The next few days were a great change of pace – at least for Jacob. It was nice to be out of the city, away from work, and in a space where he could just relax. Of course he missed Maria, but she messaged him frequently and he knew that he’d be back in Melbourne before too long.
He couldn’t deny that the past six weeks with her had been great, but the two of them spent quite a lot of time together; so going away for half a week wasn’t that big of a deal. It was even a bit of a breath of fresh air. Plus, he’d had a lot less time to spend with his friends now that he was seeing her – and he was looking forward to spending some time with his friends.
His mum, however, wanted to know everything about his new relationship. How it happened, if he was serious, when Maria was coming over for the weekend – and of course, the most awkward question – when she was getting grandchildren. Of course Jacob didn’t answer the last question, and although he skimmed over a lot of details, for once, he tried to be honest with his mother about his love life. His sister was undoubtedly much more immature than he was, but she definitely had some wisdom to share with Jacob.
The next three days passed a little too fast for Jacob. But before he knew it, it was Friday evening, and he was on the phone to Thomas about what time they were due to get into Bendigo. It turned out that Daniel had managed to get out of work much earlier than expected, and so they were hoping to arrive sooner than they’d thought. That was, in Thomas’ words ‘if Alex and Daniel didn’t gorge themselves on KFC until they passed out.’
A few hours later, while the sun was still out and the light was shining, Thomas’ car was pulling up into the driveway.
Jess was still at uni, she’d already said goodbye Jacob, but Tessie was home, and she insisted that Jacob invite his friends in.
Thomas rolled down the window as Jacob walked along the driveway to meet them. Jacob peered into the car which had been littered with empty cans of soft drink, chip packets and KFC boxes full of chicken bones. Thomas wore sunglasses and his blonde hair looked frazzled by the wind.
‘Mum wants to know if you want to come in for tea and biscuits.’
Thomas cut the engine.
‘We could do tea and biscuits, right boys?’ Thomas turned around to Daniel and Alex.
‘If it means that I get to meet Jacob’s sister, then I’m in,’ Alex said.
Jacob narrowed his eyebrows, but Thomas and Daniel just laughed as they opened the car doors and slid out of their seats, stretching their legs and walking up to the front door at the same time.
‘Hello Mrs. Azzopardi,’ Thomas greeted Jacob’s mother politely, which was extremely odd and out of character for Thomas.
‘You can call her Tessie,’ Jacob said.
Tessie smiled and welcomed them.
‘Come in! Oh, good to see you again Thomas. And it’s been a while, hasn’t it Daniel,’ Tessie smiled embracing him in a gentle hug, and then moving over to greet Thomas in the same way.
‘This is Alex.’
‘Nice to meet you Mrs Azzopardi.’
‘Nice to meet you too!’
Alex held out his hand for her to shake, but Tessie pushed it away and pulled him into the same embrace as she’d given to Thomas and Daniel. Her usual greeting.
‘I told you to call her Tessie.’
‘So, this is where you grew up Jacob?’ Thomas said peering around the hallway.
Thomas had met Tessie on multiple occasions – but he’d never actually been to Jacob’s house in Bendigo before. Daniel on the other hand, had gone on many road trips down to Bendigo with Jacob during their uni days; so Daniel was all too familiar with their home, and their family.
‘Hey look, it’s little Jacob,’ Alex said peering at a small photo on the mantlepiece at the entrance. The two other boys along with Tessie joined in, crowding around the picture.
‘Yep, that was Jacob’s first day of High School,’ Tessie said, ‘He was so small. If you want the baby photos, I could probably find them somewhere.’
‘No mum! We don’t want the baby photos.’
‘I’d like to see the baby photos, Mrs Azzopardi,’ Alex piped in.
‘You can call her Tessie!’
Tessie gave Jacob a half grin. She didn’t mean to embarrass him, but Jacob was easily embarrassed.
‘I think it’s nice that your friends are being polite,’ Tessie said, ‘honestly, call me what you like. I’m not too bothered about it.’
In the end Tessie did find the baby photos. Tessie passed them around while the five of them were drinking tea and eating Tessie’s homemade figolli (normally these biscuits are an easter treat, but Tessie still had some left over in the freezer). Jacob was extremely thankful that they weren’t able to stay for too long – because they had to hit the road and get a start towards Adelaide.
If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.
Soon the four of them were speeding down the highway with their feet up and the wind in their faces. Thomas and Jacob took turns driving. Jacob usually drove ten kilometres under the speed limit, while Thomas usually drove ten kilometres over – so in the end everything kind of just evened out.
Time passed with little and lots of conversation. They spent the hours with the speaker turned up, singing along to Red Hot Chilli Peppers, or on a lower volume, relaxing to Ed Sheeran, and of course, a road trip wouldn’t be a road trip without laughter and banter.
The scenery around them changed from suburban houses, to fields, and denser parts with lots of gum trees. They passed service stations, rest stops and plenty of places to eat. As the sun began to slower, the horizon turned a deep red-orange and then purple, and it continued to lower until the sky was dark and the scenery around them became obscured and all they could see were the headlights of the cars on the opposite lane driving towards them.
They arrived at their Airbnb at twelve-thirty. Not too late, and with plenty of time to crack open some beers and put on a movie. The place was small, with three bedrooms, a modern bathroom, and a cosy little kitchen that connected to the living room.
It was one in the morning by the time they unpacked everything and had settled in. Thomas managed to connect his phone to the TV through the WIFI. There was a little bit of haggling about the movie, but in the end they settled on Rush Hour.
