Chapter's song: Fantasy by Alina Baraz & Galimatias (I heard it over and over writing this...)

҉       A ƤriƝɕҽsslɣ CoƝƝҽCƬioƝ        ҉

ChaPtEr FOURTEEN    _________________________

Learning…

I stared at the note my aunt had handed me. It was an extensive list of different ingredients. Half of them were completely unknown to me. Jason started the car as I frowned, “I think Pablo or Sol were better suited for this job…”

“How so?” A pop song in Spanish sounded on the background.

“I don’t know what half of the list stands for.”

He snorted and chuckled shaking his head, “And I’m assuming the market is downtown. Patricia didn’t explain more than driving to it. Wherever the hell it is.”

A soft chuckle left my lips. Trust my aunt to send us to run errands…

Although, I didn’t know what to think about her. I shifted on my seat uncomfortably thinking about the package underneath my pillow. What on earth possessed her to think I’d need them? Plus, she had implied that I would use them with Jason. My cheeks flushed. I turned to the window averting him at all.

“However,” his voice sounded totally normal, as if whatever the hell happened back at the hotel hadn’t happened, “you’re pretty fluent in Spanish, so I’m not worried.” He glanced at me for a moment. His bold eyes made the butterflies in my stomach flutter, “We’ll manage…”

I wasn’t sure that he was talking about finding the market…but my heart skipped a beat at the we.

He parked the car on the main plaza. As I unbuckled my seatbelt, he added smiling, “Ok. I’m starving. Let’s find the bloody thing soon.”

Shyly, I nodded and stepped out of the car. An old man was passing us by. “Buenos días, ¿podría decirme dónde está el mercado por favor?” (Good morning, could you please tell me where the market is?). The man was wearing plain jeans and a white shirt. A straw hat was placed on his head. His skin was dark and wrinkled. He smiled at me. Gesturing with his hand to his right, he signaled a street, “Por esa calle al fondo” (It’s at the end of that street).

“Gracias!” Jason answered in that undeniable thick English accent that I probably had as well. Only that it sounded really cute on him. Oh man…I was such a lost cause…Placing a palm on my back, he guided us towards where the man had signaled. Little tingles played under his touch.

Even if we hadn’t asked for directions we would have found it. It was the most crowded place in town. We hadn’t reached the entrance yet and the street was overflowing with busy people. Some were unloading different fruits and veggies off their trucks, others were busy selling various items. From matches to tortillas. Several people approached us offering their merchandise. Jason’s hand pulled me closer to him as a man showed me different knives.

An explosion of different scents reached our nostrils as we walked through the main entrance. I stared in awe at the scene. I’d been to different farmer’s market in the UK. Nothing compared to this. Exotic and colorful flowers stands where to our right, large baskets filled with different spices and several chilies followed. A small yet overloaded with clients tortilla shop was around the corner. Candles hanging from the roof of another stand, several gigantic piles of contrasting vegetables and fruits stands followed through. All the while, people were busy mingling with each other.

“Wow…” I mumbled amazed at the scene.

Jason’s lips tugged up on that lopsided smile. “Nice, huh?”

Breathless, I murmured, “Amazing.”

“Come on, there must be somewhere to get something to eat here,” his eyes searched everywhere, stopping at the tortilla shop.

We did find a place to eat. Several, actually. There was this whole hallway with different food stands. People shouted to get your attention and they offered you to take a seat on the rustic tables they had set up. After walking through the hallway for a moment, I stopped in front of an old lady who was wearing an embroidered blouse. You could see a lot of women wearing the same, yet none of the other vendors were wearing one. She gestured us to take a seat. She placed herself in front of a large circular griddle that emanated heat. It was heated by coal. The woman fanned it with a piece of newspaper as her daughter or grand-daughter asked us what we’d like to get.

I ended up getting a hot cup of chocolate that came with a small sweet bun. It was delicious. Jason got a huge sort of quesadilla. It was made with a larger than usual tortilla that was crunchier and filled with beans, salty cured meat, avocado and cream. He shared a piece with me and it was pretty good as well.

As we were finishing our meal, Jason looked at me for a moment. Hesitant, he asked, “Are you ok?”

Heaving a sigh, I looked down at my almost empty mug. “I’m not sure…” I bit my lip, “it’s just that for once in my life I can be myself…nobody cares who I am or treats me differently. Even you,” a soft smile played in my face, “you can be harsh and mean…”

He raised an eyebrow amused, “we’ll that’s comforting.”

I shook my head, “you know what I mean. It’s freeing.” Frowning, I added, “of course it’s just for a while…and that sucks.” I pressed my lips together for a moment. “Things are harder back in the UK…and I’m not sure if I’m ready or if I’ll ever be…”Jason stayed quiet. His expression was thoughtful. “But let’s not talk about my depressing future,” a quiet laugh left his lips, “I want to know about you.”

