Chapter twelve: The Gap Days

I have heard of the gap year… The students take it after matric, travel Europe, have sex a lot and sleep all day. Sometimes they manage to throw in the prospect of planning and deciding on their futures, whether to keep with the stress of the books at university or rather join the 'exciting' world of adulthood.

BELLA: How long will you be gone?

JACOB: 5 days… could be less if Patrick doesn't approve my leave.

BELLA: You haven't applied for it yet.

JACOB: No and he isn't so thrilled with my performance the past couple months and unless Jennifer steps in and saves my numbers then I don't think there's a chance he'll let me Jennifer is Therese's secretary, why would she…

BELLA: … be helping you with your reports?

JACOB: Did you know she has some qualifications in commerce. I didn't know until she said she could be of great help to me.

BELLA: She just volunteered.

That's strange!

JACOB: Strange isn't it.

You don't say!

JACOB: I think she might actually have a thing for me.

So he's taking advantage of her.

BELLA: How did you figure that?

JACOB: Call it a guy's intuition.

What?

JACOB: We will see! But I hope he gives this to me, I really am looking forward to seeing Monica again. Besides, I haven't taken leave in over a year.

…Perhaps the most attractive quality about the gap year is that it is purely by choice. It's up to you whether this is the direction you favor your life to take. Then there's the concept of gap days. Or should I say the very new concept of gap days. Not as prominent as his aforementioned brother but nevertheless gaining momentum.

I am the advocate of the gap days. Starting today I will represent the concept, speak for all it stands for, act out all that it commands, be the start and the end all, profess its beginning and live for its ending. Nothing is more important than fulfilling what has now become my quest. It may not be my choice but I am not going to see Jacob for five days. He's gone to Cape Town. I know that brings us to another interesting prospect, the "he doesn't like me" prospect. This is the concept that so clearly states that if he is comfortable disappearing that long without considering me then I shouldn't be stressing myself about it either.

But you see I have to tell you about the "teaspoon story" and then I am sure you will come to hold on too.

How does the teaspoon story go you ask? Yesterday (not today because that would be day one of the gap days) after hours of praying, wishing, waiting, anticipating if he was gonna talk to me he did something that made believe that he likes this friendship too. It was late afternoon, I have practically given up any idea that something might happen when I see him coming downstairs. You cannot imagine the surprise when I see him especially when I realize that he is coming towards me. These things never happen but there he is coming towards me. He signals to me, he has to I'm on the phone. He wants the teaspoon. It's sort of kinda his… he lend it to me once and I never gave it back, he said I could keep it. Pardon me for my excitement (as later it would prove comical) but I've got good reason to be.