The room unfolds before Alexis’ eyes. A ballroom, its rich reds and golds embedding their warmth into all who set foot. Masked goers make way as Alexis is led by some gentle force, guiding through the crowd and to the centre. Each one nodding and bowing in her direction as she passes.
Alexis feels full once again, strong — no longer are her clothes hanging from her thinning body, her hair fragile and static, her posture bent over as she takes a few steps. In this ballroom Alexis takes deliberate strides, chin lifted, shoulders square. Her blonde locks curl and gleam in the chandelier light.
In the centre the crowd opens up. Bathed in the light of the room stands a long passed friend. His soft eyes regard her warmly as a hand reaches out.
“May I have this dance, Alexis?”
The entire room melts away as Alexis places her hand in his, his warmth encapsulating her once again. Naturally she finds his chest to rest on as he leads her around the floor. Even without watching his face, she could feel his contentment in the sureness of his arms.
How long had it been? In this moment Alexis couldn’t say. It was as if time did not exist, the past and the future melded into one.
It was time. Her heart began to flutter.
Alexis lifts her head, bringing a hand to his cheek as if to test that it was really him.
“I’ve missed you, Ambrose.”
Closing his eyes, Ambrose places a kiss on the top of her head as they embrace once more. His smell had never changed; the faint sea salt that lingered on his skin stung her nostrils. Alexis inhales it deeply, her cheek pressing close to his chest once more.
When Alexis finally opens her eyes there is another familiar face beside her. The woman’s hand rests gently on Alexis’ forearm, the corners of the woman’s mouth rising upwards along with her brows.
Without missing a beat Alexis envelopes herself around the woman. Squeezing her tightly in her arms, as if she might fade away at any moment. Her heart in her throat, tears begin to sting at her eyes. Pulling back, Alexis studies the face of her friend — her unexpected friend, born out of the most unimaginable situation. The woman who quickly became her family. The woman who once gone, Alexis vowed to care for her children as if they were her own — as far as she was concerned, they were her own.
“Ruby…” Alexis’ lip quivers.
Ruby took Alexis’ face gently in her hands, placing a kiss on her tear streaked cheek.
Both Ruby and Ambrose look to each other for a moment, blissful smiles playing on their lips. Ambrose’s free arm holds Ruby close to him, their hands intertwining on her waist.
Ruby tilts her head slightly, looking at Ambrose expectantly.
“There’s someone who would like to see you.” His low voice was unmistakably smooth, like any rough edges had been softened out before they could reach the air.
The pair take Alexis in hand, leading her through the empty ballroom to the garden door. She lingers in the door way, turning to them both. Her eyes searching theirs frantically.
“Don’t worry,” Ruby says, her hand slipping from Alexis’ grip, “We will always be here.”
“We’ll never leave you, Alexis.” Says Ambrose.
Alexis squeezes Ambrose’s hand one last time before finally letting him free.
She was ready for this. Her time had come.
Air slips through her nose, filling her lungs to the brim. She closes her eyes, silently nodding before turning from her dearest friends and taking one step into the garden.
The midday sun illuminates the garden. The grass is wild, much like her cottage’s garden back home. Wildflowers spring high from the ground, their lilacs and yellows beckoning the bee’s to buzz around their petals.
If Alexis had turned back, she’d have noticed that the illustrious ballroom she had just set foot out of was now no more. A small conservatory stood in its place.
But she didn’t turn back.
There was a man in amongst the flowers, sitting on a set of quaint garden chairs with a table to match. Partially shaded by a large oak tree.
A strong breeze blew at Alexis, whisking her hair across her face. Yet, her gaze never fell from the gentleman.
Alexis began on her front foot, stopping for a moment before stumbling forward.
The man was watching the world go by; the birds singing their songs in the tree, swishing down to dance around the grassy floor. The wind lifts the white grey hairs from his crown every so often, fighting with his bushy moustache to do the same.
Alexis froze beside the chair, the rising and falling of her chest quickening. She has no words that will come out — the wind seems to whisk them from her mouth.
But the man knows she is there. He twists his body towards her from his seat, his moustache obscuring a closed-lip smile that appears from the sight of her. Though his brows naturally pull downwards, his eyes soften and glint in the sunlight. With both hands pressing down upon his thighs, the man rises from his seat.
“My beautiful baby girl,” His voice is course, even faltering in parts. He immediately holds his daughter in his arms.
Alexis stands stunned, disbelief holding her in a trance. She can’t even begin to hug him back. His frame was even frailer than Alexis remembered, his hair, that pressed against her skin, wirer. It had been decades since she last saw her father. Decades since he held her in his arms.
Victor pulls back, tears pooling in his eyes as he looks over her. “You’re so beautiful…you’re—“ his voice catches in the back of his throat, “You’re all grown up now. My little girl.”
“I’ll always be your little girl.” The words barely make it out between sobs.
Alexis’ tears drip from her chin to her father’s shirt as she collapses into his arms, her cries only softened by the cotton.
“I waited my whole life to hold you in my arms again…I’m so proud of who you became, sweetheart.” He sniffs.
“I thought you hated me, Mother said…” Alexis trails off. She doesn’t want to speak about her Mother, not now. They have all the time in the world to discuss the past.
Her Father only held her tighter.
Alexis’ sobs got quieter the longer she stayed in his arms until finally all that was left were small sniffs.
Finally, after a while, the world returns to the whistling of the birds and the wind.
“Come, Let’s have some tea.” Victor pulls back, wiping her tears away with his thumbs.
From what was once the ballroom, Ruby and Ambrose stand arm in arm and watch on as the Father and his little girl have a tea party, just as they had done many years ago.
In a quiet room the air is still. The world has stopped. Not even the usual sound from the outside can seep through the brick walls. The four present are silent, listening to the hushing of Alexis’ laboured breaths. Ethan slumps at his mother’s bedside, forehead against her frail hands. Muffled cried escaping him every so often.
The sound of a long drawn exhale fills the room, and with that a stillness comes.
The tears welling up in Noah’s eyes stop right at the brink.
Sam’s clasped hands drop an inch from where they rest against his mouth.
They all wait. For how long, it is hard to say.
Ethan looks up at his Mother as she lies in her bed. He didn’t have to look to confirm what he knew — he had felt her life slip from his hands — but for once he didn’t want to believe in his abilities.
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