Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
~~~ Five years later ~~~
I never knew how much fresher the air was in Paris. It's almost as if my lungs are only just learning to breathe, and instead of having to squint through the smog I can see everything so clearly. Maybe I should have come here sooner. A clear view would have done wonders for me. I'm sure as shit it would have shown me the answers I didn't have. The answers I still don't have...there is a good possibility that if I got on the train sooner my life would have figured itself out. I would have been able to start over. Been able to be with her, but that door is padlocked. She moved on. I however am still living in a dream...the dream we dreamed together.
"How's everyone?" Ada asks, and I've known my sister long enough to know she's just making pleasantries. She occasionally still calls Polly, but the rest of us she tries to ignore. I thought for sure she would remarry once she got away from small heath. Then again I'm not sure Ada would be able to walk down the aisle without her brothers a second time. She's sentimental like that.
"Same old. Same old. Tom married Lizzie. Don't get me started on how crazy Linda is," I hum twirling my cigarette between my fingers. "We aren't the same without you Ada."
"Should have thought of that sooner, should you have," she scolds, throwing her arm over my shoulders. "I would be lying if I said I didn't miss the lot of you, but I couldn't do it anymore Finn. She would have done it till she was dragged out in a body bag...I had to get her out of there before that actually happened." I nodded not knowing what else I could say. My life wasn't anywhere near complete without her. When I slept I was woken up by the sound of her voice only to find out the wind was once againmocking me. Josephine was a ghost haunting me every minute of every day.
"She deserved so much more than I could give her," my voice caught in my throat. "Tell me she's happy Ada. Tell me letting her go gave her a happy life."
"She's Happy Finn. I promise." I stand up smoothing out the wrinkles in my suite before turning back to the flat I know she's currently in.
"Tell her something for me Ada."
"Anything"
"Tell her how Ada loves Freddie." I walk away before my sister can ask questions. Before I'm tempted to knock on that door and pull Josephine into my arms. If I see her now I'll never leave. I won't be able to. She's still the girl in the ridiculous pink dress. Knees scraped, cigarette between her lips, and a smile that can make the strongest man weak. The sound of heels clicking the cobblestone caused me to turn around. There standing in-front of me hair a little longer and eyes far less tired is Josephine. My Josephine.
"How I bloody love you Finn Shelby. How I bloody love you."