It was a good night. And a good weekend too. They slept in on the Saturday, visited Daniel’s grandmother who made them all delicious home-made ravioli and gelato for desert, and then they began their bar crawl through the city at five in the afternoon. It didn’t end until three the next morning. By then Thomas, Daniel and Alex could barely stand upright.
‘Get in the car,’ Jacob said holding the door open for Daniel.
‘You get in the car!’ Daniel retorted with a large giddy smile plastered over his red face.
‘You get in the car,’ Alex pointed at Thomas.
‘No you!’ Thomas yelled at Daniel.
‘You do it first!’ Daniel said.
Jacob huffed and lent back against the bonnet with his phone in his hand wondering when the boys were going to be done mucking around. Probably never.
‘Why is that bird staring at me?’ Thomas said looking over past Daniel.
‘What bird? Where?’ Daniel turned around scanning the dark shadows of the street.
‘Get out of here you stupid bird! And stop staring at my friends,’ Alex said as he began running up and down the streets chasing off the one small bird that had been picking innocently at some crumbs on the pavement. Thomas joined him, running in circles, waving his hands about, until he tripped and fell down. Jacob didn’t even see it happen. Instead he was looking at his phone screen. When his friends were ready to behave, he’d take them home; but until then – he continued writing out his message to Maria. For some reason she was also still awake at two o clock in the morning.
Jacob: Just waiting for these guys to get in the car, and then we’ll head off home. But the state they’re in, that might not happen for another few hours.
Maria: A shame you couldn’t join them. I’m sure you’d be acting stupider than them.
Jacob: I am only ever mature when I drink! :P Besides, you’re not really one to talk, are you?
Maria: Haha! I have my –
Jacob felt someone take him by the shoulders and begin shaking him. Jacob looked up with a start. It was Thomes.
‘COMMON JACOB! LET’S GOOOO!’
Jacob slipped out from Thomas’ grasp, opened the passenger door, and gestured for Thomas to get in. Thomas jumped into the seat and slammed the door shut. Then began climbing through the window until half his body was hanging out.
‘BOYS!’ he screamed, ‘BOYS, JACOB’S TAKING US TO MACCAS!’
‘I am not taking you to Maccas,’ Jacob said.
‘JACOB’S TAKING US TO MACCAS! LET’S GO.’
Alex and Daniel began sprinting towards the car, Daneil opened the door and Alex dived onto the back seat. Daniel scrambled in after.
‘MACCAS, MACCAS, MACCAS,’ the three boys chanted in unison.
‘Fine, I’ll take you to Maccas, but Thomas is paying and then we’re going straight back to the AirBnB.’
‘No Alex is paying!’ Thomas said.
‘No Daniel.’
‘No Thomas.’
Jacob shook his head as he started the car. He supposed he’d be paying.
In the end Thomas paid. Thomas gave Jacob his bank card and told them all to order whatever they wanted. The next day the three boys were hung over, and barely even able to roll out of bed. Jacob, however, was full of energy. He got back from his midday run before the three boys were even out of bed.
All in all, it was a great weekend. Thomas, Alex, and Daniel were more or less recovered by the time they had packed up and began the nine-hour drive back to Melbourne. Jacob took the first shift. As he drove along the highway adjacent to the setting sun, with his best friends slouched on the seats around him, and the music playing loud, but not too loud to be disturbing, he began to reflect on his life. He had a decent job, good friends, family that cared for him and a beautiful girlfriend. By all means, his life should have felt perfect. It should have felt complete. But Jacob still couldn’t help the feeling that something was lacking, that there was something missing. He tried his best to push that feeling away. He tried very, very hard.
***
Jacob pressed the button on the lift frantically.
‘Crap, crap, crap.’
The four of them hadn’t arrived home on Sunday until quite late. So of course Jacob had hit the snooze button on his alarm one too many times the next morning, and now he was late for work. The lift wasn’t coming down quick enough.
Jacob abandoned the lift and began running up the stairs, taking them two at a time. A decision he regretted after he’d gotten four floors up and realised that the lift probably would have come and gone in that time. If he’d not been in shape, he probably wouldn’t have made it. When he finally got to his floor, and opened the door to the office floor, he saw that there was a few people loitered around – but he suddenly realised that nobody on his team were at their desks at all.
‘Monday. Monday. Crap. Monday briefing.’
Jacob threw his bag on his desk, bolted out the door and down a corridor. He rounded a corner and stopped at a large door, with two glass squares that were covered with blinds. Jacob looked down at his watch. He was only fifteen minutes late. Gently, he turned the handle and pushed the door open. It didn’t make his entrance any more subtle.
The room was small, with a table in the middle, a large glass window along one side that overlooked the city, and a TV plastered upon the wall at the far end. Martha stood in front of the TV. It was obvious that she’d been in the middle of addressing the team, but the TV was still turned off, so she clearly hadn’t gotten very far. Jacob looked around at everyone who sat at the table - their heads slowly turning toward him. It was the usual crowd, all the normal people he worked with every day. Well most of them worked with him every day. There was someone he didn’t recognise. Someone who was still staring fixedly at Martha in front of the TV. A girl. Clearly young, with blazing red hair, a slender body and glasses. But Jacob could only see the back of her head. So that was all he could make out.
‘Jacob, take a seat,’ said Martha, ‘you haven’t missed much. I was just introducing our new team member, Penellope.’
‘Please, call me Pip,’ said the girl as she slowly turned around to look at Jacob.
Their eyes met and Jacob’s heart skipped a beat.