My operation has had to skip several stages to arrive at its intended conclusion way ahead of schedule. The initial time estimates were to take me at least three months to sort out my issues and then pull a vanishing act from Jojo’s house. I needed to first raise the money to at least buy me some decent furniture, and some basic things to use in the house. Then, make a down payment on rent, for a nice house. And this process was going quite smoothly, with me having got a salary bonus at work, and Jojo having no clue at all as to what I was up to. As part of my safe exit strategy, I had planned not to make any new friends, lest I put them in Jojo’s line of fire.

But then, three days ago, the whole process got short circuited. I met the most fantastic, unbelievably beautiful girl in the whole world. Not even Jojo could scare me away from her. I must say, it is very selfish of me, knowing what Jojo will do to her if she finds out about her. But, I can’t simply let this girl go. This is the kind of girl men spend entire lives searching for. I found her, and I am not going to let her go. Not willingly at least.

So, there are two options open to me; one, I go on with my three-months long plan, but continue seeing Samantha (that’s her name). Or I cut short the plan, get out of Jojo’s house and I can see Samantha openly. I opted for the second option. And it wasn’t really my choice, because when my phone rang, Jojo was nearer to it. She got it, saw who was calling and passed it to me. It was Samantha, but I had saved her name as Sam, to make any trespasser into my phone think it was a man’s number. But, Jojo is a very intelligent girl. Even though I tried to pretend I was talking to a man, she must have figured out. She looked at me strangely, and then asked me what Sam wanted. I cooked up a lie, but she clearly didn’t buy it. That’s when I knew I had to quicken my plans, because people like Samantha don’t come around everyday, and I doubted I would ever get such a chance again. So, next weekend, if all goes well, I am bailing out of Jojo’s apartment.

But in the meantime, Samantha has me totally blinded. I met her when I went to collect some invoices from a certain company that gives our company service. And when I saw her, I knew that I was lost for real! There, right before me stood a girl, the perfect shape, perfect in every physical sense, that it was actually quite hard not to believe that she wasn’t an illusion. I thought I was imagining her, but then, she turned and smiled the sweetest smile ever. And she asked me, "can I help you?” Oh yes, I wanted real help, I was having a problem breathing! I managed to tell her, "I am uh..., sorry, but can you please direct me to the finances office?” And she said, "My name’s Samantha, please follow me”. And I didn’t know what to say to this girl, so I followed her, numb.

The very next day, I was back at her company offices, pretending I had forgotten a certain document. And she looked as pretty as I remembered her, if not even prettier!! But after five minutes, when I hadn’t even asked her about the document, she asked me, "Shem, did you really come for the document?” and I laughed, and admitted I hadn’t. So, I asked her what time she leaves work and if she would mind if we went for coffee. She was ok with the idea. I couldn’t wait for the day to end. That evening was the best I remembered in such a long time. In addition to being pretty, she was intelligent, had a great sense of humor, and she made it obvious that if I was to get anywhere with her, I would have to work for it. Well, I don’t mind working for it, because I am sure it will be more than worth it.  But first, I need to sort out this issue of Jojo!

Ends