SEPARATED

NINETEEN

JACOB:

I believe we all agree that life is spontaneous; like a roller coaster ride. Because, one minute you're up, the next you're down. You never really know what to expect next. That's why you gotta savour every good moment like it's your last.

My life had been great over the past seven days. Everything was starting to look up; my job, my relationship with Sarah. We had rekindled a beautiful old friendship, like it had been before her father betrayed her. I don't know if she finally understood me, or if she just compromised with the situation. But I was very grateful.

Jo and I were getting along just fine. So fine that I invited her over to my house one day. But she declined the offer. I didn't know if we were just friends anymore, or if there was something more. But neither of us would cross the boundary. I think with Jo, it was because she believed my heart belonged to Sarah. With me; I don't know. It just kind of felt like betrayal dating Jo.

And that's when I began to doubt the words that came from my own mouth; maybe my brotherly love for Sarah wasn't so brotherly after all. I mean taking a girl from her husband isn't really what one would call brotherly. To be honest, I was genuinely confused. And what made it all the more confusing, was Jo. Even though Jo would always tell me my happiness was with Sarah, I knew she would be deflated if my relationship with Sarah developed into more than what it was.

Sarah didn't even know about Jo. And I had no idea how she would react if she found out Jo was my friend, not to mention my potential girlfriend. When we were younger Sarah never let another girl near me so I knew she wouldn't be too pleased hearing about Jo. And so I was stuck between two wonderful ladies. But neither had asked for anything more than what we already had, so I decided to leave things the way they were.

Otherwise everything else was perfect, including my mum and I. She had proven to be really understanding. The day she had come to the restaurant, she hadn't attempted to scold me, or question my motive for leaving home. Instead she had supported me and assured me that she was only after my happiness. I had been tempted to tell her about Sarah, but I didn't. I had learned that she found me thanks to Gabriel. I had been upset at first, but in the end I was grateful.

That had been the turning point because from that moment everything had changed for the better. It turns out I really needed my mother. Infact, I had done so well at work that I'd been promoted to a supervisor, and I'd received a one hundred percent pay raise. I really couldn't have been happier.

"Hey stop daydreaming about me and get back to work" Jo called. The guys laughed openly at me.

"I wasn't daydreaming about you" I retaliated above the laughter.

She chuckled, "Yeah right. Listen, the boss would like to see you. She's up in the VIP section."

"But today's a Thursday; she isn't in..."

"Just go."

I left the counter and made my way up the stairs to the VIP section. When I got there, sure enough my boss was there. She sat at a table by the window. I straightened myself up and made my way towards her.

"Is there anything you would like?" I offered.

"No, I'm good. I just need to talk to you." Strange; her voice sounded different.

I sat down on the seat opposite her and waited for her to speak. She looked up at me and I realised this wasn't the boss. It took me but a second to remember who she was; she was Mrs.Oketch, Sarah's mother.

She smiled politely and I couldn't help but smile back. But my smile quickly faded as I began to wonder what she wanted. Did she know about Sarah? Did she know I was with her?

"Jacob, are you okay?" she asked concerned.

I nodded. She smiled. Then she spoke and I listened.

"Jacob, I'm telling you this because you were very close to Sarah and you deserve to know. My husband, sorry... my ex-husband lied about Sarah getting a scholarship in a boarding school. What really happened is that.... is that...." she was now very emotional.

I decided to save her the burden of saying it. "I know Mrs.Oketch. I know what happened. I know.... about the marriage." She burst into tears and I comforted her. After she somewhat recovered, she asked about Sarah; how she was, where she was, if she was in school and so on. I told her everything. She was grateful that I got Sarah away from Antonio.

I got to learn that Miss Jacklyn (Sarah's mother; this is how she preferred I call her) had divorced Adam and moved here to Francis City where she started this restaurant with her sister, Jo's mother. This meant that Sarah and Jo were cousins. And it made things all the more complicated.

In the end, Sarah's mother asked to see her daughter, and I promised I would bring Sarah over to the restaurant so that she could. But only if Sarah would agree...

★★★★★