As he walked up to the house, John was so nervous. Growing up in Waverville was as hard as it gets, but at this moment nothing was harder than this. Moments ago, he had just parked his beat-up Hyundai on this quiet street in Hatherton (10km away from Waverville and much fancier). With its pristine streets, boutique cafes and shops, and heritage-listed terrace houses, John felt so out of place here. He was much more used to derelict buildings and stray dogs, an all too familiar sight in Waverville. But tonight, he’d come here for something else, something far more important. He takes a deep breath and knocks on the matte black door of a beautiful terrace.

 

Jasmine waits nervously in the living room, not sure where to look. Her father Stirling Samson, a prominent real estate developer and business magnate, sits in his leather armchair by the fireplace. As if trying to avoid eye contact to buy time, Jasmine looks along the walls around her and up at the vaulted ceilings.  Magnificent pieces by Picasso, Van Gogh, and Warhol line the walls, many of them collected by her father on his travels. She then looks to her left and sees her mother, Zelda Samson who smiles at her warmly. Zelda, the picture of grace and elegance with her soft skin and flowing red hair, sits poised in her favourite three-piece Chanel suit. All the sudden there’s a knock at the door, the moment has arrived and Jasmine can’t hide the fear from her face.

***

 

John can hardly believe he had the guts to knock on the door, he can feel himself starting to sweat. The door swings open and out lumbers the enigma that is Stirling Samson. Stirling may not be a tall man, but his mere presence makes one feel as if a gorilla is charging straight for them in the jungles of the Congo. Before John can speak Stirling interjects, “Can I help you young man?” John searches for the right words to use, but is too nervous to speak. Oh, why did I come here, he thought. And there just beyond gorilla Samson he sees what he’s come here for, his beautiful Jasmine. Finally, he says “Good evening, Mr Samson, I’m here to see your daughter Jasmine.”

 

After some slight objection and a lot of convincing on the part of Mrs Samson, John is invited inside. He can barely believe his eyes; the inside of the terrace is so opulent he doesn’t know where to look. The priceless paintings and antique leather furnishings are unlike anything he’s ever seen. And there with longing eyes Jasmine waits for him, thrilled that he’s come. She greets him with a smile as wide as the Grand Canyon, careful not to give too much away. He sits beside her.

 

“So, lad how do you know my Jazzy?” Stirling asks. “We’re friends from school Daddy, John doesn’t live to far from here.” Jasmine can sense the nerves in her voice, she mustn’t give this away. “That’s right sir, I study Paediatric medicine at Lewisham. That’s how Jasmine and I met.” Stirling is impressed, this young lad seems to have it all together. But how can a 21-year-old studying paediatric medicine at an Ivy League school be wearing a tattered blazer? Something doesn’t add up.  “If you don’t mind me asking John, where do you come from? Stirling asks. Silence fills the air and the tension can be cut like butter.

 

“Is that really of any consequence dear?” Mrs Samson finally makes herself known. “I’m interested to know who our daughter is spending time with”, Stirling bellows. “I’m a concerned parent”. Unable to stand the pressure any longer, John gives in. “I’m from Waverville Mr Samson, do you know it? Mother, daughter, and John, all watch one another. Their eyes darting back and forth. Glaring at John with a newfound intensity, Mr Samson finally speaks. “I never thought I’d hear that name again.” The air has been sucked out of the room with that one comment, Jasmine can barely breath.

 

Stirling now turns his attention to his wife. “Did you know about this atrocity? Our daughter hanging around with some loafer from Waverville!” “Darling please, our daughter’s happiness is at stake!” “What the devil do you mean, her happiness!” Stirling is by this point so enraged one can be forgiven for thinking that steam is rising from his ears as his face fills with boiling blood. “Daddy, we haven’t been completely honest with you. But please do let me explain.” The all too familiar silence fills the room again.

 

“John and I have been engaged for some time now. I didn’t tell you because when Mummy found out where John was from, she swore me to secrecy, I don’t know why.” Stirling hurls a fiery glance at his wife but allows his daughter to continue speaking. “The reason for John’s visit tonight is to ask you for my hand in marriage.” Zelda can’t help but let out a small yelp in excitement, the only emotion she has been permitted to show all evening. Stirling paces slowly around the room, like a leopard on the African savannah stalking its pray. “The only way you will marry this… this fiend is over my cold, dead body.”

 

***

 

Stirling then turns his attention to John. “You come into my home like a thief in the night, wanting to snatch my daughter away from the blistering future that awaits her. Tell me who you really are!” “Alright enough!”, John shouts. “Many years ago, my brother worked as a Matre’d in one of your hotels, The Ruby to be exact. He worked his fingers to the bone for you, hoping that one day he could work his way up and bring our family out of our destitute surroundings.

 

One evening after starting his shift, he got a call from my father telling him to hurry home, as my mother, who was suffering from cancer was in her final moments. He ran straight up to your office on the top floor and asked to speak with you urgently but you sent him away, I’m too busy you said. John’s voice now getting louder and sadder. Not being able to get a hold of you, he walked out of the hotel and went to cross the road. There was a speeding driver, he hit my brother killing him instantly. His name was Caleb, I lost my mother and my brother on the same night.” John’s eyes welled with tears.

 

Fighting back the tears John continued, the room shrouded in silence. “I hated you for what you did to my family, to my brother. It seemed like father and I were destined to live out a penniless existence in Waverville. But one morning two weeks after Caleb and mother passed, one of your assistants came around and handed my father a check for fifty thousand dollars. Said he should use it to start up a charity of some sort, in memory of Caleb. He begged me to take the money, put it towards a university tuition at Lewisham, so I could make something of myself. It was a way of honouring Caleb; he never had the chance to do that.

