As soon as my mental countdown reaches 10 I begin to stand up, grasping Lauren's hands and pulling her with me. Somehow seeing Lauren so upset and and vulnerable has triggered a strength inside of me that I didn't know I possessed. I need to be strong for myself, but, more importantly, I need to be strong for her. Me and Cole owe her so much.
"Come on. We can so this. All three of us have not had an easy past but if we work together now we can ensure that the future is better."
"Your right." Lauren replies, the shakiness in her voice fading.
"Okay. So what did the helpline woman say would happen next, Lauren?" Cole enquires, standing up and beginning to pace again, backwards and forwards in front of the window as if the movement alone will make this process quicker.
"She said that she needed to process the claim and that she would ring again within the next couple of hours to explain what happens next. I don't think we are going to be aloud to remain here much longer, though."
"Right, so we just wait?" I ask, knowing full well that that is all we can do.
Both Cole and Lauren nod in agreement.
After that I don't really think about what I am doing at all. There is just a void of time to fill and so I find myself walking back over to the window.
The hazy autumn sun is already beginning to set and in the twilight the city outside seems to soften. All the harshness has been taken away and in its place is a strange ethereal beauty, captivating in its oddity. It feels like the city is smiling. But it is a sort of sad smile, the kind given when you don't really know how anything is going to work out.
I suppose that's how I am feeling now. Who knows what my future will be like? Yet somewhere, in the back of my mind, is that feeling that maybe it will work out anyway. Maybe, just for the hell of it, fate will decide to go my way. This city could become a real home, a place to make memories in. Real memories, not nightmares, not fears, but things that I will want to look back on, to cherish.
As I am stood there, my gaze drifts to a small street corner where a row of wooden tables are positioned across the path. I squint my eyes further and can just about make out the sign above the door; "Angelina's Italian Restaurant". It is an old building, quite small yet prettily decorated with a string of twinkling fairy lights. A couple sits at one of the tables, laughing about something and clinking their glasses of wine.
It is such an ordinary scene for most people, a typical Saturday evening sight, yet it presents such mundane happiness that my eyes begin to fill with tears. I am 17, yet never once have I been to a restaurant. Never once I have sat in a theatre, watched a film at the cinema or gone to a Fair. I don't have a single happy memory from my childhood.
" Jasmine, are you alright?"
Its Cole, standing beside me, his arm looping around my shoulder.
"Sorry, forget that." He says, correcting himself, "Of course you aren't all right, but is there anything I can do?"
"Do you see that restaurant?" I ask, evading his question slightly, "Down there on the corner, with the green sign."
"'Angelina's Italian?"
"Yes. Its beautiful isn't it. I have always wanted to go somewhere like that, somewhere normal, where normal people just go to have a nice time."
"Me too."
There is a slight pause after that and we both continue to watch the couple in the restaurant.
"When this is over, Jasmine, I am going to take you to all these places. We can build some new memories." Cole eventually whispers, squeezing the arm around me slightly to pull me closer.
"Hey! I like Italian too!" Lauren jokes, coming up to stand on my other side.
"Well, once this is all finished we can all have Italian every night if we want to!" I say, laughing.
And then we just stand there, the three of us side by side at the window, watching as the sky fades into darkness and all the lights in the city are turned on, sparkling like a million tiny diamonds below us.
Author's Note:
Hello my lovely readers! (I am in a great mood and I have no idea why!) I hope you enjoyed this chapter, I added in a bit more description than there has been for a while so hopefully you liked that. Please vote if you did and comments your thoughts below. Lots if Love,
AutumnSwift1 XXX
YOU ARE READING
The World Is Worth A Smile
RomanceA turbulent past full of violence and fear has meant that Jasmine Hope Barness can't see past the terror around her. But when an attempted suicide fails, and the ghosts from her childhood begin to rise up again, can she be persuaded not to try again...
