Love Games

Fifty - three: Facing the Harsh Reality

We drive for a while in silence, through which I can hear only the hum of the engine and the gentle squeal of the tyres on the asphalt.

Jack finds the silence familiar, but I find it increasingly unbearable.

My mind goes round in circles until the feeling overcomes me - the questions I can no longer hold in must come out.

I turn towards him, even though I know he won't take his eyes off the road. My words form themselves before I can stop them.

"So why is Mario so tense?" I start, but I feel my voice quaver a little.

"Why do I feel like he doesn't trust me? Is it because of something someone else has already done? Someone who has taken advantage of his trust?" I take a deep breath, but I don't stop.

"Who was it? Maybe... one of your exes?" I finally say what's been nagging at me, and my voice breaks on the last words.

Jack doesn't say anything for a moment, but his jaw tenses.

I notice how his fingers grip the steering wheel a little tighter, as if he's trying to control something that's flowing inside him.

"Why do you ask?" he says in a deep, calm voice that does not deceive me. I know that this question hides much more.

"Because I have the feeling that there is something between the lines," I admit quietly. My words hang in the air, and even though they are barely audible, I feel their weight.

"Mario seems... protective. But not just to you, but to something bigger. Like I'm an intruder in a world he wants to protect."

Jack finally looks towards me, just for a moment, but his gaze is deep and impenetrable, as if gauging how much truth I am ready to hear.

"Sarah," he begins, his voice a little softer now. "Mario is... careful. He's seen things, he's experienced them in ways you may never understand.

And yes, he had reasons not to trust the quick.

It's not just to do with me, it's to do with what our world represents."

"Our world?" I repeat with a slight tinge of doubt. "And what does that mean? That I have to tiptoe around because I'm simply 'too much' for this environment?"

His smile is brief, almost bitter. "No. It means you have to be prepared. People here don't forget, Sarah. And they don't forgive easily."

The words are like a warning, but I can't find a direct answer in them.

I look out of the window, into the darkness around us, and my thoughts go round in circles again.

Is there really a story behind all this?

Someone who took advantage of Mario's trust, someone who left scars that he is now passing on to me?

"Was it... an ex?" I try again, even though I know I'm taking a risk.

Jack doesn't answer right away.

His silence is long and tense, as if he chooses his words carefully. "She was a person who took a chance. It doesn't matter who she was, or what she did. What matters is that Mario has not been easily convinced since."

His words hit me in a way I did not expect. Jack always manages to leave me with the feeling that I don't know everything - that he is not telling me everything.

But this time I feel there is something bigger. Something that lies deep beneath the surface, and that may remain hidden for a long time to come.

I lean back in my seat and work my way through my confused thoughts.