Please go back and read the last chapter again. I fixed a couple of mistakes pointed out to me by a couple of reviewers.
"Stupid, Stupid, Stupid, Stupid, Stupid, Stupid, Stupid, Stupid, Stupid, Stupid, Stupid, Stupid, Stupid, Stupid, Stupid, Stupid, Stupid." Jade whispers to herself.
She relaxes in the seat with a sigh. "I want the things I can't have and once I have them, I make them not want me."
She checks her phone a million times, waiting. Her phone never beeps.
She looks at the time-wow; it's been over an hour.
Finally, she starts the engine. She drives very slowly to her favorite café-not the one she saw Tori at-and steps inside.
She glances around and walks up to the barista, who nods at her order, and then she collapses into a chair.
The café, called The Library, was privately-owned, and nothing like the Starbucks in LA. They had lines and lines of bookshelves stacked with books and screenplays and sheet music in no particular order, and there were about four stories to the entire building.
Floor one was nonfiction and research- hardly anyone went to the first floor for that very reason. Floor two was novels, good novels,-and most people, like Jade, ventured there. The third floor was mainly trashy novels-quick reads that didn't deserve to be placed among the others because of bad dialogue or otherwise. The top floor was screenplays, scripts, and music.
Jade liked this floor best, because they had blank sheet music and notepads and pencils and pens strewn everywhere, and in the far corner, there was a little art studio, where you brought your own canvas and paints and everything else but there was an easel and sink and clay wheel and everything an artist needs for everything. Around the back wall there were several pianos and a few guitars- all for your use. The far wall was almost completely glass, as was every other floor's.
The Library was supposedly founded by an incredibly rich couple with a love for the arts. They could afford to replace anything and everything that is broken or stolen or just because they can.
Jade discovered this Wonderland when she first moved to NYC. At first, she stayed downstairs, because that's where the coffee was served. Then, as she grew more and more curious, she discovered the world above her and now it's where she goes when she needs to think.
"Jade West: soy Peppermint Latte with chocolate sauce."
That was the other great thing about The Library. They made your order exactly the way you wanted, no questions asked.
Jade grabs the paper container and climbs the winding staircase up to the classic novels section.
She selects a worn, faded book: Alice in Wonderland.
She flips it open to a random page, and grins at the quote her finger lands on. "That depends a good deal on where you want to get to', said the Cat. 'I don't much care where-' said Alice. 'Then it doesn't matter which way you go,' said the Cat. '-so long as I get somewhere,' Alice added as an explanation. 'Oh, you're sure to do that,' said the Cat, 'if you only walk long enough.'" She reads aloud, grinning like a madman.
"But I don't want to go among mad people,' Alice remarked. 'Oh, you can't help that,' said the Cat: 'we're all mad here. I'm mad. You're mad.' 'How do you know I'm mad?' said Alice. 'You must be,' said the Cat, 'or you wouldn't have come here.'" She finishes before setting the book on a table and grabbing another one.
She stays like that for about three hours, devouring little snippets of whatever books catch her fancy. Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice, The Chronicles of Narnia, Charlotte's Web, everything. Finally she goes up to the top floor, and rifles through mountains of sheet music before finding one she likes and sitting at the piano.
"When you're dreaming with a broken heart The waking up is the hardest part You roll outta bed and down on your knees And for the moment you can hardly breathe "
She sings the first part gently, quietly, so she can hardly hear herself. Eventually, she picks up rhythm and a crowd of random hipsters and other people form and she smiles at them as the song finishes, very, very dramatically. There's about ten people surrounding her piano now.
"The waking up is the hardest part"
She finishes the last note with hints of bittersweet melancholy-and the crowd of ten applauds.
"Girl, I don't know what he did, but damn, he broke you." A woman who must be in her late fifties says.
"What she did, actually, and I guess I did it to myself." Jade smiles and gathers up her bag, finishing the now-cold dregs of her latte.
"Well, I'm really sorry to hear that. But keep singing, because girl, you're going to be a star."
Jade blushes and gets up to leave, shaking the woman's hand.
"I'm Jade."
"I'm Bee. It's nice to meet you."
Jade grins at the name and swings her bag over her shoulder.
"Here's my number hon, call if you ever need anything." Bee hands her a slightly crumpled business card and Jade grins.
"Thanks, I'll let you know."
Bee holds her gaze for a few moments, slightly suspicious, but walks away anyway, humming an unfamiliar tune.
Jade grins at the number and slips it into her pocket.
/
Tori listens to Blake babble for a few minutes before allowing herself to regret her decision to kick Jade out.
She refuses to talk to her, though.
The way she said it-it gave her chills. It was as if Jade thought she had a choice in the incident; that she wanted to be pregnant.
The thought makes her taste bile.
After an hour or so, she sends off a single text. "I'm apologizing but I'm sure as hell not sorry. That was WAY too far Jade. Even YOU should know that."
She slides the phone back on the counter and watches a Glee marathon until Lila comes home a few hours later.
"Where is he?" she pants, shoving her art stuff in the corner.
"Momma, momma, momma." Blake mumbles sleepily.
"Hey Blakey!" Lila coos.
"Momma."
Tori grins and shuts off the TV.
"Hey baby." She smiles.
"Where's Jade? I thought she was going to come over?"
"Um…no, she, she said something…I'm fine though, just…need time to think."
Lila raises a brow at her explanation but doesn't push, instead, wraps the baby in a hug.
"I love you, little man. And I love your momma."