Jane And Austin

Chapter 23- Can I kiss you?

[RECAP- Jane's dad announced his company was looking to transfer some of the employees who do not perform. It was an intense moment for the family.]

Austin: Wear your most beautiful dress.

Me: We aren't going anywhere.

I replied within a second and that actually meant, without thinking.

My phone didn't ring for the next few minutes, and I kept waiting for him to say something. I wondered if the text was too rude, but I didn't blame myself for that. My day had been gloomy and I felt like I was a traveler, lost in the desert, in the quest for water. My water being Susan.

That morning, I noticed that I had been unblocked by her, and as soon as I explored that I knew I was going to try to talk to her.

Me: How are you?

Double ticks. Typing appeared for a second and it disappeared. She did not reply. My heart broke down.

Me: I miss you and I am really sorry, Susan. It will take an eternity for me to find a friend like you. I am really, really sorry. Can we talk this out?
The 'typing' was there again and this time it lasted. It lasted for a while before a text actually came. I felt like it was the end of our misunderstandings, and I felt like we would be friends again.
Susan: Hope you are doing well
The text read, and suddenly, her display picture disappeared with my dreams. I couldn't believe that I was blocked. A couple of tears bid goodbye to my eyes. The next thing I did was to call her. Unanswered.

Susan would always be more excited about my boyfriend to be than I ever was. She would always tell me how she would dress me up for dates, how she would make sure I knew the way to flirt and how she would kick his ass off if he had the courage to break my heart. She would always show me the pictures of guys from our school and guys from our neighbourhood but in vain. It was disheartening how things had changed. I missed her. I really did.
I was lost in the desert, and I also felt irreparably broken. "Maybe she needs more time," I repeated in my head to console myself.

Minutes had passed by, but there was still no sign of Austin's reply. I put the phone down on the blue bedsheet, while I stared at the stars drawn on my ceiling. The sound of the opening of the house's main gate followed my ears, but when I crawled over to the window, there was no one to be seen.

Oscar came to my room, and being there with him made me feel better, just slightly. Soon, mom came into my room and the first thing I noticed was her smile, and then the envelope in her hands. I glanced outside again as the wind blew my hair. I could see Austin, looking at me with a smile on his face. He was wearing a white hoodie and a blue jeans. Before I could wave at him, mom handed over the letter to me before she left and when she did, I noticed that a faint smile had crept on my face.
I hurried towards the seal of the letter, wrapped carefully in a pink envelope.

"Dear Jane,

I know it isn't my turn to write you a letter, but you know why it is there.

My parents were in love when they were in their twenties. When my dad went to ask for the hand of my mother, her parents announced that they would only marry their daughter to him when he gets a decent job. In his pursuit, he was put into a perpetual struggle to get to a job from which he could impress my mom's parents. He went to sixteen interviews only to return as a man who was more broken than he already was. After his 17 failed attempts, he went down into a park. Absolutely depressed, gloomy, and hopeless.

While he was sitting in the park, he saw some ants trying to carry their food into a tree at a height. It weighed probably a hundred times more than their combined weight. They had to face difficulties in carrying the food to the height where their nest was located. Even after failing so many times, they still tried to get there. Each time, they ripped off a little part of their food and tried again. Tried until they succeeded.
My dad had his smile back on his face. An epiphany hit him in his heart. The next two months were spent on self criticism, improvement and perseverance.