Author's Note: I'm not even going to try and dream up an excuse to tell anyone who's taking the time to read the author's notes I leave and for the few souls who do, I appreciate y'all, I truly do. I've put my writing on the back burner but hopefully, I won't let this slide away for too long next time. Cheerio and happy reading!
Z
Disclaimer- Characters and come from Creator of good books, Cassandra Clare.
Chapter 7
Jace POV
The next time Jace woke up, it was to the smell of heavenly food wafting in through his open door. Sighing, he got up and made his way to the kitchen, squinting as the sun intruded through his curtains with a partition in them. The kids had already been picked up by his parents, judging by the lack of voices he heard.
As he leaned on the doorway to the kitchen, he smirked at the scene that was playing out before him. Clary was jamming out as she cooked up a storm, belting out the lyrics alongside Freddy Mercury as if they were long lost, friends. She whirled about the kitchen, spatula in one hand like a microphone, and a vessel of potatoes in the other. Dropping the vessel onto the counter, she opted out the spatula in favour of a masher, swinging her hips as she vigorously mashed the poor vegetables, still steaming from the stove. Her back was turned to him, but Jace could tell that she wasn't sporting her usual converse and sweaters. Today she had on a simple plum dress that fell to her knees, on top of a pair of stockings. Her hair was pulled back into a simple half-up style.
It was probably the closest to being dressed up that Jace had ever seen her and he couldn't deny that he may or may not have been curious and slightly jealous at who could have made her dress up like that. Before he spoke he made sure to wipe any facial expressions that could allude to his previous thoughts.
"You've made me seriously consider kicking you out on your days off, you know that?" Jace said, causing Clary to jump on the spot.
"Oh! I'm so sorry Mr. Herondale I didn't hear you come in. Is there anything, in particular, I get you for breakfast? I'm sorry I wanted to make pancakes but we ran out of buttermilk from last time. I can run out and grab some now if you're willing to wait? Or I can fry up some eggs for you if you prefer that." Clary rambled on as she regained her composure.
"This is exactly what I'm talking about Clary. This is your one day off and I can understand if you don't want to go out anywhere. But you shouldn't be cooking for us regardless, okay?" He said this as he made his way towards her, taking the masher from her hand. She cracked a small smile before returning her focus to the task at hand.
"Well, I'll have you know that I was planning on going out later so I was just leaving behind some food so you wouldn't starve to death in my absence." She couldn't help but giggle at the affronted look he put up at that. "And plus, what's the harm when I'm not doing anything else? I like cooking so if anything it's relaxing for me," she said.
"Ah yes I noticed. You seem to have quite a bit of move Clarissa." Now it was Clary's turn to blush when she realized that he had been watching her for longer than she had initially thought. "If you insist on working on your day off then I'll just have whatever you had for breakfast," he concluded.
She mumbled something in return, instead of focusing diligently on the potatoes in front of her. "Speak up Clary I can't hear you."
"I didn't eat any breakfast," she murmured, still refusing to look at him.
A small frown graced his face as he forced her to look at him. "Hey you know that's not good. You've been up for God knows how long and you haven't even eaten anything yet. And no, coffee doesn't count as food, not in the slightest." said Jace, finishing before Clary could even suggest the ridiculous notion that coffee was a substitute for breakfast. He shook his head. "I'm not having any of it. No, no arguing! You and I are both having breakfast and you can either help me make it or watch me burn the house down trying," he smirked brushing past her to get to open the fridge.
He heard a sigh escape Clary from behind him. "You're lucky that I just finished up the mashed potatoes, otherwise I would've suggested having the fire department on speed dial." That caused Jace to snort in amusement as he pulled a couple of eggs from the carton.
"How do eggs and bacon sound for breakfast?" he asked, looking around the fridge once more for some bacon. A force gently moved him to the side as Clary bumped him with her hip. She then proceeded to close the fridge and open the freezer, pulling at a sealed pack of bacon. Clary shot him a dry smile as he chuckled sheepishly, scratching his head.
"Bacon and eggs sound great, but only if you can actually find the rest of the stuff." Clary teased, already started to spin around the kitchen, heating the stove and getting the pans out.
In the end, it turned out to be Clary who cooked all the food while Jace kept her company, asking the most random of questions whether it be about what she was making or anything that came to his head. Jace knew that he was almost a lost cause in the kitchen, but Clary only came to realize just how lost he was that morning. Awe was probably the only word that could describe what Jace felt as he saw her fly about the tiled floor, keeping her eyes on three different things at once while still being able to hold a conversation with him. In no time at all, they had a little feast laid out before them of eggs, bacon, toast, and an assortment of jams and spreads to choose from. Once again, he thanked whoever was up there pulling the strings that Clary was competent in the kitchen and had the right mind to not just buy the necessities but always made sure that their fridge was stocked with an assortment of foods.
