herophine - Trouvaille

Chapter 15. Part I

Crosby, Liverpool - England, 2026

Josephine awaits sitting on a bench at the other side of the street, five or six metres in front of the terraced house where they live. 

It's a nice house made up of bricks, with a red door and a white fence at the entrance. Very British. There aren't any lights on inside the house and there haven't been any since Jo arrived, over two hours ago. Not that she has tried to knock on the door. She doesn't have to rush either.

Josephine feels very proud of herself by the fact she was capable of getting on the plane, jump in a taxi and wait only a few metres from the house. She could have rented a car and drive herself, but nervousness overcomes her and driving on the left side of the road wouldn't help.

It is already dark and she feels like the crazy-dangerous villain from a movie waiting for them to arrive. She is cold and she should be going back to the hotel, where she booked a room. Despite this, she is not able to move and cannot believe that after so many kilometres she will have to wait another more day to see them.

Five years, ten months and one day.

Every car that passes by, makes her heart rate increase in just a matter of seconds. The three coffees she drank could also be contributing to it. 

Finally a black Nissan car stops next to the house with red door and white fence. Josephine shrinks in her seat and for the first time, she is glad that the bench she's on doesn't have a streetlight nearby. She sees a tall man getting out of the car. Well, she sees the outline of the body against the car lights but she doesn't have any doubt that it is Hero. 

It's strange having that certainty, even it has already been six years.

Hero opens the back door from the car and Jo is completely sure that her heart, which has been beating one thousand per hour now has suddenly stopped. She is not close enough to hear clearly what he says, but she hears some mumbles that seem to be a conversation between father and daughter. Again, she sees the outline of the bodies. This time Hero is taking something out from inside the car: an asleep Sofía Fiennes-Tiffin surrounds her dad's neck with her arms and lays her head against his shoulder.

Josephine must have gasped unconsciously, because she watches how Hero stops walking towards the entrance and turns around. Jo could swear that he is looking directly to her, but at that distance and without any streetlight near the bench it's almost impossible. Except that Hero, the same way as Jo, practically can feel the electric current in the environment. Hero gives up and continues walking to the door with Sofía sleeping in his arms.

After some minutes, the windows show that lights inside the house are being turned on. This lets Josephine observe through the outlines of their bodies what are they doing. A couple minutes later, the Christmas lights turn on and iluminate the windows. Until that moment, she hadn't realized there where lights. If the house was already idyllic, now it turns insoportable wonderful. 

For the first time, Jo realizes how sitting on the bench brought much sore to her bones.

Or maybe what hurts her is her soul.