Chapter's song: Don't Wanna Know by Maroon 5 ;)

The next few days were like torture. I was worried about Thanksgiving, about the fact that Bryan was coming over for dinner, but mostly because he was stressing the hell out of me at work. He was back to the I'll-annoy-the-crap-out-of-Jessie attitude, being harsh with me in class, making me work twice as everyone else and critiquing my results.

Also, Nadia was still around. Tom left for the week because he was shooting a new episode for his show in the UK, and his girlfriend was his substitute. I had no idea who had come up with that idea, but she didn't really do anything. Other than camp at Bryan's office. All the time.

I never realized that jealousy had a color, but it did. Not just one color, it was more like rainbow-colored. Sometimes I was green with envy, other times I saw red while my blood boiled at her stupid remarks and I sure as hell was orange every time I heard her ridiculous stilettos clicking on the marbled floor until she reached Bryan's office.

The worst part was when she sat on his desk. ON. HIS. DESK. Like, there wasn't a stupid chair right in front of her, grazing her toes as she crossed her legs.

She also wore skirts most days, short enough to almost see the leopard print in her panties as she sauntered to Bryan's office, leaving a nauseating trail of expensive perfume on her way. She sat on his desk, flicked her curly hair, and smiled sickly at him.

Every single day.

I was sick of Nadia.

Sick of Bryan.

Furious at me.

Not a week had passed since we talked and I felt like the whole friendship backfired on me. In the worst way. I was so jealous of Nadia that I was moody and crabby as hell. I paid more attention to her at Bryan's office, than to the endless list of things I had to do.

My life sucked.

The worst part of the week was when Nadia asked Bryan if he had plans for Thanksgiving. Apparently, she was spending it alone and would have loved to have him over her house. She asked it while we were in the middle of a class, as if wasn't outrageous that she was asking her boyfriend's best friend over for dinner. In her stupid house. All alone.

I heard them as I carried a bowl full of whipped cream for the mousse we were making. It fell to the floor making ruckus and a huge mess. Plus, I had to repeat the whole mousse recipe once more.

My blood boiled even more when I noticed Bryan's smirk as he explained that he already had plans. He was smiling as if he found it amusing that she would ask him.

To top it all, the stupid mousse never set properly. And Bryan made me do it one more time.

***

When Friday finally arrived, I wasn't in the festive, let's be-thankful mood, like Juno. She was elated that Bryan was coming over. She hadn't stopped talking about it all week. Her plans included to decorate the house with flowers and pumpkins and whatever ridiculous thing she could think of. She also made a fuss about getting white flowers to decorate the house. The best china, the one her mother passed on to her, the one we weren't supposed to even look at because it could break, was out too.

I didn't complain when Juno gave me the task to chop onions. I embraced it. I cried, letting out all the anger and stress from the week with every slice of the knife. They were perfectly chopped in microscopic pieces that would be hard to spot in the dishes when the doorbell rang.

My grasp on the knife tightened when I heard the distinctive sound of Bryan's voice inside the house. My hand froze for a moment before I sniffed and kept chopping with more force.

"Look who's here?" Juno smiled as I looked up to find the culprit of my disgrace standing next to my evil grandmother. His gaze was intense as he stared at me, still with teary eyes and probably smelling like onion a mile away.

"Hello." I plastered a fake smile on my face, before turning away to grab the last onion. My hand grasped thin air. I didn't realize I chopped them all.

"You're already finished?" Juno peeked inside the metal bowl where she'd left five onions less than half-an-hour ago. She moved the bowl, raising an eyebrow. "My, you really know how to chop."

"It looks like a puree," Bryan noted, suppressing a smile.

Even in my house, he bosses me around.

I clasped my lips in a tight line. "You did say that Mr. Gomez doesn't like onion, so I chopped it as fine as I could."

Juno nodded. "True. Thank you, dear."

Sniffling once more, I took my knife and chopping board to the sink. I washed them as Juno started to make small talk with Bryan about dinner.

"The house looks lovely, Juno," he added after they went over the menu.

"It does, doesn't it?" A part of me felt bad for being in such a sour mood; Juno was so excited for the whole family and I wanted to do something nice for her.

I noticed how easily tired she was starting to get. Age was something that Juno had defied all this years, but lately, it was starting to take a toll on her.

After I blew my nose and washed my hands again, I turned to her. "What can I do?"

Her lips curved up. "Could you please help Bryan with the turkey? I'm afraid I asked for a complicated recipe." Of course. She wanted to play cupid again. Darn it. "I'm going to leave you two to it while I go search for your brother. He's taking forever to come down."

Leaving us alone in the kitchen was probably her plan all along. Nice, Juno.

She scurried away trying to go unnoticed and the little guilt feeling about being crabby had a moment ago, vaporized as I found myself with Bryan alone in the kitchen.

"Okay," he stepped to the sink and started to wash his hands. "The turkey isn't that complicated, it involves a lot of chopping and stuff, but I'm pretty sure you ace that part, right?" He glanced at me, a smile playing on his lips. "Let's just try not to murder the poor carrots this time."

