|
Audio version of Jacklyn Taylor Stories
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
A sunny day enveloped the cottage in Rochford with a soft light. Jack sat on the veranda with a cup of coffee, listening to the sounds of nature that usually brought him peace. But today, he felt a slight unease. Derek, who was usually nearby, was in his room talking on the phone. There was something unusual in Derek’s voice—a mix of joy and subtle tension.
Jack couldn’t help but notice how Derek had been pulling away more and more in recent weeks. Though they shared moments of happiness in this little secluded corner, something had started to shift in their routine. This phone call only heightened the feeling that something important had been left unsaid.
When Derek stepped out onto the veranda, he looked serious but tried to maintain his calm.
“Jack, I just got a call from Craig. Remember I mentioned him?” Derek began, sitting down opposite Jack.
Jack nodded, though Craig’s name stirred only vague memories.
“Yeah, I think you said he was your old friend from London.”
“Right. We haven’t seen each other in a while. He works in parliament, handling political reforms. He invited me to come to London. He has some matters he wants me to get involved in. It’ll take about two weeks.”
Jack felt a slight tension in his chest. Two weeks apart seemed unexpected, given that Derek rarely left the cottage throughout their relationship.
“Two weeks? That’s serious?” Jack tried to sound calm, though inside, everything was churning.
“Jack, I understand that it’s not the best timing. But Craig is important to me. He was there for me during tough times when I was just starting out. We haven’t caught up in a while, and I need to take this opportunity.”
Jack understood that resistance was futile. Derek had already made up his mind. He simply nodded, trying not to show the doubts filling his thoughts.
The morning sun softly illuminated the veranda of the cottage in Rochford. Derek sat at the wooden table with a cup of herbal tea, silently gazing at the garden where the birds were busily searching for food. Jack, in contrast, leisurely sipped his coffee, observing Derek’s expression. Lately, he had noticed how his partner had been retreating into himself more often, as if something was troubling him.
“You’re quiet today,” Jack noted, trying to start a conversation.
“Just a lot on my mind,” Derek replied, continuing to look out the window.
Silence hung between them. Jack felt a slight unease but decided not to push. He knew Derek would always share what was bothering him when he was ready.
In the afternoon, while they were both busy with their own tasks, the phone rang. Derek picked up the receiver, and the voice on the other end made him smile.
“Craig?” he asked softly, stepping aside so Jack wouldn’t overhear their conversation.
It was the long-awaited call. Craig, his old friend and former partner, seemed to bring a mix of joy and slight excitement into his voice. The conversation lasted about ten minutes. After hanging up, Derek approached Jack, who was fixing an old table on the veranda.
“I need to go to London for a couple of weeks,” he said calmly.
Jack put down his tools and looked at Derek, waiting for an explanation.
“Craig asked for my help. He has a few projects, and he’d like me to get involved.”
Jack felt a slight chill in his chest but did everything he could to hide it.
“Is this important to you?” he asked.
“Yes. He did a lot for me in the past. It’s a good chance to catch up,” Derek replied, avoiding direct eye contact.
Jack just nodded, understanding that the decision had already been made.
In London, Craig greeted Derek with open arms. Their meeting took place in the city center, on a street where cars honked and passersby hurried about their business. Craig looked a bit more tired than Derek remembered, but his smile was the same—warm and sincere.
“I can’t believe you’re here,” Craig said, hugging him. “A year without you felt like an eternity.”
“I’m happy to be here,” Derek replied, feeling his heart fill with nostalgia.
Their first evening was spent in Craig’s cozy apartment. They sat on a soft couch, reminiscing and laughing over old stories.
“Do you remember that time we got stuck at the border?” Craig asked, unable to hold back laughter.
“How could I forget? You managed to talk the guards into letting us through just by mentioning that we were going to see the minister,” Derek replied, laughing along with him.
Their conversations easily shifted from jokes to more serious topics. At some point, Craig quietly said,
“You know, I missed us, the way we used to be.”
Derek fell silent, feeling how those words resonated with his thoughts. Their past, though it had ended on a dark note, had always remained a part of him. That night, their bond was reignited.
While Derek was in London, Jack threw himself into work. The days at the restaurant passed in constant busyness: he checked deliveries, assigned tasks to the staff, and kept an eye on the finances. But despite his workload, his thoughts kept returning to Derek.
He tried not to pay too much attention to the short messages he received once a day: “All good,” “Today was a busy day,” “Craig sends his regards.” However, his inner voice told him that something had changed between them.
One evening, when the restaurant had already closed, Jack noticed that one of the new employees, Tom, was talking to strangers near the back entrance too often. Suspicion began to creep into his mind.
“Tom, can you explain to me what you’re doing here?” Jack asked, catching him by the trash bins.
“Oh, I just took a break,” Tom replied, trying to avoid direct eye contact.
Jack didn’t press the issue but mentally noted that there was something more behind it.
A few days later, Jack received a notification on his phone: “System breach attempt.” His heart raced. It seemed to have Micky’s style. Jack quickly closed the vulnerable ports and reinforced the security.
He realized that getting distracted by personal concerns could cost him dearly, so he decided to focus on his work.
In London, between meetings and reminiscing, Derek and Craig were strengthening their bond. One evening, after a busy day at Parliament, Craig suggested they take a walk along the Thames. Their conversations became more personal, deep, and touching.
