Behind the Time - Herophine

14

JOSEPHINE

"Happy Birthday Anna!!!"

I arrive at the restaurant Anna had chosen to celebrate her day. I give her gift and give a very tight hug to a great friend that I had the pleasure of meeting while filming After. In addition to being the author of the books that changed my life, she is always around, following every step I made and supporting me in each one of them. I'm very lucky to have her with me.

"Jô! I'm glad to see you here! Come, sit down! Adrielle is here too!"

"Adrielle is here!!!!!"

Adrielle was also another great gift the After family gaved me. Anna already knew her from The Vampire Diaries series, her favorite serie, but we became close because she joined After in the last few movies.

"Anna, this is Mia, my friend from Australia that I talk so much about! She's living here in Los Angeles with me!"

"I'm finally meeting the famous Mia! Come here!"

"Congratulations Anna! I'm a huge fan of your books, especially After!"

It was delicious, it was a dinner for the closest ones, I played a lot with Ash, Anna's son, I love being with him, he's one of the cutest children I know.

We had already eaten a lot, we stayed at the table chatting, and when the other guests left, Anna managed to calm down to talk to us about more "private" matters.

"I'm so glad you're here!"

"Me too! After all, right... Pandemic, filming in another country... We deserved to celebrate right..."

"Total Jô... By the way, I wish everyone was here... But Shane is recording something and Hero... It's Hero right... But I received a message from him in the morning, wishing me love and happiness..."

Shane is another friend who came into my life because of After, and will never leave. I miss him so much, but we agreed to go out sometime. There is silence at the table, then I realize that Anna had talked about Hero and was expecting some reaction from me.

"Hm... Anna, Hero and I are friends..."

"Yes! Just friends..." She winks at me, and then at Adrielle, both of them looking at me with a smile on the side of their mouths. I believe that everyone in the cast had a little hope that the two of us would be together, or that the romance on the screen would become real... The two of them knew about some things that happened behind the scenes... But deep down, they also knew it would be a matter of time to put a stop to all of this. It's almost impossible for this relationship to work out with each one on one side of the world and full of different commitments...

"It's no use blinking! Seriously, we've put an end to all this madness! He's living in London and I'm here... And when I say living it's... Meeting new people and... Moving on..."

Anna looks disappointed, she looks at Mia, who nods.

"Ahhhh Jô... How sad... It's difficult... But if it's the best for both of you... We're here to support you in whatever decision you make."

They all hug me.

"Hey guys! No crying! I'm fine! And so is he!"

"Yeah! What's this thing about being with other people..."

"That's right Anna! You can talk to us, girl! What didn't you tell us!" Anna and Adrielle wanted to know everything, Mia already had all the details of what had happened to me and Drew, so I start telling everything that was happening in my life, the new movie and that maybe... I'm feeling new butterflies for, maybe. a new friend...

"And that's it! We kissed... It was strange, at the time we agreed that we didn't feel anything... But..."

"But..."

"I don't know yet... After the New Year... After other outings together... Our games are different... Something has changed... But I still don't know what it is... So I won't say more anything!"

"So Herophine can still be real or can I stop dreaming already?"

"I think... It's late isn't it, Mia?"

I thank Anna for the delicious dinner, I hug and kiss her more often, I do the same with Adrielle, and we arrange a new date as soon as possible. Anna doesn't even realize I've easily changed the subject. I don't want to talk about Hero, or about Herophine! Not now that I'm able to move on!

"I love you!"