"Im not going home." Jess said to Sam after listening to her conversation on the phone.
"You have to Jess."
"I don't want to go back to her." Jess said. "I want my dad!"
"I know you do!" Sam said. "But running off won't help. You will see your dad again."
"No I won't!" Jess said. "Not when i'm stuck here with the cheating cow I call my 'mother'."
"Stop it!" Sam said. "She made a mistake."
"And my dad left. I might never see him again because of her!" Jess shouted and couldn't hide the tears anymore. "I love him. And my mum sent him away."
"Don't you love your mum too?" Sam asked softly.
"Yes!" Jess said. "Of course I do! But she caused this mess in the first place!"
"I know she did. I don't like it either." Sam said. "But we have to let her get on with it!"
"Why don't you like it?" Jess asked confused.
"Because..." Sam showed Jess her wedding ring. "Guess who i'm married to?"
"Dylan?" Jess gasped.
"But we've been separated for years." Sam sighed.
"So my mum is helping to split up two marriages." Jess shook her head. "Great."
"No Jess, look." Sam said, and got Jess to look at her. "If your dad loves you as much as you love him, you will see him again. Trust me."
"But then why did he leave?" Jess wiped her eyes.
"He needs space." Sam said. "Get his head around things before he sorts things out."
"But I don't want him to leave." Jess sobbed. "I want us to go back to how they were before."
"I know Jess." Sam said, pulling her into a hug. "But some things happen for a reason."
"Well whats the reason for this?" Jess asked.
"Well, Zoe found love in another person." Sam said. "We can't change it now."
"I just wanted us to be happy." She cried, and Sam held her tight, fearing she would fall apart if she didn't.
"You still can be."
"No I can't! Not when my parents won't ever be together." Jess said. "I won't ever be with them again both at the same time. It will never be the same!"
"You will still see them both." Sam said. "They can't stop you."
"It still won't be the same." Jess said, but Sam didn't know what to say anymore. She let go of her, and Jess looked at Sam.
"Just promise me something." Sam said.
"What?"
"Don't do what I did."
"What did you do?" Jess asked.
"Turn to drugs." Sam said. "Its one hell of a job to be clean again."
"I, I won't." Jess said, and Sam didn't seem convinced.
"Promise me Jess."
"I promise." Jess said, wiping her eyes.
"Okay." Sam said. "Im going out for a run, alright? Will you be alright here on your own?"
"Yes." Jess said, looking around. There was a television, and that was all she needed.
Sam went for a run and came back to find Jess sleeping on the sofa. It was only six, and she hadn't had dinner.
It was obvious that Jess had been crying herself to sleep, and Sam would have to wake her soon. Sam ordered a pizza for them both to share, and the doorbell went and made Jess jump out of her slumber.
"Relax." Sam said. "I ordered pizza." Jess sat up and wiped her eyes. She couldn't believe she had fallen asleep.
They ate the pizza and then sat around for the rest of the evening. Sam told Jess that she was sleeping on the sofa, and reassured her that it was comfortable. Jess got ready for bed, washed, dressed and then went and layed down.
"If you need anything, a drink, food, whatever, then the kitchen is right there." Sam said. "Good night."
"Night." Jess said. Sam was unaware that Jess had a plan.
Jess waited for a few hours before making any movement, so she wouldn't wake Sam. Jess gathered all of her belongings before slowly making her way to the front door. The chain had been pulled across the door, and when Jess tried to move it, it screeched as the metal rubbed together. She slowly got the chain off, opened the door as quietly as she could, and stepped out into the dark night.
She shut the door, hoping Sam would be alright as she couldn't lock it from the outside and she didn't have a key.
She then ran, ran as far as she could before she was out of breath. Then she slowed her pace to a walk, which she kept up for a few hours, before becoming tired. She looked in her purse. She had been saving up for a year or so now, for something she really wanted. But now, all that was on her mind was her father.
She booked a room at the premier in for one night, even though it was already two in the morning. She would have to leave by twelve otherwise she would have to pay for an extra night, so she requested for a wake up call at 10am.
She got her pyjama's out of her bag along with her toothbrush and went into the bathroom. She brushed her teeth again, and then got into bed and fell asleep, dreming about her life and how it used to be.
The next morning she woke up to the phone ringing, and she answered it. It was 10am, so she would have to get her stuff together and leave. She checked her mobile phone, and she wasn't surprised to see tens of missed calls from her mother and her father. She wasn't going to ring them back.
She got a letter out of her bag that her fathers family had sent them, and it had their address on. She knew where she was going, so she packed up her stuff, had a shower, and left the hotel, ready to go and find her dad.
xxxxx
"Zoe! I told you she was here at eleven, I went up to bed, came down the next morning and she was gone!" Sam said, getting annoyed that she was getting the blame for Jess's disappearance. Zoe paced in Sams house trying to think of something.
"Well, she couldn't be far, she would have been tired." Zoe said, and Sam was looking at her with evils. "What?"
"I can't believe you're blaming me for her disappearing." Sam shook her head.
"Well, she was staying here, wasn't she?"
"Yes." Sam said, and Zoe waved at her. "I didn't know she was going to make a run for it!"
"Well she made a run from my house!"
"No wonder!" Sam said.
"What is that supposed to mean?" Zoe asked.
"She spoke to me last night, hated that you cheated on Nick. She wanted the family to be happy." Zoe sighed and slumped onto the sofa.
"What else did she say?" Zoe asked.
"Well, she called you a cheating cow. I was going to leave that out, but since you asked..." Sam said.
"No, about the family." Zoe said, eyes tearing up at what Sam had said.
"She didn't want Nick to leave and she wanted to be happy. That was all." Sam said. "And she called you a cheating cow."
"I heard you the first time!" Zoe said. "Do you have any idea where she could have gone?"
"Oh I don't know." Sam said sarcastically. "Maybe to go and find her father!?"
"Well done." Zoe said sarcastically. "I mean where? A specific location!"
"Well I don't know do I?" Sam asked. "You knew him best, you should know."
Zoe sighed and knew Sam and Jess was right. She was a cheating cow, and look at all the mess she had made.