Pursing my lips, I forced half a grin again. I hadn't noticed he'd brought a few grocery bags with him, but as I stepped around the kitchen, I saw them lying on the floor.

"We're going to make a spiced butter that we'll spread between the skin and the meat," Bryan continued, ignoring my lack of response. He took a large turkey from one of the bags and placed it over the counter. "I was thinking sage and clementine zest, maybe add a bit of nutmeg, too."

"For the butter?" I tried not to swoon at him as he pulled up the sleeves of his shirt, talking about spices, being in his element, and seeing that glint of knowledge and expertise on his eyes. My gaze followed his every movement. My lips parted and my stomach started to flutter. This was the side of Bryan that was hard not to feel attracted to.

He gazed at me. "Does that sound okay?"

I blinked at him. "Are you asking me?"

"I know for a fact that you're incredibly talented, Jessie." I frowned. I would have thought the opposite, seeing how he always make me repeat everything back in school. Ignoring me, he ripped open the turkey bag and I reached over to help him get it out.

We took the bird to the sink and rinsed it, taking out the bits that would serve for the gravy. "Are we letting it rest with the butter for a while? It might intensify the flavors," I added my two-cents.

Bryan smiled. "Exactly."

Feeling more at ease, we got to it. We spent hours in the kitchen, working as a team, having small talk about petty stuff, but it was great. Like the time when he drove me home or the time I we made chocolate soufflé. We stayed away of serious topics, like where he'd been or if there was an us in the future. After the week I'd had, it was nice to feel comfortable around him again.

The turkey was already inside the oven, the sweet potato puree was on the stove and a homemade cheese ravioli was already lying on the tray, ready to be cooked when Seth barged inside the kitchen.

I never noticed when he came down the stairs or left the house. However, Juno had sent him out in what looked like, a scavenger hunt. He brought fresh-baked bread, cranberry jelly and enough red wine to last until Christmas.

"Why so many wine?" I asked when he set a box of it on the floor.

"Dunno," he shrugged. "The house smells great." He shook hands with Bryan and gave me a side-hug. His studied us with curious eyes for a moment, before taking out his phone and starting to text.

Smiling, I teased him. "When are we going to meet your mysterious girlfriend, Seth? Is it actually real?"

Bryan chuckled, while Seth looked up and glared at me. "That's why you won't meet her soon."

Rolling my eyes, I turned to Bryan. "I'm going to go check on Juno."

"I'll start the béchamel sauce."

Nodding, I left the kitchen. I knocked on Juno's door before opening it. Her whole room smelled like jasmine. I found her sitting on the bed, wearing a white dress and brushing her long, silver hair. She looked so peaceful, that my feet froze as I took her in.

She looked so different than every other day. Her dress shimmered under the light and she was wearing more makeup than usually.

"Juno, is everything alright?"

She smiled at me. "Yes. Things have never been better."

I was glad that someone was happy. Especially if that someone was Juno. She deserved the best.

"Okay, we're almost ready, I justꟷ"

"Jessie, I'm getting married."

Tilting my head, I creased my brows. "I know."

"Today."

My mouth fell open. It made sense. The flowers, the wine, the top five-stars menu.

Juno grinned. "It's just going to be us and Carlos' daughter."

"He has a daughter?" I sat beside her. "And why hadn't you told us?"

"Because I know that you'd be out the door the second I say I do."

My lips quirked up. "Not exactly..." Juno raised an eyebrow. "Can you blame me? It took me months to get over the naked image of Mr. Gomez!" She grinned at that.

Dropping the brush on the bed, the smile faded as she started to braid her hair. "I'm not getting younger, Jess." Her tone was heavy with sorrow.

"Mr.Gomez isn't a twenty-year old, Juno."

"True, but you'll both eventually leave and I don't want to be alone. He's a great man and I enjoy being with him. In every sense of the word," she wriggled her eyebrows as I stood up.

"Gosh! Don't you dare!" I closed my eyes for a moment trying not to remember the old man on her bed, completely bare and exposed. Mental image out!

Juno giggled like a little girl. "He's a good man, Jessie. Just like Bryan is good for you."

My shoulders sagged while my stomach tightened. "He doesn't trust me." It was as simple as that. He didn't want to share whatever was troubling him and that was as painful as seeing him with another girl.

"He trusts you, honey. I don't think he knows how to show it to you, though. Why don't you ask him?"

"What if he doesn't answer?"

"What if he does?" Juno's eyes were soft as she stood up and patted me on the shoulder. "You won't know until you try it." She looked gorgeous with that white, silk dress. Her silver hair seemed to be glowing too.

"You look stunning, Juno."

"Thank you, dear. Now, go change. I'm going to drop the news to Seth and Bryan downstairs."

Good grief.

Ooh! A wedding!! :) 

Guys, I gotta be honest. The ending is coming near. Two more chapters, tops. I think. There might be more, but I'm not sure. 

Have a great week and thank you so much for being so awesome!!