The Album of You and I

Why Did We Ever Have to Leave Little League?

The day after their spontaneous excursion Emma decided that she would pay Jay a visit. Theo had gone to the rugby match with Art earlier that afternoon, casually mentioning how Jay was doing. Since she had nothing else to do, visiting the wise man seemed like the. best way to spend her day. After introducing herself again and greeting Deb, Jay's carer, Emma sat down at the kitchen table with him. 

'So, Jay, how's it going?' She started, normally not one for conversation. 

'Fine, fine dear. I think. How are you doing?' The sweet old man replied, genuine concern displayed on his face.

'It's going ok I think. You ever have trouble helping someone. As in the person doesn't want to be helped but you can't just watch by the side lines as someone you care about slowly self-destructs.' Emma carefully asked but getting straight to the point- she had never been known for subtlety. It was something that had been bothering her and she wanted to know if Jay would have any answers or if she was sticking her head in business where it didn't belong. 

'Hmmm, interesting query- someone you know perhaps?' Jay asked, mischief and curiosity swirling in his eyes as he smiled at her.

'A friend.' She replied, blushing as she did. Art always teased her about how bad a liar she was. 

'Interesting. Does this 'friend' know that you think they should let you in?' He probed further. At this point Emma couldn't look Jay in the eyes- instead focused on her fidgeting fingers. 

'Probably, I haven't been very low-key, and he tends to pick up on how I'm feeling.' She confessed.

'Ah, so it's a boy. Well, consider this. If you force him to express his true feelings- would that ease how he's feeling- or would he just feel more pressure and stress? Do you think that you let him know everything that you're keeping inside? Sometimes you have to observe both the outlook and yourself- how can you expect something of one person if you don't know if you do it yourself?' Jay preached.

What he said made sense to Emma. She was guilty of concealing the true extent of her feelings, but Theo literally gave nothing unless she probed him for it. Would he ever feel comfortable telling her on his own terms? Did he ever talk to anyone about it? Reluctantly, Emma agreed that Jay was right. She didn't have the right to pressure Theo into doing something that he wasn't ready for- acknowledging that didn't make it any easier to deal with however. Emma still worried that she wouldn't be there when he needed her. She wanted to be there.

Upon noticing Emma's concern, Jay put his hand on top of her moving ones.

'It's ok. I get the feeling you are unsure about what to do. Any relationship takes time- regardless of the depth of emotion that you feel. You have to adjust to another person in your life, and they have to do the same- it takes time. You have to remember that not all relationships are built to be one thing- they can change and be something that you didn't expect, and that's something that you shouldn't try to prevent. The longer you try to stop something from evolving, the more prone you are to ending up somewhere that maybe worse than what you were trying to avoid.' 

Again, Jay's word's seemed to be easy in theory to Emma- but the putting it into practice instilled a sort of terror within her. Nodding her head politely, Emma slightly regretted asking the wise man about her relationship problems- it meant that she had to face the truth about how clueless and unprepared she was. 

'Do you want to go on a walk Jay?' Emma asked, hoping that a change in scenery may distract her. 

Meanwhile, Theo was at the rugby match with Art. It had been a while since he had played, and the guys that he met that he would be playing with obviously lived for the game. Theo was by no means a small, delicate musician on the outside, but in comparison, these men made him look like a dwarf. He could only imagine how intimidating people smaller than him must find them.