Old ends new beginnings

Epilogue

"Oh daddy please, please, please!"

Sean rolled his eyes, laying the magazine down on the table, and sighed. "I've told you a million times that she's busy, sweetheart. It just isn't possible." he said gently, reaching to stroke her daughter's hair.

"But..." Evie's protest was interrupted by a quiet sob, and Sean couldn't help but smile tenderly at his pouty little girl.

"All right." he nodded solemnly. "But there's one condition."

"Anything! Please!" Evie urged, yanking her dad's arm, the pout promptly replaced by a bright smile.

"You call, you ask."

"I don't know the number." the little girl said matter-of-factly, furrowing her eyebrows, causing Sean to chuckle quietly as he led her towards the phone.

It was 3.00 a.m. when the telephone rang.

Holly woke up in the soft bed, smiling when she felt Vin's massive arm settled protectively around her waist, and gently caressed his head, hushing him back to sleep, and reaching for the phone.

“Yeah?” she answered, eyes half closed that suddenly opened in surprise.

“Evie? It's okay, babe. What's wrong?” she suddenly asked, a worried frown on her face, gripping Vin's hand.

The man stretched, and sat on the bed at her side, listening curiously.

She had told him everything about her love story with Sean, and he could see she still cared deeply about him.

They had not seen each other from that night at the hospital, and he had never called her back.

“To come there in London? Well…little one…can I talk to your daddy? Please? Thank you.”

Without even noticing, she was gripping the phone, waiting for the man to answer.

“Sean?”

Said man closed his eyes for a moment when he heard her voice, and smiled sadly as a thousand memories crossed his mind. He still missed her terribly. "Hey..." he said softly. "It's been a while."

“Yeah...I-I didn't call you before because I thought that you wouldn't want to talk to me.” she admitted, while Vin was staring quietly at her.

She had been amazed by his behaviour. He seemed to encourage her to call him, to try and understand, to regain at least his friendship. But she had been too stubborn.

“Listen…if-if you don't want to see me, I could tell her I'm busy, so it would be my fault, I know it's a difficult situation for you…”

"No, no, it's all right." Sean replied, searching for his distinctive English composure as his heart pounded almost wildly into his chest. "I'd be glad to see you again."

“Really? You…you don't hate me?” she asked, a little glint of hope into her eyes, smiling at Vin.

Sean sighed, shaking his head, and he couldn't suppress a little smile at those words. "I could never hate you." he said, "And I don't want to. So, shall I prepare a room for you?"

“Yeah,” she smiled brightly. “I'll be there in a couple of days. And…it's been beautiful to hear you, Sean. See you!”

With that the phone call ended and Vin just stared at her, a smile curving the corners of his mouth, looking how happy she was.

She told him everything, worried that he would get mad at her, but again he surprised her, saying that it was the right thing to do.

“I'm sure about you, and about our love. We've waited three years for what we have now…Go to him, I know he's important to you, but this doesn't bother me, 'cause I know that he'll never take my place into your heart.”

When she arrived at the London airport, she was carrying her bags, looking curiously around to see if Sean was there, and her heart skipped a beat when she recognized him.

Walking to near him, their eyes never left.

“Hey…” she smiled, feeling incredibly awkward.

Sean fared no better, and for some moments he just stared at Holly, as if trying to see if she had changed at all during those two months.

"Hey." he finally replied, flashing her one of his peculiar crooked smiles. "It's wonderful to see you, Holly."

“Yeah…” she replied, smiling a little. “I thought I would never see you again…”

That was not what she had meant to say, but she was doing her best to seem not interested in what happened.

More than anything, she would like to remove the awkwardness she was feeling and just ask him how was he, what was he feeling.

“Well, I think Evie is waiting for us.” she tried to smile nonchalantly. “How is she?”

They were now walking to his car, and she was carrying his bags, having refused his help, stubborn as always.

"She's fine." Sean nodded, still looking right in front of him. He was dying to hug her. At least. His lips curved into a bitter smile while he reminded himself that no, that wasn't a good idea at all. He said nothing else then, and once arrived to the car he settled Holly's baggage in the boot before opening the door to her.

About half an hour later they were in Hampstead, entering the underground parking of Sean's house.

Once at home, Holly stood at the entrance, bracing herself, and looking around.

It was strange to her to be there, at his home, remembering all the descriptions he had made her about his wonderful garden he loved so much.

She dared then to look at him, sighing deeply.

“I wouldn't want it to be like this…” she whispered, sadly.

Sean took her hand into his in response, and smiled. "Come, I'll show you the house. Evie should be upstairs with Abigail, you can't imagine how thrilled she'll be to see you again." With that he led Holly up the stairs, showing her each and every room, until they reached the door to his bedroom.

Unease.

Back when they were together he'd thought so many times about showing her that room, about dragging her towards the wide bed, about making love to her over and over all night long and then collapse into her arms. Now it was all different.

He opened the door and stepped aside, allowing her to enter and look around as she pleased. It was wider than the other rooms, carefully furnished in Spanish style as the rest of the house, and unbelievably tidy. Sean suddenly wondered if she was feeling as upset as he was.

Now her eyes were full of unleashed tears, and she turned back to look at him.

