Chapter 41
I was lying in bed next morning, my eyes still closed, when my cell phone blipped to signal that I just received a text message. I moaned, retreating close to Jack and wrapping his arms around me.
“What time is it?”, he asked
I moaned again, before reaching for the clock on my bed table. 5:15, who was texting me at that hour? I got up swaying sleepily to the drawers where I forgot the phone, turned on, the night before.
“It’s Brad, he’s telling me he feels sick and won’t make it to work”
“But why is he texting you so early?”, Jack asked, pulling himself up on his elbows
“Not sure…he knows I generally turn on my cell when I wake up, he probably didn’t expect me to read it now”
“Ok. And why does he know you turn on your cell when you wake up?”
“Because whenever he texted me late at night I would reply early in the morning, he joked about the ritual and I told him I turn on my cell when I wake up…why?”
“Nothing, I was just asking”
“Are you jealous?”
“Maybe”
I sneaked back in bed, and cuddled besides Jack, laughing.
“There’s nothing wrong with Brad, but I would never get myself to see him that way…”
“What time is it by the way?”
“5.15, we still have 15 minutes of luxury in bed”
He leaned back, sighting.
“There’s times when I really wonder why I am doing this”
“What do you mean?”
“Why I am running a bakery and waking up at this hour every day”
“I thought you loved what you did”
“I still do for the most part, but I feel I am sliding in the declining part of my love story with this business. When I started it I was mostly taking a stance, setting a distance from a past that hurt me so much, but I never thought I would be a baker for the rest of my days. Perhaps now it’s the time to stop”
“And what do you want for the next phase of your life?”
“I still have to think about it. It has always been easier for me to understand what I don’t want, rather than decide what I am after”
“Really?”
“Yes. And sometimes I decide what to do more by contrast to what I don’t want than because I am fully sure that it is the best choice”
“I didn’t expect this”
“Well, there are exceptions. I know I want you to be in the next phase of my life, and in this case I am sure this is something I really want, in itself and not in contrast to something else”
“Thank you”, I said, pushing myself against him further. “This is what I want too”
Jack turned me around and kissed me.
“Really?”, he asked
“Really”, I said
“Thank you”, he said, and ley still for a moment, as if pondering my words
“But for the time being I still have to get up and get the bakery going”
“Ehm…”
“Come on lazy dog, get up and let’s have breakfast together”