A Wrecked Ship

Never Stopped Loving You

After 5 years. John and his crew arrived on the shores of France's hometown, hoping that he would come across her by chance. He didn't see her face for 5 years, during which he didn't hook up with any other girl. He went to the tavern where they first met and sat down at the same table. The waitress approached.

The waitress: Hello again, Captain John. You haven't been here for a very long time. But you haven't changed at all...
John: I've changed.
The waitress: Have you come to continue what we started many years ago? *smiled*
John: No, actually. I came because I want a bottle of rum. Thank you.

   Her smile fell as she left. After an hour of waiting in which John carefully looked at the door that opened from time to time, a familiar figure entered, realizing after a few seconds that it was Florence. Indeed, she has changed.
Quite much...
She no longer had the air of a child that she used to give. Her hair was shorter than usual, and her face was also different. She was thinner and paler, as if she had just been through a trauma... As if she had just seen a ghost. She also no longer had the air of a person full of life and happy. On the contrary, she looked as if someone had forcibly pulled all the energy out of her. Her eyes no longer had the sparkle they had before, 5 years ago. Her eyes were now small and dry, with dark circles underneath. And that kinda worried him... Despite all the changes she had, he still found her beautiful...like a rose. Only now the rose has withered, and she waited for someone to make it bloom again.
When she closed the door behind her, she stopped, her eyes being fixed on him. She couldn't believe that she would ever see him again, and she didn't know how to react at that moment. He hadn't changed much, except for the fact that he had a longer beard.
   His eyes whispered for her to come closer, so she obeyed.

France: John...
John: Florence...
France: What are you doing here?
John: *smiled* We haven't seen each other for 5 years and that's all you can tell me?
France: I'm sorry... *silence*
John: I came here to see you. I. Needed. To see you... *silence* Will you sit down?
France: Yeah, sorry...
John: You didn't expect that I'll be here, did you?
France: Is it too obvious?
John: Your face screams in shock.
France: Sorry.
John: Please, stop apologizing to me. There's no need.
France: Sorry...I mean... I— I don't know what you want me to say or do. As you said, I didn't expect to see you here...
John: I was going to write to you, but I no longer know your address... *long silence*
France: So... What have you been doing?
John: Nothing special. Just travel. You?
France: I... I actually came here to catch my breath. Wedding preparations are tiring and—
John: Wedding?
France: *silence* Yeah... I-I'm engaged...
John: Oh... I'm really happy for you... Do you love him?
France: I really like him. He makes me happy.
John: Then I'm glad to hear that...

   Which was a lie, because he couldn't imagine her being with anyone else. His face darkened until her answer. She didn't mention that she loved him, she avoided the word "love" which meant that he still had a chance. We all know for what he really came for.

France: Can you give me some? I got quite better at it, you know...

   When he handed her the bottle, in a second their fingers touched, feeling her ice-cold skin. Something really happened to her. After that, a deep silence came as she drank from the bottle. He didn't open the subject of why she was like that, but he had an inkling. Not knowing what to say and overwhelmed by thoughts, he said something suddenly, without thinking ahead.

John: I also have a girlfriend, but I'm not in a hurry to propose.
France: Oh, really? That's good.
John: Aye...
France: But I kind of expected that coming from you. That you will find someone...
John: *that hurt him a little, as he frowned* Why?
France: I-I don't know... You conquer women quickly with your looks and words.
John: And yet, the only one I really wanted didn't want me back...