His grey eyes shone amused, “What would you like to know about me?”

Everything.

I shrugged nonchalantly, “anything you’d like to share.”

“Well, let’s see…” he grabbed a small piece of tortilla in his hand, “my sister is a pain. Like you,” he raised an eyebrow as I rolled my eyes smiling, “but I’m sure you’d get along if you knew her.” My heart clenched at that. “My mother is a nurse and she has worked really hard for us.” His eyes looked at the distance for a moment, “my father died when I was really young, so I really don’t remember anything of him.” He shook his head, “I don’t have many friends,” he shrugged, “I like to keep things to myself…and I love dogs.” He shook his head, “I haven’t gotten one because I’m always moving away but I’ll get one. When I settle somewhere.”

My stomach churned uneasily. “Is it hard to travel all the time?”

He chuckled, “hard? No. It’s exciting. I’ve travelled all over the world and I’ve seen amazing places…” his eyes looked sad for a moment, “and others I wouldn’t want to remember…but it’s been quite a journey.”

“And where would you like to settle?”

His grey eyes looked at me sternly for a moment. Averting his eyes, he trailed, “I’m not sure…”

“What’s your sister name?”

He glanced at me and something crossed over his eyes but I couldn’t see what it was, “Danielle.”

“She must be pretty awesome if you think I’d get along with her,” I grinned at him.

He snorted, “Yeah…”

My heart felt heavy because it wouldn’t happen. My eyes brimmed with tears again as I looked down at my plate. It was so hard to have him close and so far at the same time…

“So what about you? Can you tell me something that not many people know about you?” He leaned on the table and crossed his arms looking intently at me.

I raised an eyebrow, “well…that’s a hard one.”

His lips tugged up on that disarming boyish smile. I plopped a small piece of the bun in my mouth as I thought about it. There was not much to say, to be honest. Everyone knew that I loved to read, or the kind of music I liked. Even the ice-cream flavor I usually ordered. I leaned my elbow on the table and cupped my chin thinking harder.

Jason burst out laughing, “Come on! There must be something!”

I cringed, “I’m afraid of vampires.” He blinked and looked at me as if I had lost it completely. I laughed at that. “I do! I had nightmares for a week after Valerie made me watch Twilight with her! That Edward guy gave me the creeps!”

He looked at me dumbfounded. “So, I’m pouring my heart out and that’s what you tell me!” He shook his head mocking disappointment.

I rolled my eyes, “you’re not pouring your heart out.”

“I’m not really good with words.” Bloody hell. I did not expect an answer like that. My mouth went dry as his eyes bored into mine. “I believe the saying that actions speak louder than words. Don’t you?”

I cleared my throat, “Yes?”

He stayed quiet for a moment. “What about your love life? You don’t seem to go out much…”

Someone has been googling me.

“I don’t.”

He raised an eyebrow, “Care to elaborate?”

Averting my eyes, I murmured, “That’s a sore subject.” I looked up as I felt his gaze burning me. “I’m not exactly easy to be with…and I haven’t found anyone who-“I swallowed hard, “who likes me for being me.”

His grey eyes stared at me for a moment. In his most serious tone, he said “That sucks.”

His answer made me burst out laughing, “It does.”

I wanted to ask him much more. Especially about his girlfriend. But at the same time I didn’t. I didn’t want to know about her…even though I wondered what she looked like or how she was to him…Jealousy and hurt kept me quiet, though.

He gestured to the girl for the bill, “Pablo said something about going out tomorrow…would you be up for it?”

I swallowed hard and cleared my throat, “Ok.”

“Good,” he smiled mischievously at me.

Uneasy at that look, I took out my aunt’s list from my back pocket. “Let me ask them where to get everything. I’m sure Maria will freak out if we get the wrong ingredients.”

Jason laughed. And just like that things were back to normal…

For the time being.

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:) Two chapters in a day??? I'm glad you're so into this story as I am! :)

A huge shout-out to honiebee05 who liked my facebook page and was the 1,000 like!!! (www.facebook.com/shygabs/) You're awesome!! Thanks!!

It cracks me up reading that you're all waiting for the moment they end up together. To be honest, I've been trying to postpone it as much as I can. I feel like in PWB everything happened too fast, so I'm taking my time with this story. Hopefully it will be worth it when the time comes.

So, I pledged on the romace writing thing Wattpad set up for February. But I haven't started it yet. UGH. So I'm working on that tomorrow and over the weekend. If you're not following me, be nice and follow so you can get notifications on the short-story. And votes and comments will be highly appreciated!!!!

After I start on that I'll post the next chapter!

Have a great weekend people! :)

(Wanna read more comments, ok?!) ;)

Gabs