Jess is finally going! That New Zealand holiday is at its dawn, and all she can think of is landscapes, walks and adventures. But what she does not expect to find, is what is waiting around the corner - someone.
Someone who will turn her holiday up...
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Jess's feet turned her around, as James acted as her guide along the path and back down the sidewalk. They both knew she needed to be heading home.
"I don't think I can convince her James." Jess sighed, "I've never been able to win against her. I always present things with reasons and facts. But she never listens! Once she sets her mind on something... Even if it makes sense...!"
James just shook his head. "I'm sure you can."
When Jess looked unconvinced he looked thoughtful for a moment, then added, "She's your mother. Maybe you should look at it differently in that sense?"
Jess blinked.
"I mean, instead of presenting facts, tell her how you feel about things. You... the way you feel so strongly - that's your power you know." A tinge of colour appeared on his cheeks, but Jess, for once, was heedless to it, lost in thought.
Could that be it? Her mother, who loved to throw reason in the way of her haphazard approach to things. Her mother, who had once built an overwhelming obsession with horses after just one encounter...
Jess had always thought it would take cold hard facts to get through to her... But could James be right? Could she really have the potential to convince her mum?
They continued down the sidewalk. The sounds were of the evening - birds in the trees, some late bees buzzing about flowers blooming in some lucky residents' yards. Here and there a door would slam, or a loud voice would carry over on the wind, muffled; just a noise.
The sound of their feet striking the ground provided a rhythm to the gentle din. Together they melded into a sort of song; a rhythm and a beat and an almost eerily soothing melody - a gentle composition, signature to that neighbourhood; to that street; that step.
A sound pleasant to the ears, that was never quiet. But it was never quite there - not a distinct pattern that one could pick out and grasp, or attempt to recreate. It was as though it existed on a frequency that belonged to a different world.
They had some time, Jess knew, before she had to be back - her mother should not be up just yet. At this pace she would surely be back early... So she allowed herself to relax a little. Somehow, now, after that day they had spoken of living - when all those unsaid things had finally made sense - it was so easy to relax with James.
And so they basked in it - the soothing rhythm of the evening - without realising it; that almost imperceptible underlying peace and comfort. But when it was shattered...
"Well hello again!"
When it was shattered, especially by an unwelcome presence, it was sorely missed.
"Jess, am I right?" The voice called. It then added, almost as an afterthought, "And James Easton."
"Catherine." James had spoken from beside Jess in what she realised sounded more like a snarl than a greeting. The redhead was eyeing them beadily from a few feet behind them. She was alone today.
