When Life Gave Me Jane

I thought I could live happily in my life, my steady job, steady girlfriend, new flat-pack flat - and then I met Jane.

I was buying a takeaway coffee when I met her. At one of those mobile carts on the street that claim to have all the answers: organic, fair-trade, hand-roasted. She must have thought the same. We misread the writing on our cups, John and Jane, cliché but we both smiled and swapped them back. Was I reading too much into that smile? That perfect smile that turned the drab Monday street into a Saturday sun drenched park. She took a sip to make sure it was the right one after all, still smiling, it was. She was dressed for work – pencil skirt and heels – so I asked if I could walk her in.

When Life Gave Me Jane follows John from his steady life as he is pulled into an ever darkening series of calamities. He thought he had life worked out, pity for his co-workers, scorn for his boss, admiration for his girlfriend, and then he met Jane.