present for jack

- five minutes -

she was close, yet so far. she texted jack, telling him that she had just arrived in america. things are much different over there when it comes to culture to education system. jack gazed at his phone for a minute before responding back, trying his best to not let his sadness show. he congratulated her for landing safely and wished her good luck in america. he knew how dangerous it could be, and how scary it must be to move to a vastly larger country.

for a while, he sat alone at the park. he reminisced about the past and all the fun they had together that he took for granted. of course she wasn't going to stay in kuwait forever. who wants to live in some obscure country anyway? he couldn't get over his sadness. he couldn't get over shawty.

on a bright, sunny monday afternoon, jack wasn't alone at the park anymore. someone new came to sit with him. he scooted over slightly to leave room for her. she opened her mouth to thank him, but decided against it.

they both sat in silence, hoping the other would strike conversation. neither of their mouths opened and their voices didn't work.

a few hours pass and jack decides to go home. the girl didn't follow him back. she only remained on the seat, clutching her small purse in her lap and looking down at the concrete beneath her feet. jack didn't turn back to greet the girl at the last minute. he didn't want to get over shawty that quickly. although he didn't want to be forever depressed until the day shawty came back, he didn't want to go out and find another girl to fall in love with. it felt dirty to do that to shawty.

the next day rolls around and jack returns to the park. they girl he had encountered yesterday wasn't present. he sighed. he wondered if not talking to her was the right thing to do. shawty wouldn't have wanted jack to be lonely while she was gone either. he growled in frustration. everything was going wrong. he hadn't texted shawty since she landed in america.

before long, the girl he met yesterday sat on that very park bench. again, they sat in complete silence. this time, she was admiring the sounds of nature and the concrete. jack counted the amount of holes he spotted in the sidewalk.

"um... hey." the girl finally said to break the silence and remove the palpable tension.

jack turned his head to face her. he didn't feel like talking to this girl, especially with what's going on with shawty.

"sorry." the girl responded to jack's clear woeful expression. he looked tired.

"no, no. i'm sorry." jack finally said as the girl planned to leave.

she turned back around to make eye contact with jack. they gazed heartily into each other's pupils until jack said something.

"um... i'm jack, by the way. i'm on this bench often."

she broke out of his hypnotizing stare. she stuttered a bit, flustered after staring at him for way too long.

"sorry, i'm rythm. i'm new to this area. i moved here from turkey a few days ago and discovered this park. i figured i might as well make friends with some residents, but you didn't look too excited yesterday." she told.

"that's my fault, i didn't want to break a promise i made to myself." he apologized.

rythm didn't want to ask what the promise is, considering he had looked tired and sad today and the day before. she continued talking to him.

"well, i'll be here on most days. i like it here. it's calm and peaceful." she said to him before getting up and prepared to walk away.

"me too." he replied. he remained seated while he watched her saunter away.

the entire time he spoke with rythm, he completely forgot about his situation with shawty. he enjoyed talking to rythm. he found it relaxing and enjoyable to do, even if it was only for five minutes.