The Bringers of the Dawn

Chapter 2-Leaving Jamie

As Joanna drifted off, her mind wandered to Jamie. Jamie was a Masters' student she had met a few months back when she was doing her work at the campus' computer centre. She loved working there sometimes because the WIFI was super-fast, and the doughnuts at the Cafeteria were heavenly. Jamie was having a hard time tethering his laptop to the WIFI connection, and she offered to help him out. She noticed that his laptop's firewall settings prohibited any public WIFI connections. She fixed the settings, and within a few minutes, he was streaming YouTube Videos.

They had become friendly at that point. Joanna was a little shocked to find that she and Jamie lived in the same apartment complex. Jamie got interested in this funny job that kept her on her laptop the entire day. Joanna, being the selfless girl she had always been, offered to help him learn a few things about working online, so that he could support himself as he studied. Jamie was a teacher by profession; he had quit his job to pursue further education.
Joanna's friendship with Jamie had graduated into something more when he came back a little drunk and knocked at her door close to midnight. He had laughed and claimed to have lost his way. He had then joked about children and drunken people being the most honest, and that a drunken man always went to the home where his heart was.

Joanna hadn't looked at Jamie that way before, but she thought of the convenience of such a relationship. Her mother would like him; he was a teacher, on the way to becoming a lecturer. And as such, the relationship had been born. The problem with the 'situationship' was that Jamie wanted a good time, and wanted her to go along with his plan to have her for the good times, without the possibility of a future together. She had been foolish enough to think that she was going to change his mind. But the previous Friday, she had gone to his place to drop off the antivirus he had asked for, and found him very busy with another girl.

She was hurting because somewhere along the path, she had exposed her heart. She needed a change of scenery to help her clear some mental fog that the entire situation had created. As she fell asleep, all she could dream of was the Eiffel Tower, snow in the winter, the castles, the possibility of falling in love with a handsome French man, and everything else that would become a possibility when she landed in Paris.

****

It was her Dad who gave her the ID photocopies the following morning. Her mother had woken up early and left for some women's group event. She took them and put them in a small, brown envelop.

"You are processing the passport, aren't you?" her Dad's question startled her. Her cheeks turned a deep shade of red."Dad""I know, Jojo. I know...I understand. Where to my princess?" he asked."France Dad, the same company from last December.""Can you trust them?" he asked sternly."Jessica works there; she seems happy." She replied.

"Then, it will be our little secret, my butterfly. I am happy you are bold enough to spread those wings. But you have to call me at the first sign of trouble." He stated. Joanna started crying immediately. She then hugged her old man. He got her, he always did.

"I am sorry I lied to you, Dad.""No need to apologise, I saw the agony on your face when you did it. That was punishment enough for me." He replied, tousling her hair a bit. He then took out his wallet and handed her a wand of notes.

"That is for processing the passport and the return ticket. Consider it a Father's blessing." He stated.

"Thank You, Dad." She replied gratefully. She had close to $2,500, proceeds from her online job, tucked away somewhere, but she was grateful for the extra help."Go on and make me proud, Joanna, I believe you will be a great woman soon. I will handle your mother." He promised. She hoisted her sling bag on her shoulder and started the trek to the nearest shopping centre. Her Dad's pickup had broken down a fortnight before, so she would have to use the bodaboda guys to get to town.

****

After a week-long struggle with the immigration department, a visit to the Nairobi Hospital for the Yellow Fever Shots, a visa interview at the Ambassade de France on the 9th Floor of the Barclays Plaza on Loita Street, and a visit to the Fly Emirates booking office in Nairobi, Joanna was ready for the next chapter of her life. Her flight to Paris was slotted for the 20th of July.Aide-toi et le Ciel t'aidera. (God helps those who help themselves)She had taken the first step of faith, even if it involved lying, and she was sure that with determination, she would accomplish her goal of eventually becoming a surgeon.