned and glared at Denny. Still, it was a good thing that the interruption was coming from his friend. If not, he would’ve long been pinched back to reality by the same friend—or Mike—if the person behind the counter was a stranger. Ginn took out his wallet from his jeans’ back pocket.
“Add her bill in with ours,” Ginn said while using his thumb to point at Jasmine over his shoulder. The girl was taken aback by this and tried to decline, but Ginn merely smiled broadly. “Don’t worry. After all, we’re neighbors,” he a.s.sured.
“Alright…but, it’s my treat next time,” Jasmine reluctantly agreed while Ginn nodded. Elle, on the other hand, was growing envious. ‘Neighbors!?’ he exclaimed bitterly in his mind.
Denny too, was growing angry. He couldn’t do anything though. Jasmine looked like she was really comfortable around Ginn. From the way she smiled, her actions to her stares, it was obviously that Ginn had a place in her heart.
“The new total is RM 70.00. I gave you a 10% discount,” Denny spoke up again with a rude tone and a bright smile this time.
Ginn raised his eyebrows at his friend’s att.i.tude. “Oh? There’s a discount?” he questioned playfully but handed a pair of RM 50 notes to Denny. Denny didn’t say anything in reply. He took the money and handed back the change in a few seconds.
“Well, we’ll be leaving first, Ginn. Don’t forget tonight is dinner night at mom’s house, ok?” Mike told Ginn before facing Elle and adding, “Elle, please do join us tonight? Mom always asks about you. She keeps saying that it’s been long since you’ve visited her although she understands that you’ve been very busy.”
“I’m afraid I can’t. I have a dinner with a client tonight. Tell your mom that I’ll call later,” Elle could only smile while replying.
Mike nodded his head in agreement before leaving Kaoru’s Cake House with his fiancée, leaving Gin standing in between of the front door and the cashier counter with Elle and Jasmine. Ginn turned to face Elle.
“A client you say? Or you’re an ex-girlfriend? As far as I know, there’s no work lined up this weekend,” he teased with a sly smile.
Elle was trapped. He felt even more so when the other person hearing this was Jasmine, the girl he hoped to have a bond of friendship with. Was Ginn doing this on purpose?
‘No, Ginn wouldn’t,’ Elle thought. His business partner doesn’t know that he was attracted to Jasmine. Still, maybe it isn’t too late for a save.
“Well…it’s nothing serious, just a casual meeting with Datin Sharifah’s child—the one that I designed clothes for one of their functions previously,” Elle answered calmly.
“The daughter or the son?” Ginn questioned with the teasing tone still present. Jasmine glanced at Ginn suspiciously and Elle couldn’t help but felt upset at that moment. He was embarra.s.sed to be asked like that in front of Jasmine who was beginning to smile an understanding smile. Maybe she was thinking about something way off topic already.
“The daughter, of course,” Elle replied a little sternly.
“A casual meeting with Julie, eh? Be careful or you’ll be wrapped around her fingers,” Ginn patted his friend’s shoulder, causing Elle to smile in process.
“I will, I will! Well, I’m leaving now. If there’s anything, call me. Don’t forget the appointment we have with Fuse-Fashion magazine next Monday! We need to arrange an appropriate date for the photo shooting,” Elle reminded. The other male nodded his head back in reply.
Before Elle began to leave, he gave Jasmine a smile and excused himself. The girl replied with a smile of her own. She held out her hand and they shared a handshake. Seeing that, Ginn grew a little jealous. Jasmine was shaking hands with Elle but not him? He faced Jasmine immediately after Elle left the place. Jasmine faced him as well with her lips curved up into a sweeter smile.
“So…who are you leaving with?” Ginn plucked one of the random questions that appeared in his mind and asked.
“With that love-struck friend of mine,” Jasmine answered while gesturing to Liyana who was comfortably conversing with Izz at the front lawn of Kaoru’s Cake House near the large old tree.
Ginn nodded his head. He stuffed his hands into his jeans’ front pockets and stood there for a moment while Jasmine waited for him to say something else. He looked like he wanted to. Could it be about yesterday?
“Well, I should go now. See you next time?” Ginn’s awkwardly said sentences were replied with a nod from Jasmine. She felt a little disappointed. It was as if the guy didn’t know how to arrange the next step, or were the feelings she experienced yesterday just side effects of the drama? Jasmine didn’t want to think about it anymore. ‘See you next time’ was a boring utterance.
“Yeah,” Jasmine briefly replied. She watched Ginn as he exited Kaoru’s Cake House.
When Ginn looked over his shoulder and found that Jasmine was watching him from inside the shop. He waved his hand. The girl returned his wave and Ginn felt all fluttery inside. The situation was like a wife telling goodbye to her husband as he was leaving for war. Ginn didn’t even realize that he walked past Liyana and Izz, both still conversing about their feelings.
Trying to forget the one you love is like trying to remember someone you have never meet before…