Four
804 Words
JESSE
She was leaving.
The only woman I had ever cared for other than my sister.
All I could think of was that I had to get her back, at any cost!
I needed her in my life.
I suddenly realised - I loved her. Or as close as I'd ever been to love.
I ran like wolves were chasing me. I ran as fast as my legs would carry me, round nurses and through doors. Flying down the stairs.
I caught her at the front door. Screaming her name.
She turned, looking sad, and defeated. She didnt want to argue with me. I could see it in her face.
I ran to her and grabbed her arm.
"There is a way," I told her in a hushed voice. "Its not ideal, and you have to be sure. Trust me."
She looked at me like I was a mad man.
"I helped do it before. Come with me. Let me show you! Give me two days to prove it all to you."
She eye'd me suspiciously as we drove to my house. It was so odd that someone who I had grown to care for so much in such a short space of time, could mistrust me so fast. Maybe it was because I had not said something sooner. Maybe it was due to being mistreated for the past few years. Whatever it was, it made me sad!
As I opened the door, for the two of them, she looked around like she was finally seeing me for the first time. My entrance room was filled with souvenirs from my travels, and I instantly realised she hadn't fully believed me when I had told her I'd taken time to travel the world. This was the right place to bring her - proof that I'd already told her the truth would help her believe what I would tell her next. But first..
"I can't think or talk on an empty stomach. Lunch time!" I announced. Heading off to the kitchen and firing up the stove.
Brayleigh stood in the middle of my kitchen watching me cook. Once I had finished, I set the table in the dinning room and grabbed one of my huge pillows for Eirwen to sleep on next to us.
"I have travelled the whole world, and yet I have never found a meal I love more than a full English breakfast. Nothing compares to it, grease and all," I laughed trying to break the tension.
"I told you about my childhood and my later life, but I'm afraid I left out a big section in the middle. I was not looking to deceive you, that you must believe - but technically this is not completely my story to tell," I began there, not sure how else to begin... She was listening intently now, barely eating. I paused to eat myself, and pointed to her plate reminding her to eat too.
"At one point in my life, I found myself supporting myself and Amia - you remember me telling you about my sister?" She nodded eagerly. "I was around your age. Both our parents were dead. We had no other family who were alive, or willing to help. I worked all day, but did not want to give up my studies. I couldn't give up my dream, my love of the sciences. I went to night school to study medical science. It near killed me working all day, studying half the night, catching sleep where I could." She looked thoughtful and a little sad at this point. I was just telling it how it was though, not looking for sympathy.
"I made a few friends at work and school. Nothing of interest. One night I was at the school library with some friends, studying for an up coming exam. When Amia came to visit me - I'd forgotten my lunch, she was so sweet to bring it to me. Doing the gentlemanly thing, I thanked her and introduced her to my friends. I had not thought much of it when one of my friends had left a few minutes after Amia." I sighed remembering the obvious sign I should have seen.
"A few months later I learnt that my friend, Achille, had taken it upon himself to walk Amia home to make sure she was safe. It being so late at night, it was a thoughtful thing to do. I guess that bonded them, and over the course of the next few weeks they saw eachother more and more and fell in love."
I paused, lost in the memory of them coming to me telling me they were in love and wanted to get married. I looked up to see Brayleigh smiling at me.
"So, did they get married?" She asked enthusiastically.
- Writer
