The Suburbs

Chapter five

I'm nearly finished with my second ouzo Sangria when Jacob finally makes his appearance.
I get the vibe Elle and Jacob have had some kind of marital spat because she doesn't look particularly thrilled to see him and he doesn't exactly sit next to her with much enthusiasm either.

"Mia." Jacob smiles as he pours himself a glass of the sangria.
"I assume Elle has already forced you on a house tour."

"Excuse me!" Elle scoffs as she tries to laugh it off but she looks mildly offended.
"Mia was the one who wanted to look around, isn't that right Mia?"

I nod awkwardly and take the last gulp of my sangria.

"Here." Jacob says and politely refills my glass.
"So, let me guess, your favourite room is the walk-in wardrobe, the room that is home to hundreds of designer labels. Every girls dream, right?"

He looks up at me in a derisive manner and awaits my answer as if I'm going to giggle like some air head and agree that the shallow vanity room is the best thing I have ever seen in his overstated house.
I'm really starting to feel as though I don't fit in here. Jacob is an arse if he thinks he can't take me seriously because I'm a woman.

"Actually, Mia liked your sports room the most. She does some sort of blog or something to do with sports." Elle answers for me. Although she answers it in a degrading way that makes me want to throat punch her but as usual, I smile and take Elle's rudeness as a joke.

"No, it's nothing to do with blogging. I'm a sports journalist, I run my own columns for The British Telegraph." I announce proudly.

Jacob's sarcastic expression drops quickly and he actually looks at me with new interest. Almost as if he is impressed.

"I love that column. You're Mia Johnson?"  Jacob asks eagerly as he sits up in his chair and finally worthy of listening to now.

"That's me!" I smile.
"I'm actually quite the fan of yours too. I realised today that you're the CEO of Jackson and Shaw. I religiously read Law Today magazine and the article about the Klein case absolutely fascinated me. I had a feeling he was innocent but nobody else believed me, when I read what you did for him, to prove his innocence, well it was just heart-warming."

I explain sincerely, I notice how Jacob's expression softens as he listens to me. He makes me quite nervous, but it feels good to have finally made a connection with at least one of my neighbours.

"Yes it's fantastic. You're a fan of Jacob Jackson and he is a fan of some sports thing. But let's please discuss something a little less professional and boring! I want to hear more personal things, I want to get to know the real Mia." Elle cuts in. I notice immediately Jacob's annoyance as Elle forces us to change the subject and although I keep my expression neutral I feel the same way.

"Well, what do you want to know?" I smile and take a sip of the Sangria Jacob had poured me.

"Married? Kids? Is there a famous athlete boy toy in your life? Maybe some twenty year old footballer?" Elle playfully winks at me.

"Err. No kids." I apprehensively start with.
"And I was married. But my divorce finalised just recently. Although we have been separated for nearly a year now."

Elle's face falls as if I have just announced something extremely depressing and catastrophic.

"Oh Mia. Couldn't you make it work?" She asks sympathetically.

"Sometimes in life it gets to the point where you don't want to keep compromising your own happiness to make something work."