After that train left, Jean was miserable all the time. His heart ached when he saw the college and remembered their fateful encounter. When he went to the synagogue, all he could think of was the winter holiday they had spent together. The battered and broken copy of the Arabian nights sat in his trunk untouched because he felt that his coeur would brise if he even dared to look at it too long. He bounced from one relative to the next, willing the summer to pass quicker so that he could be busy once again, and maybe, just maybe, the hurt would wane.
On the other side of the Mediterranean, Julien fared no better. He felt lost in the sea of life without Jean. He was a drowning man, and Jean had been the buoy that was cruelly wrenched from him. Once he was off the train, he met some rad allies in the form of the rest of the mission. The head honcho there was another man by the name of Pere John. He looked uncannily like Pere Jean. Julien seemed to have an uncanny knack for encountering men resembling Pere Jean. And it sucked, because every time he thought about Pere Jean, he thought about his love, Jean, who he was never to see again.
They wrote long and heartfelt messages to each other, but it wasn't the same. Every night, Julien had nightmares of Jean meeting a nice girl at university and forgetting about him. He still held onto the hope that they would end up together somehow, but maybe, it was too late.
Oops, I did it again
"Jean, there must be a mistake in your documentation."
Jean was perplexed. "No, that isn't possible. I did everything right!"
"But we don't have any space for you on our Paris campus. No rooms, no space in lectures, nothing! You're going to have to defer!"
"How could this have happened? I did everything right!" Jean protested as the dean led him out of the office.
"I'm sorry, Jean, but there's nothing I can do. Even if this were a mistake on our end, and it is highly unlikely that it was."
"Please sir, any way at all?"
The dean paused to think. "Well there is one other option. Come back in and let's discuss this." They both sat back down.
"How do you feel about our campus in the Congo? It's a very excellent centre and it's located on the outskirts of Kinshasa."
There were butterflies in Jean's stomach. "Is it located next to the Carmelite mission, by any chance?"
'Why yes, the missionaries actually occupy the other half of the university building."
"Yes!"
"Excuse me?"
"Yes, I'll go to the Congo!"
"Excellent. I'll get you the paperwork."
"When can I depart?"
"If you finish the paperwork tonight, then you'll be on the train by tomorrow morning."