Tears of Sorrow

Part 10

-Jim's POV-

Jim paused on the doorstep, he could hear voices coming from inside the house. What was going on? He could hear Em's voice and laughter. The door was open so he walked straight in and preceded to the lounge room where the voices were coming from.

"... And remember camp... " he heard a strange female voice say before there was another burst of laughter. Jim walked around the corner and into the lounge room and saw Em on the couch with another woman. Em was smiling. She never smiled. Not really. He savoured the moment before he cleared his throat and said "Em, what's going on?" The two women looked up.

"Jim, you will never guess who this is..." Em started.

The woman stood and smiled at him, "Hi, I'm Bek." She said, "Mle Mle and I have just been catching up."

Jim's first reaction was shock, then it quickly turned to anger. This was the person responsible for all the pain and sadness Em had been through over the last ten years.

But he controlled his emotions and just said icily, "Thats lovely."

There was an awkward pause before Em said, "Would anyone like a coffee?"

Bek gratefully accepted the offer and Jim nodded, still glaring at Bek. Em went off to make the coffee leaving Bek and Jim alone together.

After a few minutes of silence Bek said "lovely weather lately, don't you think?"

Jim replied with "If you like the rain." and continued to glare.

She tried again "So, um, what do you do for work?"

"I work for the council." came the reply.

"Oh, I see. What does that involve?"

"Work." He said pointedly.

"Right."

More silence.

After what seemed like ages, Mle Mle walked back in with the coffees. They drank in silence, Mle Mle looking between the other two anxiously. Jim continued to glare at Bek, who politely ignored him. They chatted for a while until Liam got home, who was stunned when he saw his mother up out of bed and coming to hug him. It was getting late by then so Bek made a polite suggestion that maybe she should be getting back to her hotel. Jim eagerly agreed, while Mle Mle tried to convince her to stay the night. Jim would not allow it and Bek gently convinced her it would be better if she didn't stay.

"This is just like last time at the airport." Mle Mle said sadly.

"No it's not," Bek replied, "Because this time I will be back before you know it."

Then she was gone.