No Time For Us - Jerrie Fanfiction AU ✅

14th May 2015

Epilogue

14th May 2015

"Miss Edwards?" I hear a voice and come out of my trance, I look at the young girl with red hair and green eyes I've been talking to for the last two hours. She holds her notebook tightly in her hands and I see her knee bounce.

"Sorry, dear, I was lost in memories" I smile.

"What did Jade tell you?" she asks me trepidatiously.

"Oh, I guess I'll never know. My father dragged me onto the train and I didn't hear the answer" I reply, thinking back to that moment, one of the worst of my life.

"Miss Edwards, you were one of the pioneers of modern reportage photography, you travelled for years telling the stories of women around the world. In 1978 you won the Robert Capa Gold Medal, in '85 and '87 the World Press Photo of the Year and your career has been marked by countless awards and honours, do you think if you hadn't met Jade you would have pursued this career?"

I smile at the question and say to the young woman in front of me just what I said to Jade many years ago, "Jade has been my inspiration all my life, not only was she the one who gave me my first camera, but she was the one who encouraged and inspired me to chronicle society and women's lives in those years, if I had not met Jade, that day in the alley, my life would have been completely different" I answer truthfully.

"Here we are, at the No Time For Us exhibition, you have stated that this is a personal and intimate collection, what do you mean?"

"Here are the most iconic photographs from my career, the ones that have ended up in newspapers and magazines and everyone knows about, but most of the photographs shown today are unpublished, a collection of the images from my private life, the pictures taken behind closed doors and away from curious eyes" I smile.

"Thank you for your time and the interview, Miss Edwards. If you'll allow me I'd like to ask you one last question..." the young woman looks at me softly and places her notebook back in her backpack, I nod in agreement, "Did you ever find Jade again?" she asks.

"Come with me" I smile, "I want to show you something" I stand up leaning on my walking stick and feel a pair of arms supporting me.

"Mom! Please be careful" my daughter tells me, helping me to balance.

"Don't worry, Amelia, I'm only 83, I'm still young!" I tease her and see her shake her head smiling.

"Amelia?" the reporter asks.

"Amelia Edwards, this is Miss Wright, the journalist who will be covering the article on the exhibition, Miss Wright, this is my daughter Amelia" I introduced the two women.

"Pleased to meet you, Miss Wright" my daughter says, shaking hands with the girl whose eyes are still surprised.

"What did you want to show me, Miss Edwards?" the girl asks me.

"Here, this is Jade, the first photograph I ever took of her" I smile.

"Wow, she was beautiful" the woman beside me says sincerely, admiring the photograph I took of Jade that night, her body covered only by a semi-buttoned shirt lit by the dim light of the bedside lamp and the moon.

"This are Jade, Jasmine and Norma" I smile showing the next photo, "We were at the beach, on the day of Jasmine's fifth birthday" I take a few steps forward pointing to another photo, "Here you can see, from the left Jesy Nelson, Leigh-Anne Pinnock, Jade and I, it was the same night and Jade and I wanted to remember our friendship with our friends, I put the camera on a pile of books and took the photo delaying the shot, I guess you call it a selfie today!"