“I know you told me once that I couldn't do it, but…” she started, suddenly stopping, and holding her breath for a moment.

“Sean…can I hug you? Please…”

He seemed taken aback by such a request and sighed deeply, as if considering whether it was a good idea.

"Do it." he whispered after a moment, looking straight into Holly's eyes and stretching his arms towards her. "Please, Holly. Hug me..."

Without thinking twice, she flung into his arms, hugging him fiercely, quietly sobbing, her face hidden into his chest.

“I've missed you so much, Sean…and I'm sorry…I'm so sorry I've hurt you, you deserved someone better than me…”

On the verge of tears, all Sean could do was hold her tight and rest his forehead on her shoulder, almost overcome by all the different emotions that a single hug had managed to cause.

"I don't want someone else." he murmured. "I've never wanted someone else since we first met."

Without answering, she just stood there, inhaling his scent, gently caressing his back.

When they had calmed, she smiled at him, brushing her fingers through his blonde hair.

“We should go to Evie…”

The little girl was in her room, sitting at the desk on her mother's lap. When they heard the door click open both turned to look at Sean and Holly, and Evie promptly jumped off in order to throw herself into the girl's arms. Abigail stood, saying nothing, just staring at Sean with a worried frown on her face. They'd talked about that, about Holly, a whole lot of times during those two months. She knew it was hard for him.

“Hey sweetheart!” she told to the child, hugging her with a bright smile on her face.

“I missed you, you know?”

"I've missed you too!" Evie replied gleefully, kissing the tip of Holly's nose. Then she turned to look at her daddy, and tugged at the sleeve of his t-shirt. "Will she stay, daddy? Will she stay with us?"

"A couple of days, honey." Sean replied curtly, forcing a smile and then flashing a look at Abigail, who was picking up her handbag and coat.

"I'm going home." she said, nearing them, and then placed an affectionate kiss on Sean's cheek. "I'll see you tomorrow morning, Beanie. You can call me, just in case."

That evening, Holly lulled Evie to sleep, and when she had finished, she phoned Vin, to let him know that everything was okay.

Then she heard some classical music and followed it, to find Sean sitting on a big couch, sipping some red wine.

The only light was that of hundreds of candles, and it was something almost unreal .

When he heard Holly approaching Sean smiled, and stood to hand her goblet half-filled with wine.

"I thought we could...be happy together just one more night." he whispered, gazing intensely into her eyes, "...as friends."

Holly looked at him for a moment, and then she suddenly smiled, nodding.

Taking the goblet, her fingertips gently brushed his hand, and she slightly trembled at that touch, trying to hide it by sipping her wine, not daring to meet his eyes.

Sean led her to the couch, taking her hand, and they sat there together. Close. So very close that he could feel her breath ghosting over his neck, sending shivers down his spine, and he could smell her scent, so sweet and familiar. He put his goblet down on the coffee table and turned to look at her, unsure about what to do.

"I've missed this,” he then admitted, averting his gaze. "I've missed... us . I've dreamed about this very moment so many times, and...It's wonderful to have you here, even if as a matter of fact now things are different than in my dreams..."

“I've missed you, too. And every time I thought of you hurt and alone…I felt miserable…but I am not able to regret what we've had. I'm sorry, but I can't…it was too wonderful and magical for me.” she whispered, cupping his face in her hands, forcing him to look at her.

“It's wonderful to be here with you…”

"If I could only turn back time, Holly..." Sean began softly, his voice barely more audible than a sigh, staring intently at her. He didn't finish the sentence, though, for a moment later he was closing his eyes and tenderly brushing his lips over Holly's, while caressing her cheeks with slow, gentle strokes.

Overwhelmed by those sensations, the girl stood there, without pulling him back, closing her eyes and gently touching his neck and hair, revealing at those familiar sensations.

Sean didn't try to deepen the kiss, and after only a few moments, he pulled back, still holding Holly's face in his hands.

"Don't get mad at me..." he whispered, searching his eyes for resentment or regret, and finding none. In that moment, he'd have said a million things to her, but his voice refused to come out, so he just drew her closer to hold her tight, sinking his face in the silky fall of her hair.

Putting her head on his chest, she closed her eyes, feeling his heartbeat against her ear.

“You know Sean…even when I'll be a granny…I'll always love you. I'm just trying to stay away ‘cause I'm afraid to hurt you, but…it would be wonderful for me to spend some time with you…and Vin…he knows that I care deeply for you.”

Both remained silent for a while then, as if collecting their thoughts. Suddenly Sean pulled back to look at her, grinning in a quite ominous way.

"You know what..." he said mischievously. "I was planning to spend a couple of weeks in Spain, before they resume shooting. I could book another room, just in case you two would decide to come along and keep company to this old bore."

“You're not an old bore!” she protested, playfully pinching his nose.

“But we'll come to keep you company. I'm sure that you and Vin would be good friends. You should just… start over ...”

"Then we will, if he wants to." Sean nodded pensively, his smile slowly turning into a wicked grin. "By the way...it would be good for a start if he could play chess, you know. I'd definitely kick his ass and finally get my personal revenge."

Grinning, she quickly kissed him on his mouth, nuzzling his neck.

This was the beginning of what seemed a long, long friendship.