Forever Mine

#4

Recap:

Jordan pinned him in place with a withering look and turned to the rest of the family. "Hestia and I are together," He announced to them. A wave of whispers broke out among the crowd and several gasps could be heard. Hestia could feel her knees buckle, but Jordan held her up without a word and warded off all the familial inquiries and concerns with startling ease. Without giving them a chance to protest he had them out the door and traipsing down the driveway to the park situated one street away.

"All mine now." Jordan whispered into her ear as he placed a tender kiss on her cheek.

Chapter 4:

Hestia couldn't feel her fingers. She'd been sitting out in the cafe courtyard for over two hours, her fingers clacking away at the keyboard, giving life to her latest idea. The biting cold had chilled her to the bone, but she was loathe to leave the wonderful atmosphere of the cafe and despite her consistent shivering, had enjoyed the cold immensely. She'd lost count of the mugs of tea she had consumed since she'd come to the cafe in the morning, and it was sunset currently.

It was the fourth day of the Christmas party and she had desperately needed time away from the madding crowd that was her family. She had been hounded and interrogated by both elder and younger family members alike. Barely managing to escape their clutches, she had taken refuge in the public washrooms close to the park, and had remained out of sight for the rest of the day.

She had not sought out Jordan, and he had remained oblivious to her turmoil; wrapped up in managing the food and keeping a sharp eye on the children for most of the picnic. As a result she was able to escape detection and slipped away from the picnickers and roamed about the large park on her own for a while before deciding to head home; it had been an eventful day.

She had not spoken to Jordan since the scorching kiss they had shared. Her emotions were in a jumble; one that she absolutely refused to delve into. She needed more time to mull over her new relationship status in her head before she could even think of the kiss and all its accompanying baggage.

Although she couldn't admit it to herself, she was avoiding Jordan. She didn't know how to act around him, how to act around everyone with this new pedestal she'd been placed onto by the family. What does one do when you're dating the head of the family?

Truth be told, she was scared. Terrified of Jordan. Always had been, probably always would be.

Shaking her head, Hestia forced her concentration back to the laptop and her unfinished draft.

"Difficulty need not foreshadow despair or defeat. Rather achievement can be all the more satisfying because of obstacles surmounted..." She read under her breath. She was working on a draft based on the life of a warrior woman, who overcame the sexist and racist men of her clan to save the oppressed and abused females. It was a cliche concept, but she knew she had a story to tell and by God she would tell it.

"There you are," a voice whispered into her ear as arms slid around her shoulders.

Hestia nearly jumped out of her skin at the touch and couldn't stop the shriek that escaped her lips as she spun around to face her assaulter.

Chris's worried blue eyes twinkled back at her as he grabbed ahold of her shoulders. "Are you alright?" He shook her slightly, "Hestia?"

"You just came out of nowhere," Hestia placed a hand over her frantically pounding heart. Quickly assuring the worried cafe staff that she wasn't being assaulted, Hestia proceeded to pack up her things and sling her messenger bag over her shoulder. "Come on, I've been here all day already," grabbing ahold of Chris, she steered him out the cafe courtyard and onto the sidewalk.