Come Into My Life

Separation

I don't know if it was good that I was restricting myself from seeing Jade as she still occupies my heart. It was difficult to pull her out from there. The second most 'Find Jade' enthusiast,after me of course, Kat was not that pleased with my decision. She called me a while after I let out the news to Leigh. It was needless to say that the first part of the conversation included a lot of scolding and advices and whatnots. But I had made up my mind. After she was calmed down, she even told me that she'd help me in getting a job in a cafe that her fiance owns. What a good, caring friend I have!

            Two days passed since I made the eponymous decision. I woke up from my sleep quite early. All of a sudden, I had lost my appetite for sleep. I'm not sure if it's because of a certain person. I'm not ready to dwell too much on that. I walked down to the hall and saw mam up and running. Jonnie was sitting on the couch with a hot, steaming cup of tea. The aroma of the hot tea was lingering along the room and I can't quite ignore it and strides to the kitchen to get myself one. As mam saw me approaching with gradual steps, as sleep was still in my eyes, she smiled.

"Good morning baby. Do you want tea?"

"Of course mam. Never gonna say no to that." She chuckled lightly and passed me the cup she was holding. I smiled at her and mumbled a 'thank you' while reaching for the cup. I joined Jonnie on the couch. It's been a while since I've talked to him.

"Hey brother."

"Hey." That was weird. He always had smart, witty comebacks for me, even if I was just being nice to him. I scooted closer to him.

"Are you alright?"

"Yup. It's all good." He gave a smile, which I can easily guess as a fake one.

"Are you sure? You don't look all good?"

"Nothing. Just had a fight with Lucy. That's all."

"Oh. What happened?" I instantly regretted asking the question. It's their private stuff.

"Nothing serious. Silly fights. Happens all the time. Don't put your head into this." All my life, Jonnie had somehow made fun of me and pranked me and did things to me that made me want to kill him. But nothing compared to the amount of hurt I felt now hearing his words. He must have sensed something, for he quickly whipped his head to where I was sitting.

"I'm...sorry Pez. I didn't mean to snap at you like that." He grabbed my right hand and squeezed it.

"It's...okay."

"It's been two days since the fight. I'm just stressed because of that."

"Hope things work out between you and her." I tore myself away from him and went to Leigh's room. I wanna talk more to him. But I think he's not in a good mood. Maybe later.
            I knocked at her door. I opened the door as I heard a small 'come in' from inside. Leigh was sitting on the bed with her back pressed to the wall and had her eyes fixed on her laptop. I walked to sit next to her on the bed with my back to the wall. I placed the cup on the table nearby. In my peripheral vision, I sensed that she was looking for flights. I suddenly got worried that she was gonna leave. I moved closer to her.

"What are you looking for?" She took her eyes from her laptop and looked at me. She let out a sigh.

"I am looking for return flights." She moved her vision back to her laptop. What? Why am I always assaulted with bad news?

"Why?"

"I've been here for a while. I have to get back to work." I suddenly remembered that she came to stay with me for a month. Wow. How time flies?!

"So, you're going?" She paused what she was doing for a while and then slowly nodded her head.

"Sadly. I don't wanna leave you. But it's not possible for me to stay." She grabbed my hand and played with my bracelet. "You should come back. You left a lot of paperwork behind. You need to sign a lot of papers to clear your resignation." My body suddenly felt tense and I furrowed my eyebrows, thinking about going back to NY. "I'm not asking for a permanent stay. Just for a while. I think it'd be great considering the situation you're in right now. You could use some getaway. A distraction." I scoffed at her suggestion.

"I came here as part of my getaway. Now I've to 'getaway' from here too?"

"I think it'd be great." Leigh shrugged her shoulders signifying that I've to make a decision. Slowly I rested my head on her shoulder and looked outside the window.

"I think you're right." Going back to New York may not be ideal. But, I've to go anyway and I could potentially spend some time away from the soul-stirring memories of Jade's indirect rejection.