Mr. Dangerous by Alexis Gold

distant and emotional, refusing to tell her what was wrong. Throughout their time dating, he still had not revealed much about his life. Due to his mysterious nature, whenever his mood became dismissive, it bothered her deeply. Usually, she buried her feelings to keep the relationship running smoothly, but on that particular day, she couldn’t stop herself from asking him what was going on in his head.
     
    “Hey,” she walked into the kitchen and tapped his shoulder, “what’s going on with you? Why are you acting so strange today?”
     
    “I don’t want to talk about it.” He walked over to the sink and washed his hands to prepare for cooking that day.
     
    “Why won’t you talk to me?”
     
    “There’s just a lot that I can’t tell you. It’s not personal. There are just things that you wouldn’t understand.”
    “Try me. I want to know you, Mason. I want to know what goes on in your head. It makes me sad that I know what goes on with everyone in my life except for you. You’re the only person who I can’t figure out,” she begged. Suddenly, before she could stop herself, she whispered a sentiment they had not yet shared, “I love you.”
     
    He looked up from the sink and stared into her eyes. His face transformed from dismissive and angry to sad and distraught. She raised her eyebrows in confusion, unsure why he looked so torn. Her heart began pumping faster when he pulled off his hairnet and removed his apron, handing it to her. She asked what he was doing, and gasped silently when she noticed that his eyes were filled with tears. He strode up to her and placed both hands on her cheeks, kissing her in a way that made her feel as if it was the last time.
     
    “I love you, Jasmine. I told you I would always keep you safe, and I meant it.”
     
    Before she could respond, he turned around and walked out of the door and out from The Morning Bell, leaving her shocked and standing like a statue in the middle of the kitchen holding onto his apron and hairnet.
     
    Her mouth gaped open in utter shock. She could not grasp what had just happened. Did he just break up with her? Time slowed to a crawl as her brain attempted to catch up with the current situation, causing the room to spin gently – or was that the nausea? Her stomach twisted violently as she turned around to heave into the sink. Wiping her mouth, she sighed and straightened her blouse. Just as there are several stages of grief, there are also the same several stages of a break up – and her shock had just turned to bitter anger.
     
    “Well, fine,” she said to herself as she rolled her eyes with venom. “If he wants to be that way, then that’s perfectly all right. I suppose I’ll just get to work because at least someone cares about the customers.”
     
    Clearing her throat to place any tears on standby, Jasmine walked straight out of the kitchen and called for Abby, who quickly appeared in front of her.
     
    “Yes, ma’am?” Abby asked.
     
    “Come to the kitchen. I’m teaching you how to be a proper chef.”
     
    “Seriously?” she gasped, then squealed in excitement as she quickly followed behind. Jasmine had the tendency to lose herself in the lives of others when her own life did not work out too well. If she couldn’t be happy, she could at least improve matters for someone else – and who better than sweet Abby?
     
    The rest of the day was spent in the kitchen, teaching Abby the ins and outs of the chef career. Surprisingly, she caught on rather fast without much direction needed. Still, Jasmine felt the urge to be useful to someone, so she continued to teach; Abby, being the kind girl that she was, humored her by listening intently and following directions. After a long-winded tutorial on how to properly clean the cast iron skillet, Jasmine asked if she had any questions.
     
    “Not particularly,” she replied. “Well, at least not related to cooking. Is something wrong? You seem upset.”
     
    “I just don’t