herophine - Trouvaille

Chapter 31

Crosby, Liverpool - England, 2026

The first time she feels it, Josephine thinks it is her imagination. There are too many people and it is unlikely that anyone has noticed her.

The second time, she is in a stall looking at some crystal ornaments with Sofía and she is pretty sure that someone has just taken a picture. She's been many years now in the industry, dealing with that uncomfortable feeling of having someone watching behind her.

She debates between searching for the person who just took a picture of her or running away from there. Nevertheless, the instinct to protect Sofía at all costs prevails over every other. 

Josephine takes a couple steps away from the little girl who is still fascinated by all the crystals, and makes a sign to Hero who is on the other side of the stall. It is a small sign they both made up during the promo tour, which they used to use when someone was watching them. Josephine prays that he hadn't forget it.

By Hero's face, she knows that he has not forget it.

Hero has never had a panick attack, but he thinks that it is very similar to what he is feeling right now. 

They need more time. Him, Josephine and most of all, Sofía. His daughter doesn't need to discover yet that her mother is on the cover of several magazines. Perhaps they have been overconfident.

Is Jo who keeps a cool head despite the desire to cry. She doesn't get close to them. She takes her phone out and texts him. Hero nods to it. She will reunite with them at the car.

Once she sees them walk away, Josephine keeps walking slowly through the street trying to stay calm. She doesn't know if it was a professional or a curious who took the picture, it doesn't matter though. If it is a fan who shares it through social networks, in a few hours it will be all over the Internet and in a few days in the magazines. If it is a paparazzi, he will wait until he finds someone who pays enough to post them.

Maybe she is being paranoid, but probably not. This is why she hates social media and has tried to avoid it since she started being well-known.

She keeps wandering the street of Merseyside, until she is sure that nobody is following her. The car is not very far away, and when she gets back to the parking lot she sees both Fiennes already in the car. She gets in the passenger seat in silence and exchanges a worried look with Hero, who softly denies with his head. Sofía hasn't found out that something out of the ordinary is happening.

For a moment, Hero thinks about the tiny probabilities of having someone watching them. They rarely had paparazzis following them and fans used to ask them for pictures first. However, just in case and to stay more calm, they quickly decide to drive to Formby, which is a much smaller town, north Crosby. They still have to finish their shopping for tomorrow's dinner.

The drive to Formby seems everlasting. Josephine only wants to move away from who broke her bubble. She wants to go back to the calm she had these past days with Hero and Sofía. What can she do? 

Moving away from Sofía is not an option. She has countless of moments to retrieve and countless of memories to make with her. And to be completely honest, Jo doesn't want to move away from Hero either. She still doesn't know if what they have now is the echo of what they had, or if there exists a posibility to build up something new together. But, she wants to find out. For that, she needs to earn her trust again, and running away is not the way to achieve it. Even so, introducing Sofía into her world and the industry: planes, photoshoots, long filmings... she is not sure anymore if she wants it for herself, how would she want it for her daughter?

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Hii,

here you have another chapter to make up for these past days without an update 😚

It is a short one, but it adds some drama to the already unsolved love story between characters. The plot is a bit slow, but very detailed in how they feel. Be patient, everything will end up as it has to be!

Thank you for reading!