beJeweled

In The Mist of the Storm. Chapter 10

Grey clouds stood above them as the sound of rolling thunder echoed across the sky. Jewel looked at the traffic ahead of them moving along the highway at snail paste. She knew that it would be another forty-five minutes or so before she reached home, then she found herself wondering if Dylan will make it home before the storm hits.

'Why am I making it my concern? She asked herself. She tried to shake of the feeling of concern for her supervisor and looked out the window.

Dylan glanced over at her as she stared out the window. He felt a wave of nervousness suddenly and took a deep breath before asking her if she was comfortable. She nodded and smiled slightly before returning her gaze at the traffic. "A penny for your thoughts." He said keeping his eyes forward. He knew she would looked at him and smiled satisfied. "You're in deep thought." He continued.

Jewel smiled and replied with a "I'm fine thank you." She placed her hands in her lap and played with her flash drive.

Dylan noticed her fidgeting with it. "Why haven't you put that away? You wouldn't want to lose it again. Or do you?" He gave her a mischievous side grin. She snapped her head in his direction with her eyes wide open.

"I most definitely don't want that, especially to lose it in your vehicle." She rebutted.

"Trust me I will make sure you get it back, in a much faster time." He grinned.

"It's ok, I would rather not have you stalking me to give me it back." She punched back with a satisfying chuckled.

"At least I will be stalking only you." He spoke with a smoothness that left her speechless. She blinked repeatedly. He raised a brow at her and smiled devilishly. Her heart throbbed so hard, she thought it would stop. She blushed, reading between the lines of his words. A smile crept across her lips and she bit her bottom lip shyly.

He watched her as the traffic slowed to a hault. "You know you shouldn't do that." He said watching her shift in her seat under the weight of his gaze.

"Do what?" She tried to regain some composure and forced eye contact with Dylan. Her curly locks blew in the wind like heads of cotton in the cotton field and her skin glowed in the sun. Dylan gave a slight chuckle at her efforts to stare at him. He knew he was causing an effect on her.

He didn't realized it, but his hand had moved to a piece of string that was tied up in a lock of her hair. Jewel froze and stared at him shocked that he touched her. He immediately apologized and returned his hand to the steering wheel. "I'm sorry if I offended you. I really didn't mean,"

"It's ok. No harm done. I didn't know that I had something in my hair. Thanks." She gave him a tight lipped smile and tucked a lock of hair behind her ear. The rest of the drive was quiet. The sound of thunder in the distance was heard over honking horns of impatient drivers. This roused a sense of nervousness to come over Jewel. She wondered if they would make it home in time.

Dylan turned on the radio. Jewel secretly wished that it would be an occasion where random love songs would play each time the channel was changed, creating a romantic scene. Instead, the unindulging sound of the news and weather forecast was played and simultaneously, it echoed from other vehicles creeping along the highway. Jewel's shoulders sunk a little.

The winds picked up and the rain followed. The announcer spoke over the radio stating that there was now a flash flood warning in some areas. They had to avoid driving on certain roads since they were blocked off.

It looked like it was after 5 or 6p.m, but it was only after 3 p.m. Jewel was becoming more worried by the minute. She had never been out in the mist of a storm before. She remembered days when Harriet would pack her cookies and milk and she would suggle up and listen to the rain. Dylan noticed her worried look and handed her bag from under his seat. "What's this?" She asked before looking inside the bag.