Chapter 1
Then a beach appears. It’s night, its desert, the waves are big and it’s cold. Then we move closer and see a girl walking with her shoes on her hand. She looks to be crying and desperate. The camera goes closer to her and we see she’s young, in her early twenties, light brown hair, curly and long, her eyes are light brown too. She is wearing jeans and a white top. She looks cold but she doesn’t matter about that. She keeps walking slowly to the water. Then she starts feeling the cold water on her feet but she keeps going to the water. She lets her shoes on the sand, takes off her watch and then her top.
On the other side there’s a boy coming. He’s young too, probably has her age. He is wearing jeans and a big and warm coat. He’s smoking a cigarette and thinking about life when he sees her. At first he stares there trying to understand what she’s doing, but when he sees her entering the water he gets worried.
JACK
(Dropping his cigarette)
Oh shit!
He runs to the water and takes his coat off. Then he starts swimming after her. He can’t find her so he dives to see if she’s drowning. He finds her and brings her back to shore. She is trembling and can barely speak. Jack lays her on the sand, covers her with his coat and tries to reanimate her.
JACK
(worried)
Can you hear me? Please say something.
He keeps covering her and putting her warm. A few minutes later she spits some water and opens her eyes. The first thing she sees is his eyes.
“Who are you?” she asks barely audible
“It doesn’t matter now…I have to take you to the hospital…” Jack said holding her hand
“No…” she says like if she had recovered all her strength back
He stares back looking at her.
“You drunk too much water…we better go…” he insisted
“No!” she almost yelled
“You must be freezing…” he said
“I’m fine…I’ll be fine…” she said trying not to tremble
“A warm coffee would be nice for you now…” he said hiding a smile
She looked shy at him.
“I have my car near here…I can take you home…” he continued
“Thank you…” she said smiling
Jack helped her to rise up and leaded her to his car. When they arrived there he opened the door for her.
“Thank you…” she said entering the car
“You’re welcome…” he said closing the door
Jack entered the car too and closed his door. He turned the car on.
“I’ll take you home…where do you live?” he asked
“No…take me anywhere else but home…that’s the last place I want to go now…” she said in tears
Jack started driving around the city. Then he stopped in a 24 hour open café and exited the car leaving her alone. A few minutes later he was back with 2 coffees and 2 sandwiches.
“I hope you like cheese and ham sandwiches…” he said giving her one sandwich
“I love it…thanks…” she said smiling and accepting it
“Where do we go now?” he asked
“I don’t know…anywhere but here…wherever you want to…” she said
Jack turned the car on and drove to a far away place. It was a high place where they could see the whole city. He stopped the car on the road and exited first and then opened the door for her to exit. There was a stone table and a 2 stone chairs. They took the food there and sit down to eat. She opened her coffee and took a bite on her sandwich. He did the same.
“I’m Rose by the way…” she said after some minutes of complete silence
“Jack…” he said smiling to her
She smiled too.
“Nice to meet you…” she said shaking his hand “I know what you must be thinking…crazy little girl…” she continued
“No…it was not what I was thinking…what I was thinking was what could have happened to this girl to make her think she had no way out…” he said seriously
“Well…it was everything…my whole world and all people in it…I feel like I’m plunging ahead and powerless to stop it…I try to be a good person…really…I do what I have to…I work 3 jobs…I pay my bills…I am a good mother…but it isn’t still good enough…” she said
“I am sorry…really…if there’s anything I could do…” he said
“No one can save me…only myself…”
“So…marriage problems?” he asked
“No…I am not married…”
“Oh…boyfriend then…”
“No…I don’t have a boyfriend…”
“But you said you’re a mother so…” he started confused
“I have a daughter…a 6 year old little girl…Mia…”
“I’m sorry if I said anything I shouldn’t…”
“No that’s fine…I have a daughter and I’m not married…most of people just don’t understand that…”
“What happened to her father?” he asked
“He left me when he found out I was pregnant…I was 15 years old…and he was 20…that was the last time I saw him…after all these years…not even a call or something like that…he doesn’t even know if he has a son or a daughter…he never wanted to know…”
“Have you talked to her about him?”
“No…she never asked me about him…”
“But one day she will…”
“I know…and I will tell her the truth…”
“You would be leaving her alone in the world?”
“I didn’t wanted to do it…but maybe it would be better for her…to have a good mother and a father…a family to take care of her…better than I do…I live alone since I got pregnant…my parents didn’t accepted it and wanted me to make an abortion but I refused so…they expulsed me from home…”
“That’s crazy…how did you make it?”
