Destined By The Waves

Waves of Nostalgia

Faith

Alice and I get up from our seats and start walking towards Ace.

"Hey babe, are you okay?," he immediately gets up from his seat and asks Alice softly, taking her hand in his own.

"Yeah, I haven't felt better in months," she says and gives me a sweet smile, before turning back to Ace.

"Good..", he says and then turns his attention towards me and gives me a small, civil smile.

"Hi Ace, nice to meet you. We never got to introduce ourselves," I say as I extend my hand for him to shake. He's the only true family Joy has, so I will do anything I can, to be on amicable terms with him.

"Hey Faith, nice to meet you too," he says, reluctantly taking my hand and shaking it for a few seconds, then awkwardly moving it away.

Okay, this is going to be harder than I thought.

"Ace, can you call up Joy or Rosie, I really want to meet Joy. Where did he go anyway?," I ask him. I can probably deal with Ace later.

"Yeah, they went towards the rear deck, that way!," he tells me while pointing towards a less crowded part of the deck.

"Thanks, see you around," I say smilingly and start walking towards the deck.

"Faith, wait!," he calls me, and I instantly turn around.

He bites the inside of his cheek awkwardly, and begins, "About what I said on the call yesterday.. I didn't mean to ," but I don't let him finish.

"Don't worry about it, Ace. You were concerned about Joy, I get it. No offense taken," I tell him and he smiles instantly.

"Thanks Faith, I hope everything gets sorted between you two. He really cares about you a lot, he's terrible at showing it, but ever since he has come back, you are all he talks about," he says and I bite my lip awkwardly.

"I hope only good things?," I ask Ace and he immediately breaks into laughter.

"Yeah, really good things. I haven't seen him like this ever before. I hope you guys work it out, Faith. Please don't break my friend's heart," his smile fades into seriousness suddenly and I notice a hint of worry in his eyes.

"He's in safe hands, Ace," Alice adds immediately, making me smile at her.

"I promise we'll work it out, Ace," I tell him and he nods at me with a smile. I take it as my cue to leave.

_____

I reach the furthest end of the rear deck that Ace had pointed towards, and finally notice Joy sitting on a chair at some distance. His head is buried in his hands, and he looks really disturbed. Rosie is standing beside him and gently patting his back, as if trying to console him.

My heart aches at the sight in front of me. Is he crying?

I immediately run towards them and slowly begin hearing muffled sobs.

"Joy...", I call out to him and his head immediately snaps in my direction. Rosie instantly takes a step backwards from him and pulls her hand away. Stop walking on eggshells, both of you!

I notice Joy wiping away tears from his bloodshot eyes and I instantly run towards him. He gets up and begins taking long strides towards me too.

Within seconds, we meet midway and he scoops me up in his arms and sweeps me off my feet. I bury my head in the crook of his neck and he does the same in mine. For a few minutes, everything else seems to fade away, the sound of waves, the commotion of engines and people in distance, the music blaring in some corner, the cruise, the sky, the winds, everything.The only thing I feel is Joy and his presence. All that exists for me, is my home that I finally came back to, his arms.