Brooklyn

Chapter Five - Arielle

They slept in that next morning. Slept in so much that breakfast was long gone in every restaurant when they eventually got dressed and ready to go out. As a result, they had to make do with a salad stall. But that didn't matter. This time they went to the New York Public Library where Arielle delightfully browsed the many novels. They then went to The Chocolat Restaurant and Bar. They walked aimlessly for a bit and ended up at a theatre so they watched a film. They finally went to Chuck E Cheese's for dinner and took a cab to the hotel. Tuesday, they went to Dunkin Donuts and The National Jazz Museum with McDonalds for dinner. Wednesday, they moved hotels and started going back down Manhattan to Lower. They therefore went to the Museum of the City of New York and even had time to visit The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Thursday, they moved their hotel further down and visited the Broadway theatre then went to Madame Tussauds. They had no more time to explore unfortunately because they had to go back that very night to Brooklyn. It was with a heavy heart that they did so. Arielle had used up all her memory space on her camera so she took no pictures on the way back, at least that was the excuse she told Jaxon when in all honesty... She felt so depressed that Jaxon was leaving that very evening.

"Where's your flight at?" Arielle asked him through numb lips. It had been a slow journey with little chat.

"John F Kennedy." Jaxon kept looking at her with an anxious look but she couldn't really look at him. She just felt so... upset that the fun was over.

They got back to her apartment and Jaxon helped take up her suitcase. She watched as he packed his bag with his new items. She left her own bags still packed. Jaxon left the room to call a cab and she stayed frozen to the spot for a second. She heard Jaxon raise his voice slightly and frowned. Why would he be angry at a cab service? She wandered into the sitting room and pretended to be looking at the shelf of books on the wall next to the closed kitchen door. The walls were thin so she could hear him from here.

"Yes, Dad, I'm well aware of that! It's fine, I'm calling the taxi after this. Dad... I swear to God, I would never miss the funeral... Not for the world..." Funeral?! Arielle felt her heart skip a beat. "Dad... Listen, I love you. I know... We all miss her... I'll be there soon okay? Do me a favour and take the boxes out of the attic... I wanna go through her stuff... Feel like she's still here... Yeah. I have that teddybear she gave me when I was five... I know it's silly but.. I wanna feel close to her... Yeah... Okay... I'm sorry Dad... We all loved Mum and we always will... I promise I'll get there as soon as I can. Okay. I love you. Bye Dad." Arielle tip toed back to her bedroom as she heard Jaxon sigh softly and call another number. She sat down on the edge of the bed to understand.

It was his mum. His mum had died... This was the reason he had been allowed to come see her for a week. He was temporarily discharged for bereavement. This was the reason he had been spoiling her rotten, he had enough money from maybe her will? Arielle's heart felt even heavier. She couldn't believe she had been so selfish... She had spent all of Jaxon's mum's money. And she would never meet this woman who had gave birth to the man she loved. Jaxon had not brought up the subject and she was not about to. Let him come to her. Though by the fact that he was now calling the cab firm, she didn't believe he wanted to. And that was okay by her. She was fine with that as long as he knew she cared...

"Well, I've called the taxi, so I should probably wait outside." Jaxon came into the room, with a slight frown on his face. It cleared when Arielle jumped, scared out of her wits because she had been too deep into her thinking. He smiled and took her hands, pulling her to her feet. He then brushed her cheek softly with his fingers and kissed her. It was a sweet and short kiss. He then grabbed his bag and they went downstairs and out of the apartment.

"Hey... I er.. got you something." Jaxon told her. He dug into his back pocket and took out a blue box with a silver ribbon. He then handed it to her. She looked at him, a sad smile on her face as she shook her head.

"You've done way too much for me this week."

"It was my pleasure, Arielle. Honestly, I've really enjoyed myself this week! It's been great," He placed a hand over hers as she went to open the lid."Wait until I'm gone. You'll love this one... And I hope you'll think of me when you look at it." The taxi pulled up as he was midway through his speech. He took her face in both his hands again and kissed her one more time. She kissed him back and this time, it was less sweet and more salty because her tears fell down her face as she said a goodbye speechlessly. He got into the taxi and waved. She stood there, watching and crying until the taxi was long gone out of sight. She burst into the apartment block door, feeling herself tremble. She took out her week's worth of mail and then went up into her apartment. As soon as the door slammed shut, she leaned against the door, sinking right down to the floor until she was sat with her legs pulled up to her chest. She missed him so much already... But it was nothing... Nothing at all knowing that he was hurting so much because he had lost the most dearest person.. His mother. It was sometime later that she eventually snapped out of tears and loneliness to check her mail and find a letter from Zac but as well as that, she opened the box. It was a silver charm bracelet. She examined it closely because each charm was different. An apple, a high heeled shoe, a rose, a small crown, an oil lamp, a little frog and a mermaid. It was a charm bracelet of princess symbols. There was a small card pasted into the lid of the box. In black handwriting, it said 'To my Mermaid/Princess'. Fresh tears came into her eyes as she put the bracelet on and made a solemn promise to herself to never take it off if she could help it.