Our Heart - The Greatest Showman {Book 2 of "One Heart"}

Chapter 56

Anne's Pov  ( Please read the author's note at the end of this chapter, i would really like to hear your feedback/advice :D ) 

 The house was full. The girls and Ailsa were relaying into different rooms with different supplies for those who needed them the most. Perhaps half of us were here, the other with Phillip and Barnum to clean up what ever was left.  Charity, on the other hand, was ensuring everyone was medically sound - to the best of her ability. She had only just given me the all clear and wouldn't let me leave the room until she re-examined my leg. 

"Just let me know if anything feels different," She told me as she lightly touched  the point of a needle to my skin.  "Do you need to talk about it?" 

No.  I don't think I have the energy to recall it, every single detail; it's just too real at the moment. I don't this though, just let my head shake from side to side instead and gaze out the small window rather thank think about the question for any longer. 

Through the glass was the ever changing art of the sky, the clouds that brought infinite images of beauty. There was something in that feeling of gratitude, for all those gifts given so freely, all for spending a moment gazing into the blue. Yet, despite it's beauty, I watch the small detached apartment in the back yard. Trying to get a sense of liveness from it; a flicker of a light, a shadow against a wall. 

"He's down there if you're wondering." Charity exhales as she packs her med kit away for the moment and slowly walks out of the room, giving me that sort of glance that is the borderline between a smirk and a genuine smile. 

I don't exactly remember when I decided to leave the room, but i felt the cold stairs beneath my feet as I swiftly made my way out into the backyard.  I took a deep breath, feeling the sting of nerves as my hand trailed on the door. 

But the moment my fist hit the door, it was yanked open. 

James stood in the doorframe. 

He jumped, clasping his hands behind his back, a rigidly formal stance before seeing that it was me.

I just clapsed my hands around his neck and it took him a second to realize it but he eventually, returned the embrace.

"Sorry..." I say once i detangled my hands from around his neck. "Were you leaving?" 

"No. I..i thought i would come see you." 

The words would of perhaps caused a small blush to arise to my cheeks on any other day but it was the way he said them that caused my stomach to turn - a mixture of worry and happiness.  He closed the door behind him as he came to meet me out on the front patio. 

"Is everything al..." 

"I've been offered a job in England."

I could almost feel the metal squeak of my brace braking as my knees fell slightly. But i held myself up, despite wanting to just sit down.  My eyes slowly made my way back to his after they fell to the ground.

"How long?" 

It was meant to come out strong and worriless but it rather came out as a whisper. 

"Four months, I'm about to go talk to Barnum about it. I have to leave immediately though." He moved forward and picked up my hands in his. "Come with me." 

"What?"

"Come with me Anne. Come England with me. I mean, i am going to need a mechanic to tell me everything that i'm doing wrong." 

I felt the corner of my mouth lift into a smile but the weight of the whole statement/question hit me not too long afterwards. 

"I can't . I can't Lizzy or W.D at this point. And the circus, I mean..." I trailed off before he interupted again, closing what little space there was between us even further. 

"They can live without you for four months. Lizzy has Philip, W.D has Ailsa and there is so many people at the circus who can help out. You need to live as well Anne." 

I savoured the moment for a few more seconds. Wishing that reality didnt break this. 

"I can't," My voice broke. "I'm so sorry James, but i can't leave at the moment." 

My hands fell back to my side and he stepped back. "Okay then," He sounded dissapointed. He placed a light kiss on my lips, light enough for it to barely be there and light enough that we both knew it was.  "I'll see you in four months okay?" 

"Four months," I repeated and with that it was as though he wasn't even there. Just a figment of the wind's imagination. I turned my back to the house and wiped away a stray tear as i headed back. 

A/N -> So i was just curiou to know if you guys mind the time jump ? And are you okay with there being flashbacks/recounts in later chapters of the events which unfolded at the circus between Jenny, Aubrey and Lillia and everyone at the circus? 

Please let me know what you think or if you have any suggestons. 

Until next time. 

Love, 

Maya.