“I remember how you always knew how to see the best in any situation,” Craig said, looking at the lit-up bridge in the distance. “That was your talent, Derek. You inspired me.”
“And you were always the one who pushed me to act,” Derek replied, feeling his voice tremble slightly. “I don’t know if I would have made it without you all those years.”
Their eyes met, and in that moment, Craig decided to ask the question that had been on his mind for a long time.
“Are you happy there, in Rochford?”
Derek paused. He loved those quiet evenings with Jack, their conversations, the coziness of the cottage. But something inside him prevented him from giving a complete answer.
“I found peace there,” he finally said. “But sometimes I feel like I’m living in a pause between actions.”
Those words seemed to say it all. They both knew that Craig and Derek’s past was something more than just memories.
Meanwhile, in Rochford, Jack was noticing more and more oddities in Tom’s behavior. Another meeting near the back entrance of the restaurant made him take more decisive action.
“Tom, are you here again?” Jack asked firmly.
Tom tried to mumble something, but this time Jack insisted on a conversation.
“You’ve been working here for less than a month, and I’ve already noticed twice that you’ve been talking to someone at the entrance. Who was it?”
“No one,” Tom avoided eye contact. “Just a friend.”
Jack felt that the truth was close. He decided to contact Carl to discuss his suspicions.
“Carl, I think someone at the restaurant is here for more than just working,” Jack said over the phone. “Can you help me check out one person?”
Carl agreed, and their conversation quickly turned to new information about Micky. Jack knew that work was his only way to distract himself from his thoughts about Derek.
On the sixth day in London, Craig invited Derek to an evening at a small bar where they used to frequent in the past. The atmosphere was warm, the music evoked old times, and the conversation turned into personal memories.
“Have you ever thought about coming back?” Craig suddenly asked.
“Coming back?” Derek thought for a moment. “You mean to London?”
“Yes. We’ve always been a good team, Derek. Together, we could do so much.”
These words left a mark on Derek’s soul. He couldn’t ignore what he felt while being next to Craig. Their conversation continued, and by the end of the evening, Derek knew he couldn’t leave London without considering these words.
Two weeks later, Derek returned to Rochford. On the outside, everything seemed unchanged. He hugged Jack on the doorstep of the cottage, brought a small gift, and spent the whole evening talking about London. But Jack noticed something new in him — a hint of distance that he couldn’t explain.
Late in the evening, sitting on the porch, Derek finally decided to speak.
“Jack, I need to talk to you.”
Jack, who had been focused on his laptop until then, looked up.
“Of course. What happened?”
Derek sighed, gathering his thoughts.
“I want to be honest with you. While I was in London, I met with Craig. We spent a lot of time together, and… something happened between us again.”
Those words seemed to freeze everything around. Jack looked at Derek, but his face remained calm.
“You mean you were with him?” Jack clarified, despite the obvious answer.
“Yes,” Derek replied quietly.
Jack slowly exhaled. Inside, everything was boiling, but he knew there was no point in making a scene. Everything was clear.
“Thank you for telling me,” he finally said. “But what are you planning to do next?”
Derek fell silent, as if he hadn’t expected such a question.
“I don’t know,” he answered honestly. “I just wanted you to know.”
The night in Rochford grew even quieter after the candid conversation. Derek sat in his room, gazing out the window at the darkening forest, as if searching for answers to the questions swirling in his mind. He felt relief from having told Jack the truth, but at the same time, he realized he had taken the first step in destroying what he and Jack had built.
Jack, on the other hand, stayed on the porch. The sound of crickets and the light rustling of the leaves in the night air only heightened his internal tension. He held a mug of now-cold coffee, thinking about how things could have turned out differently. Thoughts raced through his mind: “Why didn’t I notice this earlier? What could I have done to prevent it? Or was it all inevitable?”
At some point, he realized that the question “why” no longer mattered. The important thing was what to do next. Jack closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He knew that he couldn’t make a decision in this state and decided to give himself time to think it through. “This is just the beginning of the end,” he thought. “But I can still control how it ends.”
The next day, Jack and Derek avoided talking about what had happened. They acted as usual: having breakfast on the porch, discussing small things as if nothing had occurred. But every word felt distant, and the pauses between sentences grew longer.
Jack threw himself into work. At the restaurant, he reviewed reports, helped the staff, doing everything to distract himself. But every time he found himself alone, his thoughts returned to the conversation with Derek. He recalled their first meetings, moments of happiness and calm, and felt how an invisible wall was growing between them.
Derek spent the day trying to stay close, but understanding that he could no longer restore the closeness that had been between them before. He felt he had made the right step by telling the truth, but now he didn’t know how to deal with the consequences. His thoughts often returned to London, to Craig, to the time they had spent together. And though he didn’t want to admit it even to himself, his heart was torn between two people.
As evening fell again in Rochford, Derek approached Jack, who was sitting in the same spot on the porch as the night before.
“Jack,” he began quietly. “Thank you for listening to me. I know this wasn’t easy for you.”
Jack looked at him, his eyes no longer filled with anger, only fatigue.
“Derek,” he replied. “Right now, I don’t know what to say. But one thing I know for sure: I won’t hold you back if you decide to leave.”
These words hung in the air. Derek realized that their relationship had reached a point where only time could provide answers. But Jack already knew—they were standing on the threshold of inevitable changes that would alter their lives forever.
