The Nook

Days are passing in a blur, with a tiny hope faintly looming on the horizon that some day he will see her again, he'll be spellbound by her, by the radiant glow coming out of her.

No wonder, that being often seen musing (which is actually not characteristic of him) Jake has evoked anxiety of his relatives (who are pretty numerous, I must admit). It seems like they, all combined, have made a collusion to draw him out of the present state of mood, and they really do follow it with a great zest.

Firstly being out of the loop they pestered him with jillions of questions which he kept ignoring. But then somehow they managed to guess the reason for Jake's screwed-up condition (not without Matt's sincere help, of course) and swelled it to the size of a pretty plump elephant. Though doing their best to conceal the "let's make-Jake-happier" campaign, they are anyway doing too much.

Jake would have noticed nothing if during a week some of his relatives (including even Aunt Terry from Australia) who hadn't called him for ages all of a sudden dialed his number to ask how he was going! And Uncle Geoffrey, an 80-year-old man with partial loss of memory, right away wished Jake's wife returned to him!

Jake is so sick and tired of all these "keep your chin up!", "hope springs eternal" pronounced every time somebody of his family ambushes him, that he's even ready to feign a life-threatening disease in order not to go to the Christmas party his younger sister Jenny is throwing today. He realizes perfectly well that her aim is to introduce him to her numerous girlfriends so that he might forget the object of his "star-crossed affection".

Oh, listen, he's speaking over the phone. It must be Jenny trying to get him to the party.

"Jenny, I won't come, I've got some... affair... You'll do without me"

"You're heartless! How long am I supposed to urge you to come? I do not feel like listening to your lame excuses! You are here at 7! Not a minute later! Otherwise you'll learn what a fury sist is!"

"I'm trembling with fear!"

"I'm waiting! Matt's going to come!"

"Matt?! When did he start loving your parties?"

"It doesn't matter! Come!"

Don't be surprised, we're already at Jenny's party awaiting for Jake to come. Yes, he's already coming having decided that he'll stay there for 2 hours not more and then will whizz off. There he is!

"Oh, you made it!" exclaims Jenny taking him by the hands and leading to the depth of their parents' house where the music is bouncing loudly.

Matt's here as well. "Hey, dude! You've come!"

"Not for long" hastily notices Jake. Do you also see that Matt is grinning?

"I wouldn't be so sure!" he winks at Jake.

"I want you to meet somebody" mysteriously whispers Jenny, Matt goofily smiling. "No objections are accepted!" Jenny snaps in an implacable tone. "It's high time you got over your silly crush on an unknown girl! It's stupid! You need a real girl..."

"I'd rather you finished off the matchmaker campaign, Jenny" grumbles Jake.

"I wouldn't be so pig-headed!" Matt sneers. Hey, what's happening? This I-know-something-you-don't-know tone of Matt's is not a good omen. Or...

No, it's impossible. It can't be happening. What if.... No, she can hardly be here... The sudden idea makes Jake speechless with disbelief.

Step by step Jake's excitement is growing, heart quailing inside hardly finding room in the chest to spread its feelings. What if the destiny itself gives its blessing to Jake and the girl? What if their "meeting" wasn't casual? Is he really going to see her again in all her breathtaking glory: her delightful smile slightly touching her rosy lips, the stream of her glowing hair, and the charming sparkles in her gimlet eyes? Oh, God, it's true - absence makes the heart grow fonder.

Meanwhile Jake, who is frantically shooting glances at all the sides at once searching for we-know-whom, is approaching the fireplace with his hand tightly seized by Jenny's surprisingly strong fingers under escort of Matt trying to stifle a laugh looking at the friend's stunned face. Near the fireplace with colourful Christmas stockings hanging from the mantelpiece a girl and a guy are talking. Sorry, I can't see them well because of Matt's broad back.

"Ok, Jake" joyously says Jenny slowing down and nudging her tongue-tied brother forward, the couple stopping their conversation. "Meet..."

And now I'm afraid I must stop here and take you back to the place you'd been before I showed "The Nook" to you. Let it remain a secret whether it was that very girl we know (knowing nothing about her actually!) or somebody else.

Oh, please, don't get angry with me for such an eerie twist and don't look at me like that, I beg you! Otherwise I will give in and tell you everything! :)

Only think: you've got a magnificent opportunity to choose the end of the story. If you're into happy ends, you may picture that Jake finally gets acquainted with the "café girl" and they live happily ever after! If you have a deep-seated need to sympathize with miserable story characters, then you might imagine that the girl Jenny was going to introduce to her brother was a completely different one, not the girl Jake so desperately craved to see and whom he wasn't to meet again...ever.

You don't have any idea what to think, do you? Then look around again just like you did several pages ago. Go ahead! Who knows, maybe something around you will give you a hint! Or maybe somebody near you (somebody like Jake) is longing to get closer to you and you are not in the know. If you don't see him or her right now, you may still notice them one day. Just don't forget to look around at times! ;)