Duskwood: Love's Beginning

16 - Jake

Before I greeted Jayna, I caught myself up on all of the information she had gathered. I did this out of habit to facilitate our conversations, even though I found myself gaining the most insight from our discussions. As usual, I was impressed with the headway she made without me.

I wasn't worried at all about the group's opinions of me. So long as they didn't obstruct my path to finding Hannah, and did nothing to hurt Jayna, they could think as they pleased.

At first, when I read her chat with Jessica, I was slightly concerned that she was betraying me. But upon closer inspection of her words, I smiled. The little minx. She was trying to make Jessica feel like she was getting inside information while still carefully guarding my secrets.

Jayna appeared to be a very honest and straightforward person in general, so her small deceit surprised me. I was honored that she essentially chose me over Jessica. However, in case I was misinterpreting things, I subtly chided her while overtly praising her at the same time, telling her I trusted only her and not to forget it. She let the comment pass without question, so I had to assume she understood my meaning.

Next, I explained to her about the phone log and that I would help her with it. Her question implied that she was surprised I was contributing to this task. Did she really think I left all the menial work to her? Certainly, I had intended this at the start. But she had proved herself more than capable of critical thinking, and her insights were invaluable.

Besides, I had missed her. This gave me an opportunity to interact with her before I had to relocate again.

When we discovered Roger's Garage on the phone list, Jayna interrogated Richy on his interactions with Hannah that day. She noted that his answers seemed rehearsed as if he was expecting to be asked about it and had prepared a speech. She commented on how specific he had been about certain details. I made note of this on my spreadsheet.

When I told her I had to go again, it was difficult. It got harder each time to say goodbye. Hoping it was not the last. I didn't want to leave her, but if I got caught, then I would never see her again. So leave I must. I noted she was still angry at Lilly and decided to prepare the plan I had thought of earlier to deal with that situation.

It hurt my heart when she said she missed me. I didn't hesitate to reciprocate those feelings. Is this what falling in love felt like? I had never had the time, nor the confidence with women to even attempt a serious relationship before. Ironically, this was the closest I'd ever felt to someone, and our entire connection was virtual.

As I shut down my device and packed everything up, I mentally prepared myself for the loneliness. It would be so much greater than before because I wouldn't be able to contact Jayna for a while. I closed my eyes for a moment and imagined Jayna's smiling face, as I had seen it on her social media page. I had memorized everything about it: her dark, shiny hair, warm brown eyes, and heart-shaped mouth. I hoped to see her beautiful smile in person someday.

Feeling better fortified for the journey ahead, I shouldered my backpack, pulled up my hood, and headed out into the night.