YOU & ME | JENLISA

Chapter 68

Jennie

Our eyes meet, I could see the sorrow behind her eyes. They looked artichoke-green and gazed deeply. She wasn't cool or distant, she was here in the moment. Emotional, raw and vulnerable - just like the night of the storm. I mirrored her expression, understanding everything. Knowing of the heavy burden that she must be carrying, and everything snapping into place like a magnetic board. The need to make money, the drugs, the distance.

I inhaled softly and grabbed a glass of water from the side, inching closer to her bed.

"Are you okay? Would some water help?" I took it upon myself to sit in the chair next to her bed and waited for her to calm down. Lisa sat on her bed and leaned back on her elbows. Her mom smiled at me.

"Jennie..." she breathed out.

"Everyone calls me Jen."

"Jen. I'm happy that you're giving my child a chance. Not many people do." She shoved Lisa weakly and she laughed.

"I've grown very fond of her recently." I replied honestly. Lisa looked at me and bit back a smile.

"You look familiar." My eyebrows arched in surprise. I don't think I've ever met her before. "You're not Diane's daughter, are you?" I felt my facial muscles drop away my smile.

"I am." I confirmed.

"Oh yes, I remember your mom. Say, whatever happened to Diane?"

"Mom..." Lisa interrupted gently.

"No, it's okay." I reassured her. "Diane, decided that her boyfriends were more important than me. So she left me with her ex-boyfriend and ran away with her newest one. I think his name is Tom or maybe that was her other one, maybe it's Mike. I can't remember."

"Oh, I'm sorry darling."

I leaned over and took a little heart shaped jewellery box into my hand. It had pasta shells glued onto it and they were painted. "This is really nice."

She smiled again.

"Lisa made that for me in kindergarten and I've kept it all this time. She put the butterfly pasta on because she knows butterflies are my favourite."

"Every year my mom would take me to the butterfly park and we'd sit for hours trying to catch the butterflies on our hands."

"The secret is honey, they love the stuff. Oh, how I wish I could take you there just one more time." She sighed sadly. "But now you two can go together."

"Yeah, I'd love that." I told them both.

"Oh! I know! Lisa, go get the baby albums out. I want to show Jen how cute you were."

"Mom, she doesn't want to see that."

"Oh, sure I do!"

"It's every mother's rite of passage to show her child's significant other the baby pictures, off you go, Lisa."

Lisa sighed in defeat and left the room. I fiddled with a loose thread on my jeans and waited quietly. "Lisa didn't tell you I was sick, did she?" My eyes settled on her.

"She's a private person."

"The child's got issues."

I sucked my lips in.

"She doesn't trust anyone and she can't let people in. She's far too closed off for her own good. She's a sweet child, Jen and she likes you, I can tell."

"I like her too." I admitted.

"Maybe, but not as much as she likes you and that's okay because the more time you spend with her, the more you'll grow to love her. She's hard not to love. If two people are meant to be, they'll always find their way to one another eventually."

Her mom had things all wrong. I was into Lisa, she wasn't into me. But even if she was, things couldn't progress. It was too complicated and it just got a whole lot more complicated. She came back with albums and albums in her hands and dropped them down on the bed. I sat back in the chair, letting her explain each chubby cheeked, naked bath, baby toothed, and embarrassing photo from Lisa's childhood.

There was so much warmth and love shared between them, it was evident. I had grown an admiration for Lisa that I never had before today. She was the hero in her mom's life and on some level I think her mother was the hero in hers.

"You've been lovely company Jen but I'm really tired and I should get some rest. You kids go hang out or something, spend some quality time together. Promise me that you'll come by again?"

"I promise." I'm not sure what entirely possessed me to lean down and give the woman a hug but I did and I even kissed her cheek. I just felt compelled, compelled to show her some love and compassion. "Sweet dreams."