“I stayed in a friend’s house during the pregnancy and then when Mia was born I started working and I rented an apartment…I divide it with a friend because I can’t pay it alone…I left school because I couldn’t be studying and working and taking care of a baby at the same time…”
“It must have been hard…”
“It was but…I don’t have regrets for what I’ve done…I have my daughter and she’s the best thing I have in the world…her smile every morning is the strength I need to stand another day…she’s like an angel that came to rescue me…I’ve grown a lot after having her…”
“It’s unbelievable…but I admire you for what you’ve done…most of the girls would have done the abortion…”
“That’s why I didn’t do it…and now I can’t think of my life without her…”
“And I thought I had problems…”
“I am so sorry…I’ve been here talking about me and I didn’t give you a chance to say something…”
“It’s okay…I don’t have much to say…only that I’m happy I had that fight because it leaded me to that beach…and to you…”
“Love problems…”
“Yes…I just had a fight with my girlfriend…she’s…she thinks she’s the centre of the universe and that everything rounds around her…even though I love her…I can’t stand it anymore…”
“You gotta be patient…life isn’t always that easy…”
“She’s so different from you…she only thinks how much weight she wants to loose or which dress she’s going to buy next time…she just don’t understand that the most important thing is what we truly are inside…I don’t care if she’s fat or tinny…if she’s pretty or not pretty…I love her for what she is not for who she is…”
“She must be a lucky girl…but if you really love her you can try to understand her…but you’ll never change who she is…you know…when I was younger I wanted to look beautiful…have the best clothes I could…have all boys running after me…until the day my life changed…I met Mia’s father and I thought I had found the man of my life…I stopped studying…doing crazy things I’m not proud of…I left my friends…all for him…and when he left me I was alone…with nobody to count on…if it wasn’t for my friend…a person I never cared about until that day…when she helped me…I never wanted to be her friend because of her look but then I realized that our aspect isn’t nothing…our heart is the most important thing…”
“What are you trying to say?”
“I’m just saying that you can help your girlfriend to be a better person but you can’t change who she truly is…but never…never…leave the things you like and the people you love for her…”
“You talk wisely…”
“I’ve learned the hard way…and that’s why I don’t want other people to pass through the same I did…”
Rose looked at her watch.
“It’s getting late…I better go home…” she said
“I’ll take you home…” Jack said
“No…thanks…you’ve helped me a lot today…I’ll catch a taxi…” she said rising up
“No, no…I’ll take you home…to finish my good actions for today…” he said smiling
“Are you sure?”
“Yes…I’ll take you…let’s go…” he said leading her to the car
Jack opened the door for her and then closed it. Then he went to his place.
They arrived Rose’s house. She lived in a small apartment with her daughter Mia and her friend Linda. Jack stopped the car right in front of the building. Rose took off her seatbelt and grabbed her purse.
“Thank you for bringing me home…” she said smiling to Jack
“You’re welcome…anytime you need…” he said smiling back
“Do you wanna come in? I can offer you a hot coffee…at least to thank you for what you did…” she asked nervous
“I would love to but…my girlfriend is back at home…I must go and see if she’s ok…” he said
“I see…maybe another time…” she said a bit disappointed
“Here…take my number…and call me whenever you need a friend…” he said writing a number in a small paper
“I will…” she said accepting the paper
She opened the door and exited the car.
“Thank you once again…good night…” she said and closed the door
Jack opened the mirror from his side.
“Good night…take care…” he said
Rose searched for her keys and then opened the door and entered the building. Jack turned the car on and drove home. Rose entered home slowly and carefully without making noise. She left her purse and her coat on the sofa and then went to her room to see Mia. She was sleeping deeply, holding her favourite doll. Rose kissed her on the forehead and then went to the bathroom to take a shower.
Meanwhile Jack arrived home. He lived in an apartment too, but a large one, with his girlfriend Alicia. He left his car on the garage and then took the elevator to his floor, the last one. When the elevator opened he was inside the apartment. He drop his keys on a small table and went to the room. Alicia was sleeping. He took off his clothes and went to the private bathroom of the room to take a shower, but Alicia heard him entering.
“Jack?....It’s you?” Alicia asked sleepy
He came back from the bathroom to the room with a towel around his waist
“Yes it’s me baby…” he said
“What time is it?” she asked turning the lights one and searching for a clock
“It’s late…” he said sitting down on the bed next to her
“Are you still mad with me?” she asked sitting too
“No…it’s okay…” he said kissing her forehead
“I love you…” Alicia said
“Love you too…” he said kissing her
While that Rose had finished her shower. She dressed her pyjama and dried her hair. Then she went to her bed with Mia. The apartment was so small with only two rooms, one for Linda and one for Rose and Mia. Rose look at the clock and it was marking 5:30 am.
Jack finished his shower and went to the bed with Alicia. He embraced her and they both fell asleep. Rose embraced Mia and they fell asleep too.