‘Sure, but if you want to check something, just use our computer.’
‘Won’t your dad mind?’
‘He’ll probably be glad that someone is stopping me from playing video games on it for a bit.’ He laughed, sending his moustache rippling once again. ‘You need to check something?’
‘It’s only an email.’
‘You want to do it now?’
No.
‘Yes.’ He was taken aback by the eagerness of his own response. ‘If that’s OK?’
‘Sure. It’s slow as hell, but it will do the job.’ Kushal hoisted himself up and pulled out the chair for Jacob to take. ‘I’ll go grab a chai while you do your thing.’
‘OK, cool, I won’t be long.’
Nervous energy tingled across Jacob’s skin, and his fingers felt as though they couldn’t move quick enough as he began typing in his login details. When was the last time he’d checked his inbox? How many messages would be waiting for him? How many of those would he ever even open? As the page loaded, guilt raked over him. Ten unread emails. Fifty unread emails. One hundred …
Focus on the task. Look for her name. Only her name.
As he scanned the list, he noticed that although the majority were junk, there were a few familiar names that caught his attention. His mother would appear every ten messages orso, her emails as constant as the ‘looking for love?’ and ‘you’ve won a million pounds’ promotional crap that flooded the screen. And then, sprinkled in between, like sharp spikes of nostalgia, were other names, their jubilant subject lines aggressively screaming at him.
Jamie’s Engagement Party!!!
Join Connor and Izzy in welcoming their beautiful baby girl Elsie.
Sara is turning 30 – let’s celebrate!
Why were they there? And why were there so many?
Hadn’t he done that thing where all non-essential messages were filed away automatically? Hadn’t he specifically blocked their email addresses?
He knew it sounded cold, and at first it was quite nice to hear the news from back home, to see the way everybody else’s lives were unfolding in the way he had expected his to. But then there came a point when it didn’t feel relevant any more. In fact, it felt painful. He was away from that world and unlikely to ever rejoin it.
He was here now.
And here was all that mattered.
Quickly and efficiently, he moved the messages to junk and then, at last, he spotted it.
An email from Olivia Jackson herself.
A wave of joy erupted from within, extinguishing the heaviness in his chest. Without hesitation, he clicked on the message and began to read, trying as hard as he could to ignore the voice in his head screaming at him to stop.
‘Wow, it must be somebody special.’ Kushal snorted,making Jacob jump in his seat. ‘Your face is practically touching the screen.’
‘Jesus! When did you sneak in?’ Jacob shifted an inch back, suddenly conscious of how much he had crept forward in his seat.
‘You were probably too engrossed in your message to notice.’
‘My eyesight is bad, what can I say? Another perk of getting older.’
Kushal clicked his tongue and went back to munching on his chocolate bar.
‘So, who is it from?’
‘Just a friend.’