 

Since all of my family’s hopes were now pinned on me, I gave up my dreams of being an artist and enrolled in paediatric medicine at Lewisham. This is where I met Jasmine, the star in my empty sky. When she first told me who she was I vowed never to let it go further than friendly politeness, such was my hate for you. But the truth is, I’ve loved her from the moment I first laid eyes on her. “Jasmine openly sobs, unable to control her emotion any longer. Zelda also weeps, wishing that her own love story was as strong as her daughters. Only Stirling, the proud gorilla, the cautious leopard, is able to maintain his composure.

 

***

That blazer you’re wearing Stirling asks. Is it your brothers’? “Yes sir, I wear it to remind myself why I’m doing what I am, for my family and for my brother. In the moments when I can’t take it anymore, I look at this blazer to remind myself of him. And also, because I have nothing else to wear that is befitting of a Lewisham student studying medicine.” Stirling stares at the fireplace for a moment, his hand over his face, trying to quickly assess the best course of action. “While I’m extremely sympathetic about your circumstances John, I cannot allow you to marry Jazzy. Ask anything else of me and you will have it, but this I cannot do.”

 

Jasmine is stunned by what she hears. Her father has never denied her of anything. At that moment at chasm opened up between them that could never be rejoined, she loathed him. “I don’t care what you think of him!” she says. “Whether you like it or not we’re getting married, and there isn’t a damn thing you can do about it. Incoherent bellowing breaks out on all sides, no one is listening to the other.

 

As Jasmine and John stand up to leave, she turns to her father and says, “I never want to see you again.” Stirling Samson, ruthless businessman and empire-builder stands there stunned like a wounded lion, his heart torn to a million pieces by his Jazzy’s words. Jasmine can see the angst in his face, the deep wrinkles on his forehead from a life of pressure. “Wait!” he yells. “I’ll tell you all everything, the reason that this love cannot be.” Jasmine stands in the doorway, not knowing what to expect next.

 

***

 

With everyone now safely back inside the living room where the evening began, away from prying eyes, Stirling places a hand on the mantle, as if steadying himself for what’s to come. “I too grew up in Waverville, amongst the derelicts and strays. We lived in a two-bedroom tin shack where I shared a room with my brother, Gerald.” Small town Waverville is, plenty of people with the same name as my dad, John thinks. “After our parents died, Gerald and I started the business by turning our country shack into a small bed and breakfast, we had one room on the 2nd level to sleep. As time passed the business grew bigger and bigger, but everything we did, we did it together, this was our thing.

 

Gerald was the first to get married, to a beautiful woman named Roberta. They tried for years to have children but sadly couldn’t conceive. When Roberta finally did fall pregnant with their first child, a boy, she passed away in childbirth along with the baby. My brother was never the same after that, it destroyed him. He started to drink heavily, often showing up to work drunk most days and sometimes even berating customers and staff. I tried everything I could to help him, the finest doctors, the best alcohol rehabilitation programs, but he wouldn’t have it. One day, he just got up and walked out, I haven’t seen him since, that was thirty years ago.

 

A few years ago, he decided to reach out to me. Told me he was back living in Waverville, happily re-married with two boys. He told me his wife’s name was Sara, but would never tell me the names of his boys, I just put it down to him trying to keep a safe distance. That’s my mum’s name, oh no don’t tell me, John thinks. We hadn’t seen each other for thirty years after all. A few days after Gerald’s phone call, I was introduced by the restaurant manager at The Ruby to a newly hired Matre’d, named Caleb.” No, it can’t be! My brother, dad’s brother, I never knew he even had a brother! A thousand thoughts whirl through John’s head. He doesn’t know what to think, but allows Stirling to continue speaking for the time being.  Jasmine hangs, breathless, of her father’s every word.

 

“Caleb was a wonderful Matre’d, a very hard worker, and an even more exceptional young man. As the month’s passed we grew closer, he’d serve me my breakfast in the Ruby’s restaurant every day. He even told me that he dreamed of becoming a chef, he wanted to have world-renowned restaurants of his own someday. That’s why he took the job in the restaurant of a first-class hotel like The Ruby, so he could learn the ropes. Then one morning after talking about our family’s, he showed me a picture of his own. I couldn’t believe my eyes, my brother was in the picture along with his wife and two boys, one was Caleb and the other was you, John.”

 

The utterance of those world’s sent Jasmine’s entire world crashing down around her. Her father and the father of the man she loved were brothers. The thought of it sent shivers down her spine. Her father had never, ever spoken of having a brother, or any of his family members for that matter. Stirling continued; “So you see, I cannot allow the two of you to marry because you’re in fact cousins. You are my brother Gerald’s youngest son.

 

***

 

The thoughts whirl inside John’s head like a soup on a cold winter’s day. His father had never mentioned having a sibling or a multi-million-dollar business at any point in time. The only reason he was able to connect Stirling to Jasmine was because Caleb used to talk about his boss and job all the time. But he never thought they were actually related. His father should have told them, he heard Caleb speak of Stirling many times and said nothing. Both fathers should have done the right thing by their children, told them of any estranged family even if there was no longer any contact. John felt sick to his stomach.

 

He turns to Jasmine, barely able to speak under the weight of the words his just heard. “Your father is right; we cannot be together. We can’t see each other ever again.” The words stab through Jasmine’s heart like a dagger as John stands and walks out the door. “John, wait! She yells, running after him. She runs for miles down the street after him with no one in sight. Then, she turns the corner and sees him getting into his Hyundai, “John!” she yells. But it’s too late.