(un)Cuff me, Mister!

Surprises

"Darling! I'm home~~"

Jasmine called out when she opened the door to the apartment that she shared with Joshua.

However, she was welcomed with an empty, dark apartment.

"Darling~~" she called out again in a singsong tone.

Jasmine's heart was drumming like there were a thousand horses running inside it. 'Don't tell me this was the surprise that Joshua had prepared for her?' she asked herself.

'But our anniversary is tomorrow. Not today!' Jasmine's monologue.

"Darling?"

"Joshua?"

She called Joshua again and again while roaming around the house, opening every door.

Jasmine didn't even bother to turn the lights on as she thought Joshua was hiding somewhere, ready to jump on her.

However, after checking every room, there was no Joshua there.

She was alone in the empty apartment.

Jasmine's face fell, and she dragged herself to the living room to turn on the light.

Walking slowly towards the switch, her mind was trying to understand what's going on.

'Is Joshua not come back yet?' she wondered.

'But he kept reminding me to come home early on Friday as he had a surprise for me,' Jasmine scratched her head.

Jasmine doubted Joshua had forgotten about it.

Joshua was a perfect boyfriend, he was caring and gentle and he never forgets an important date in Jasmine's life. Joshua was especially good at remembering their anniversary, the date when they got together.

When the apartment was illuminated by the light, only then Jasmine saw her luggage in the living room, with an envelope on top of it.

A smile blossomed on her face, and Jasmine sprinted towards the luggage bag.

She picked up the envelope and opened it to pull out its content.

Her passport and a plane ticket to a foreign country were inside the envelope with a piece of paper with Joshua's handwriting on it.

[Fly towards your future.] it said on the paper.

Jasmine giggled in giddiness. It would be her first international flight! She had never left Alscot. And the destination that was written on the plane ticket was somewhere she would always want to visit. It was the homeland of her mother, Cratia!

All throughout her life, her parents never brought her back to that country. Her father was a policeman, who was always busy on a mission.

Jasmine had heard stories of Cratia country from her mother, and it piqued her interest as the country was full of cultures. She also learned to speak her mother's mother tongue language.

It was her talent. Jasmine was a polyglot who could easily pick up a language by just watching dramas or movies.

There were a few times when Jasmine asked her parents to bring her back to Cratia. However, her mother's eyes would turn sad and she would just flash a restrained smile to Jasmine.

Of course, Jasmine was curious about it and had asked her mother. However, her mother only replied with a gentle pat on her head.

"Maybe when you grow up, you'll understand," her mother said.

As she grew up, Jasmine was no longer asked about it, especially after she got together with Joshua.

On one of their dates, Jasmine had mentioned her wish to visit Cratia and her interest in learning about the other half of her origin.