Office Crush

Heartache

"Can I take you somewhere?" Tiffany asked when the day was over.

"Sure" 

"I feel like I want to show you someplace I spent a lot of my childhood. This is one of the places I wanted to bring you. I have two, and where we are going... it's a big part of my life" Tiffany revealed. Taeyeon smiled and nodded.

They walked to Taeyeon's car and Tiffany gave her directions. Tiffany was quiet the entire journey even when Taeyeon talked to her which Taeyeon found odd.

When they stopped, Taeyeon saw that they ended up at the beach that used to be a harbour years ago.  Taeyeon and Tiffany got out of the car and walked along the shore until they saw a pier in the distance. Taeyeon followed behind Tiffany silently as they walked right to the edge of the pier and sat down next to one another, dangling their legs over the edge watching the water beneath their feet.

They sat in silence as they watched the ocean move calmly, splashing when the waves crashed into each other. 

"I was ten when my Parent's left me, my Brother and my Sister with our Grandmother to go on holiday. They were taking a cruise" Tiffany said. 

Taeyeon turned to Tiffany and listened intently.

"They had worked so hard for months, doing overtime just to go on that cruise. It was my Mother's dream so my Father wanted to make that dream come true, I had never seen two people so in love with each other."

Taeyeon smiled.

"I waved to them on this very pier as the cruise ship left. They waved back and blew me kisses and shouted that they loved me and for me to behave for my Grandmother. I watched the ship until I could no longer see it. They had gone for a twelve day trip." Tiffany paused.

Taeyeon kind of knew where this was going. She remembered something about a news broadcast back then. She quickly grabbed Tiffany's hand and squeezed it reassuringly, just as Tiffany had done before when Taeyeon had spoken about her past.

"They never came back" 

Tears started to roll down Tiffany's face and Taeyeon immediately closed the gap between them, putting her arm around Tiffany's shoulders and making Tiffany rest her head on her shoulder. Taeyeon ran her hand through Tiffany's hair comforting her.

"I stayed with my Grandma while diver's searched where the ship had sunk. One thousand people left on that ship. Only twenty returned." 

Tiffany took a shaky breath and clenched her jaw trying to keep her voice stable.

"I came here everyday, sitting where we are sitting right now and stared out to the ocean, wishing they would return, just wishing that I would see them swim up to me and tell me they were okay. That they had made it out." 

Tiffany snuggled into Taeyeon as she cried, she felt so warm and safe with her.

"My Grandmother got a call weeks later. They had found my Parent's bodies."

Taeyeon wiped a tear that fell from her own eye, she hated to see Tiffany in pain.

"The diver's had found them in one of the rooms in the ship. They were holding hands....they died together."

Taeyeon rested her chin on Tiffany's head, still cradling her.

"My Brother and Sister moved back to America but I felt like I didn't want to be away from my Parent's so I stayed. I haven't seen them since".