Chapter 10

Jessica gives Erika a big hug. "You know, I think I'd like having you as a sister," Jessica says to Erika who squeezes her a little tighter. "Me too!" They separate and Jessica fixes her apron and walks over to Matthew's table. "How is everything?" She asked him, trying not to get excited. "It's great, much better with you here." His voice is low and seductive, and he talks like he's from a movie. Just the right thing to say. "Thank you." She says blushing. "So, I have to complete some training, but I was thinking, maybe you can come back at around 1:30 pm? I'll be done then and I can be more, present." She tries to act cool, but not tell him what to do.

"Okay, so how about I pick you up then? We can go get that candle-lit dinner by the ocean we talked about." Jessica laughed, "If you are seriously able to pull that off, I will be incredibly surprised." She placed her hands on her hips, trying not to laugh too hard. "Well, prepare to be amazed," Matthew says to her while getting up and adding some Jazz hands. "I think I know what you'll like." She laughs at his attempt to be funny. He's already shuffling backward towards the doors, taking long sips of his coffee. He winks at her before he turns out the door. The bell chimes and Erika gives Jessica a to-do list of things that need completing. "Finish these by 1:30 pm, deal?" She asked Jessica confidentially. "Deal!" She agreed enthusiastically. She takes a look at the list, but all she can see is Matthew's eyes. They looked so familiar.

The day felt like it was flying by. Erika had a steady flow of customers, the café was unusually busy for a Sunday. Lots of people talking about the discovery of Shawn's body. It was almost ideal that Erika kept Jessica away from everything. Jessica on the other hand, flew through napkin art and was practicing making drinks on the new machine. Every once and a while, Erika had her make a drink order or two. But she was on her 7th coffee, she decorated this one with a flower design that led into the stem and then finally the leaf. "There," Jessica said, proudly taking a sip of her own coffee. She examines her 7th creation and admires the hard work she put into it. She picks it up gently, slides a sleeve over the cardboard exterior, and then walks to Erika, holding it out as if it were a prize. "I have another one, does anyone want a free sample?" Jessica asked as she showed Erika her work. "All right, not bad! I told that couple in the booth they could have one. Mind whipping up another one? I feel bad. I'll bring this one over and then you can bring the next one."

Erika walks proudly to the booth in the back corner where a man and his wife are drinking coffee and eating sandwiches. "As promised." Erika presents the coffee to the table. "There is another one on the way." She says with a wink. "What a pretty flower. Very detailed." The woman said. "Honey, please. Have some." Her husband encourages her. "No way. The best is yet to come. You watch." She tells him with a smirk. "All right then." Her husband says to her, he smiles and thanks Erika, and she nods and walks back to the counter. "What do you think?" Jessica shows Erika the new image. "Oh my gosh, that heart is so cute! I didn't know you were practicing that one!" Erika exclaims shocked. "It happened by accident, and the foam is so thick on this one! I think I'm really getting the hang of this!"

Jessica proudly marches her work of art to the table and sets it down in front. "Now that's what I'm talking about." The woman said as she happily claimed her drink. "Thank you, sweetheart, you are a true artist." The woman holds her cup to Jessica as if to cheer and then sips. "Delicious!" Jessica thanks the couple and returns to the counter. And not a moment too soon, Matthew just walked in the door. "1:30 already?!" Jessica frantically asks Erika, "Nope. Your boy's just early. It's 1:15." Jessica wipes her head and puts on a smile. Erika studies her and rolls her eyes. "Go on. Get out of uniform. Go live a romantic comedy." Erika laughs as Jessica runs to the back room. "She'll be out in a minute, Matt," Erika says, waving to him. He nods and smiles as thank you and instinctively sits at the homeless man's table beside the window. For a moment Erika thinks about the homeless man, she hopes he is okay, it's not like him not to visit.

Studying Matthew at the table Erika gets a crazy idea. Before she can form it into words, Jessica runs past her with her bag over her shoulder. "Thank you so much! I'll see you tomorrow!" She calls to Erika running to Matthew. "Ready to go?" He asks her smugly. "Yeah, let's go!" The bell jingles as they walk out of the café. Matthew reaches for Jessica's hand and she awkwardly grabs it. It's been a while since she has held hands with anyone. She held Tom's hand in the early stages of their relationship, but that drifted away quickly. Matthew guides her safely across the road and to his silver BMW. "After you." He says opening the door for her. She takes the passenger seat and places her bag on her lap. He smiles and shuts the door. He walks around the front of the vehicle, looking to see if there is traffic, then hops into the driver's side.

"Are you hungry?" He asks bringing the car to life with the push of a button. "I'm starving! Do we have time to stop at my house?" She asks him sweetly. A little annoyed he gives her a look and then his expression softens. "For what?" She blushes a bit and then finds the words. "I just want to freshen up and get changed." He nods understanding. "There's no need." He says smiling. "I can provide you with everything you need." Confused by what he meant, Jessica shrugged it off and buckled her seat belt. I guess I'll just wear this. She thought to herself. The car started to roll and then turned right, down the avenue. They passed a few shops and then a few houses and then, Matthew turned left towards the bridge leading out of town. Jessica looked at him suspiciously. "Are we leaving town?" He smiled at her and said, "Of course, do you know of a beach in town?" Jessica laughed at this. Of course, she forgot about the beach.

They make a right onto the single-car bridge and Matthew slowly and carefully drives in the center of the bridge. Once off, his speed picks up and they drive into another town. Jessica stares at the bridge in the side mirror. She thinks a moment about Shawn and wonders again, why? Almost like Matthew knew the bridge was affecting her, he grabbed her hand and gently squeezed it to bring her back to him. Fifteen minutes pass and Matthew pulls over for gas. They drove through 3 small towns and by the look of the road ahead, there wasn't another one for a while. He shoots her a wink as he pays the pump and starts to fill the car with gas. Am I crazy? This is pretty crazy, right? Jessica thinks to herself, looking over her shoulder at Matthew again. And he is crazy hot! She rolls her eyes and tries not to imagine him without clothing. He opens the door and takes his seat. He puts on a pair of aviators and reveals a second pair in the glove compartment. "Ready?" He says with a menaced smile.

Jessica rethinks her decision as Matthew starts driving again. The town disappears from the rearview mirror and the buildings thin out and are replaced by rows and rows of trees. A path on the left is marked with a yellow sign for a winding road. Matthew turns down this road and the way turns to gravel. He puts on the radio and lets Jessica choose the stations. She sings in the passenger seat, leaving all of her worries behind as the narrow path bends and weaves. The grave path leads out to a fork, Matthew turns right down the road and then makes another left down another dirt road. They drive down that road for about 5 minutes till the trees open out to a large body of water. The road bends and winds more as they get closer and closer to the water. Jessica watches with joy, she rolls down the window, hanging her head out.

Matthew turns right at the last road which opens out to a bridge. The bridge leads across the water and onto an island in the middle of the water. "Woah," Jessica says, unable to hide her enthusiasm. Matthew smiled as they pulled up to the massive stone wall. Stone pillars surrounded the car and the wall stretched far between trees and overgrown bushes. "Where are we?" Jessica asked in awe. Matthew smiles and enters a code into the punch pad just outside the massive cast iron gate. Distracted by the noise, Jessica follows the sound and sees the last 3 digits of the code. 3, 2, 1. Jessica remembers it like a count down and the gate swings open. You can hear the strain on the hinges as the weighty doors open. Matthew drives slowly between the doors and they automatically close behind them.