The Intern

"Why did you leave me?" (25)

Despite looking out of the plane and onto the beautiful turquoise waters below me, I was still restless. My time was drawing closer and I would finally get to see my mother! The suspense was driving me up the wall and I couldn't get off of this plane fast enough.

As soon as I booked an early morning flight, I left my father's office and went straight to my room to pack a small bag just in case I were to stay...

My father begged me not to go... told me it was a bad idea and that I was wasting my time. He tried to convince me that it won't work out the same way I'm picturing it in my head.

I didn't care what he thought. I wanted to see my mother and he had no right to keep her from me.

So at four a.m this morning, I boarded that flight and didn't look back. I didn't regret doing it either. This was my only chance.

Coming out of the Norman Manley International Airport in Kingston, Jamaica, I easily got a taxi that took me to my hotel. On the way there, I couldn't stop staring out of the window. It was so different from New York City.

Firstly, there was so much greenery and beautiful blue water. Secondly, I could see mountains just ahead of me... mountains. I've never been out of New York before so this was absolutely new and exciting for me. Why haven't I traveled before? I was clearly missing out.

I pulled up to the Pegasus Hotel and checked in with a plan already made up in my mind. According to my father's file, my mother was living in Kingston and I had her exact address. Not sure how he found this information out... because it was borderline stalker-ish and downright an invasion of privacy but it proved to come in handy because I could finally see my mother!

After sixteen years!

I couldn't explain how I was feeling. It was... almost like a dream. Like I'd wake up any minute now.

After settling in my room and putting my things down, I didn't even spare a minute to appreciate how nice the room was. I immediately grabbed my handbag and the room key and went right back down to the front desk.

They were able to arrange a car for me to take me to see my mother. My palms were instantly sweaty and I tried to rub them off in my jeans but they just got sweaty all over again.

Once the car pulled up at the front, I knew this was really it. No turning back. No running back to New York.

Twenty minutes... the car ride took exactly twenty minutes and soon I was in front of a coral colored house in what seemed like one of the better-looking neighborhoods. The lawn was cut to perfection and there were a lot of garden figurines scattered across the lawn where a fountain stood beside the darkly stained wooden fence.

It was weird for me to just show up like this... I mean, I was literally standing outside of her gate; staring over the fence at her lawn. I'd call the police on myself if it were me.

I decided to finally press the buzzer on the wall beside the electronic gate. About a minute later, a male voice answered.

"Who is it?"

"Hi, I'm looking for Lauren Pollock?"

That was the first time I've said her full name in years. I remember asking my dad a million times about her when I was younger but by the age of twelve; I stopped thinking about her altogether until recently.

"Who's asking?"

"I'm a customer," 

Another detail in the report my father had was that she had continued to paint and make sculptures and had made quite a name for herself here in Kingston, Jamaica. So, on the flight here, I looked up her website and bought one of her recent works. It was only fair that I supported my own mother. It was a painting of a little girl all alone by the sea; collecting rocks from the shore.