Sparks Fly

Chapter 13

"My mum called. She said your aunt wants to have lunch with us," Jace said.

"What?" I asked. Why would Aunt Elena want to have lunch with us? It would make more sense if she only asked for my presence. She's a busy woman. "My aunt didn't call me. Why will she call your mother and ask her to pass the message?"

He shrugged and put his stuff into his locker. "I guess it kind of makes sense since we're at school. Perhaps your aunt didn't want to disturb you."

I nodded. That's a good point. With that, we got into his car and drove to the Upper East Side, Manhattan, where Aunt Elena lives and works. It's also the area my mother grew up in. She lived here before she got the apartment I now live in.

I read about it in my mother's diaries. They told me a lot of things about herself, from childhood to adulthood. She talked about me, my father, my aunt and everything. It made me feel like she was telling me the story of her life. It felt like she was right beside me.

Like my mother, Aunt Elena married an ordinary man. However, he's a good man. He's not a gold digger like my son of a bitch of a father was. I've met him a few times when I went over to their house when I was younger. He's nice.

They have a son, my cousin, called Alfred. I enjoy mocking his traditional-sounding name. He ignored my teasing eventually. He's currently studying at Harvard. What a smart ass. I don't think I can make it into Harvard nor do I want to.

Before he left for college, we met up a lot. We last met two years ago before he left for Harvard. Oh, I can't believe I'm going to college in less than a year.

In a distance, I could see Aunt Elena sitting there drinking a cup of coffee. I gulped. I turned to Jace and whispered, "Okay, my aunt is kind of scary. Remember to smile and be polite. Whatever you do, leave a good impression. Don't do anything stupid."

"I don't do stupid things," he retorted.

I rolled my eyes. "What you're doing now is stupid. Don't ever say something with that tone in front of my aunt. You'll piss her off. She's very protective of me, even more than your mother. If she doesn't like you, we're over."

His eyes widened. "Okay," he whispered. With that, we walked over to her.

"Good afternoon, Aunt Elena," I greeted.

"Good afternoon, Mrs... uh..." Jace trailed off. "Ma'am?" I facepalmed internally. I forgot to tell him what to address my aunt. How can you be so careless, Belinda? This is the most basic thing ever. Stupid, stupid, stupid!

"It's Mrs Smith," she replied. "You're going to take over your father's company in about five years, assuming you are going to college before that. You should at least know the last name of the future CEO of my company."

Jace grinned sheepishly and replied, "I'm very sorry, Mrs Smith."

She waved him off and turned towards me. "So, this is your boyfriend," she said. She glanced at him once more and continued, "Not bad. You have good taste, Belinda. You got yourself a rich and handsome man. I'm impressed."

I blushed. To think it all started with two kisses at a wild winter party. "Indeed," I laughed nervously, pushing a lock of my hair behind my ears.

"He seems very polite," she remarked.

"Thank you, Mrs Smith," he replied.

"I like this guy," she said, pointing her index finger at him. "Your mother called me this morning about Belinda having dinner at your house last night. It's good to know that you're already introducing her to your family. That means you're serious about this."

He nodded. "Of course, I am," he replied, clutching my hand under the table.

I looked at him and smiled. "Don't worry, Aunt Elena. I've been reading Mum's diaries over and over again. I know what not to do. I won't repeat her mistakes. If he starts showing signs of being like that man, we're done."

He cast me a hurt look. He then turned to face my aunt and said firmly, "I will never ever hurt her. She's very important to me. Besides, Mum will murder me."

"That better be the case," she said. She looked at her phone and stood up. "I have to go now. My break time is over. Belinda, take care. Jace, take care... of her. I trust you. You are Avery's son. You can't be that bad."

"What's that supposed to mean?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

Aunt Elena didn't reply. She smirked and left.

He turned to me and asked, "What's that supposed to mean?"

I shrugged. "My aunt is both scary and enigmatic. Good job, though. You passed! We should celebrate!" Just then, I felt my stomach growling. "Wait, weren't we here to have lunch with my aunt?" I looked in the direction my aunt left in search of her but to no avail.

"I guess we can explore the food here," Jace suggested.

I searched for restaurants in the Upper East Side and scrolled through the results. "Let's try Flora Bar. It's a seafood restaurant. We haven't tried seafood together yet."

He craned his neck to look at my screen and replied, "Sure."

We drove to the restaurant with the help of Google Maps. We got into the restaurant and placed our orders. We got marinated olives as appetisers. We both got a hake with broccoli, potato and saffron for the main dish and mushrooms as sides.

Seafood is interesting. Although it is a good source of protein, vitamin B and other minerals, it's quite dangerous to consume. It might be contaminated with mercury, which is nasty. As such, one should keep to eating small fish.

Sadly, some people are allergic to seafood. Alas, they will never be able to taste the wonders of the salmon sushi. Lucky for us, we're not allergic to seafood. Salmon is the best fish ever even though it's very likely to cause an allergic reaction.

Undercooked or raw fish can contain parasites such as tapeworms. Have you seen them? They're gross. That's why seafood has to be either deeply frozen or heated to at least sixty degrees Celsius to kill the disgusting parasites.

Now, let's talk about crabs. They're very delicious, especially the snow crab. They're high in omega-3 and other minerals, and they are low in calories! Unfortunately, they are high in sodium which is also very nasty. And parasites come into the picture yet again.

We all love lessons on food and its pros and cons by Belinda Clarke.

At least, Jace loves it.

"Where do you find time to read all these? You've taught me so much," he remarked.

"You know how much of a foodie I am. I need to do my research lest I eat something wrong," I replied. "Reading about these things also helps in controlling your diet. I don't want to eat too many processed foods and end up with high cholesterol."

"You'll make a good nutritionist," he said.

I thought for a moment. "That's quite a good idea."

We paid the bill according to our rules and left the restaurant. Today is a beautiful day. Aunt Elena approved of Jace as my boyfriend. We had seafood together for the first time. I came to the Upper East Side for the first time in two years.

I held Jace's hand as we strolled along the pavement.

"Hey, Jace! Is that you? Long time no see!" I heard an unfamiliar masculine voice call out.

"Fuck my life," Jace muttered under his breath.

***

A/N:

Who can that be?!

Anyway, more food lessons by Belinda! This time, it's on seafood. Just thinking of it makes my mouth water .-.

Q: Do you like seafood?

I personally like seafood. However, I don't eat clams cuz... sand... Hawkers don't tend to clean them properly :/

Fun fact: Iceland, Japan and Portugal are the greatest consumers of seafood per capita in the world.

I hope you like this story so far. Don't stop reading here!