"Didn't anyone ever tell you that you're a Godsend Clary? Because if not then this is me telling you now." Jace said before plowing into his food. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see her smile softly, layering her toast with avocado. Though she ate way too little for his liking, breakfast was filled with easy banter and companionship as they had their share of food. Unlike the previous meals that they had shared together, Jace helped Clary clean up and put everything, disregarding her protests. Just as he had rinsed his hands and she had dried the last plate Clary glanced at the clock before exclaiming, "Oh no I've gotta go! My ride's coming to get me in twenty minutes. I'm so sorry Mr. Herondale but I've really got to run." Before she could dash out of the kitchen, Jace stopped her.
"You can just call me Jace from now on okay? I realized for a while that I've been calling you Clary instead of Clarissa and it's only fair." Jace called out and watched her slowly turn around. Her smile nearly blinded him, that's how brilliant it was.
"Okay then, Jace. I'll see you in the evening, alright?" she said, snapping his attention away from her mouth and to her eyes. Brilliant green stared expectantly at him. He swore that if he were less experienced with women, he would inexcusably be blushing right now.
"See you later Clary," he replied just before she could slip around the corner.
This was one of his first days off when he really didn't have anything to do. He had been able to finish a lot of extra work the day before in the office and it did help that he ran his own law firm. Originally it had been started by his parents, leaving him and his brother up to their own antics growing up. Then when they had inherited the business together at their father's retirement, Will and he had sobered up a bit and taken the responsibility head-on. But most people could agree that while both the brothers were party animals growing up, Will tended to buck responsibilities more than Jace did. That is until he met Tessa. Tessa did him a lot of good by bringing him and his ego down several pegs but Jace could never fathom how she put up with him half the time. They brought four beautiful kids into the world and that is when Jace really saw the change in his brother. His playful persona fell away. Instead of leaving half of his work undone to hit the clubs, he raced through the day to go home in hopes that he hadn't missed his children's first steps. His desk became lined with various photos and all of a sudden the once quiet house was completely rambunctious every time Uncle Jace came to visit.
Suddenly the doorbell rang, piercing the veil of silence that hung in the room. Jace wasn't expecting anyone over but he didn't want to rush Clary so he pushed himself up from the couch to answer the door. Behind stood a short brunette, tapping her foot impatiently
She finally took notice of the man standing in front of her and without breaking composure she spoke, "Oh. You're definitely not Clary." The blatant statement made Jace snort.
"Very nice observation. Now that we've deduced that I am in fact, not Clary, would you mind telling me who you are?" he replied with a snide tone, already taking a liking to whoever this friend of Clary's was.
"Ha if you thought for a second that I was going to fall for that one then think again. My friend gave me this address and for all I know you could be holding her captive in the basement. I don't care whether I have to cut you in half to get to her, I will so God help me," the girl replied, lacing her voice with malice. Jace had no doubt that she would go through with her promise, but that didn't stop the smirk that was on fighting its way onto his face. If anything, this seemed to enrage her more and before she could hit him with her purse, he raised his hands up in a non-offensive way.
"There's no need for anyone to split in half here, this isn't a meat shop and you're not a butcher. I'm Jace, Clary's boss and I'm taking it that you're the friend that she's going out with?"
Rather than calming the Latina down, his previous statement seems to get her even more fired up. "Now tell how I could believe that when in all this time she hasn't heard us or even gotten to the door," she challenged before raising her bag once more.
"Raven! What're you doing, that's my boss!" Clary exclaimed and Jace hurried to move out of the way in case this so-called 'Raven' decided to release the projectile regardless.
"Clary! I haven't seen you in forever! Last time I saw you, you were at that cramped apartment! And now you're…" Raven paused as she stepped into the house, looking around the enormous entrance and down into the even larger living room below them. "Whatever the hell this is. Why are you at your boss's house anyway? Are you two.." Raven trailed off, flashing a suggestive look at the two of them and raising her eyebrows. This caused Clary to quickly stepped away from Jace, which amused him to no end. Clearly this implication seemed to bother his nanny and he enjoyed seeing her cheeks tinted with pink.
"Raven, of course not, don't be ridiculous," replied Clary, overcoming the embarrassment her friend had caused her. "If you had paid any attention to the emails I'd sent you, you would've known already that Dorethea's closed down and I'm a live-in nanny now." she finished off and gave her friend a pointed look.
Raven, on the other hand, looked unapologetic and as ever, merely shrugging her shoulders in response. "Either way, our reservation is in two hours, which gives us plenty of time to get our nails done and catch up, so you can tell me all about it." She then turns back to him and gives him a fairly long once over that Jace definitely would've taken as suggestive, if she hadn't been about to knock him out with her coach bag a few minutes ago. "I hope you're not expecting me to apologize because you totally deserved it for coming off so damn creepy," Raven stated.
Jace merely shook his head with a slight small on his face. "You guys go have fun alright? And please for once eat a proper meal Clary," he added. Clary's cheeks flamed up once more and before she could stutter out a reply, Raven was dragging her to the car and calling out.
"Don't you worry I'll feed her so much she'll bounce back home!" Jace had to laugh at that and leant against the doorframe as they pulled out and drove away.
