TOUCH II

Eighteenth Chapter.

It had only been thirty minutes before Tate emerged from the room. Jordan had almost forgotten about her. It took her presence as a reminder for her to return back to the state she was in before her mother arrived.

The worry returned, promising to stay. The sadness that Tate carried with her radiated to Jordan.

Her mother was in the middle of telling her about how Pal had taken an interest in soccer, and how good he was because the twins practiced with him frequently.

She was silenced abruptly when she saw the stranger emerge, her eyes widening in shock.

"Oh, hello." she greeted.

Tate stretched out a smile, one that Jordan knew wasn't real, but she faked to perfection.

Lisa looked back to Jordan, raising her eyebrows. "You didn't tell me you had a...guest."

She said the word with some sort of innuendo, that Jordan quickly caught on to.

"She's Ian's girlfriend." she said, clearifying so that Lisa didn't get the wrong idea, then turned to the girl. "Tatum, this is my mom." she pointed at Lisa. "Mom, Tatum."

"Oh, come over here. Let me give you a hug." Lisa went over, and Tate met her halfway and they joined for a hug. "You're so beautiful." she compliments.

"Thanks." the girl says.

They pull away, and Lisa brings her over and offers her a baked good. Tatum takes one, biting into it before placing it on Jordan's plate. She was not going to finish it.

"I thought you had work." Tate addresses Jordan in a confronting manner, unintentionally alerting Lisa.

"Oh, of course! I forgot you had work. I should probably get going in that case." the woman says, saving Jordan from Tate's interrogation. She turns to Tatum. "It was nice meeting you, sweety."

Another fake smile is forced out of Tate, and she says goodbye to Lisa.

As always, the woman's goodbye lasts a lifetime. First, she rants about how Jordan should not be late to work, especially because Omar has taken such a liking to her, and probably expects punctuality everyday. Which is quite contradicting seeing as she's keeping her from work. Then, after saying goodbye for the third time, she turns to remind Tate how beautiful she is, and how she wants to get to know her some day, and hence promises to come by right before her flight back to Chicago to say goodbye and speak some more.

Her goodbye continues even as she was outside the door, where she decided it was the perfect time to enquire about Ian's well-being, and compliment the friendship him and Jordan shared. She then tells Jordan that her siblings missed her, and asked if she would visit for Easter. Finally, she gives her daughter a kiss on the cheek, blowing a kiss to Tate before leaving for good.

Jordan closes the door, turning back into the apartment.

"Can you stay?" Tate asked hopefully.

Jordan shakes her head. "I just have to grab my keys." she says, walking over to the kitchen to grab the car keys she left on the counter.

"I don't like staying here alone." she frowned.

"Meghan's gonna be here to keep you company. And Ian said he'll drop by later, too."

"I don't want to see any of them."

"Well, you have to see them, Tatum. You gotta start co-operating with Meghan, she's trying to help. And you have to stop blaming Ian for what happened. It's not his fault."

"I don't blame him, I blame God."

A silence came after the words. Jordan didn't want to dive into them. She didn't require an elaboration. She had an idea of what she implied.