The Bench

This is Fan Fiction Dedicated to Henry Cavill. No Copyright Infringement Intended.

The Bench

A Story of Lasting Love 

By Tara Devaney-Thompson

22/05/2014

© 2014 by Tara Devaney-Thompson. All Rights Reserved.

Prologue

The young woman let herself into the house and yelled,

“Hello Narnee. It’s only me. Where are you?”

An older woman’s voice replied,

“I am up here Piper-Rose, in the attic!”

“What are you doing up there? You shouldn't be climbing those steps alone”

The deep concern in the young woman’s voice was obvious.

“Oh, don’t fret so, Piper-Rose, I am fine. Come on up”

“Narnee, you know you shouldn't take risks like those stairs. I would hate for something to happen to you. I only have one Grandmother and I’d like to have her for a lot longer”

“Hush, child, I am perfectly fine.”

“Just the same…I would rather you wait until there is someone like me around to get whatever it is you are looking for, which is what, by the way?”

The older woman pointed towards an old suitcase over on a shelf. The young woman brought it over to her and the old woman took it in her arms with a wistful smile. Piper-Rose realized that there was something special inside that battered old case but she would wait for her to be ready to tell her its story.

She helped the woman down the stairs and followed her into the kitchen. After seating her at the table Piper-Rose put the kettle on and then joined her while they waited for it to boil. Her Grandmother had still not said a word. Finally, the water boiled and she made the tea. She placed the cup in front of her and sat down to wait. The older woman opened the case and took out a handful of old, wrinkled and brownish photographs.

The woman sorted through them slowly. Piper-Rose knew that she had to be patient because her Grandmother would not be rushed. She had learned this as a child. However, patience is not a young person’s strongest suit. It was getting harder to wait but, wait she must if she wanted the story. Finally, the woman found the photograph she had apparently been looking for and laid it on the table and turned it to face the girl. Piper-Rose picked it up and recognized that it was one of her Grandfather. He looked so young in the picture and it was one she did not remember seeing before. She looked at her Narnee and said,

“Is this my Grandfather, Poppa?”

“Yes, child, it is. He was barely twenty years old then. That was taken just after we got married and the day before he left for the war. I never told you the story of that part of our lives together have I?”

“No, I don’t believe you have. I would love to hear it though. Will you tell me?”

“Of course I will. I need to tell you before it is too late. I want you to do me a very big favor though, if you can!”

“Anything, you know I will do anything for you”

“I wouldn't be so quick to agree. You don’t know what I am about to ask you”

“Alright, ask me and we will see”

I need you to take a trip with me. To Jersey”

“Jersey! You mean the Jersey off the coast of England!” Piper-Rose asked a little shocked. “Why do you want to go there?”

“Listen to my story and you will, by the end, understand why we need to go there”

“Ok, Narnee, I will wait” the young woman agreed.

“My story begins on the Island of Jersey just before the Second World War”, the old woman pushed another picture towards Piper-Rose. This one was a picture of a young couple sitting on a park bench that sat alongside the beach.

” This is a picture of your Grandfather Henry Cavill and me, Rosalie Girard, the day before our wedding. If I look like the cat that ate the cream, it is because that is how I felt. Only days before it had been miserable, wet and grey weather and my mood matched it. I had not heard from him for nearly a year and I thought that he had forgotten me. As it turned out he had not, but I was not to find that out until later. I think we need to get very comfortable because this tale will take some time to tell. Maybe we should get a pot of tea and take it into the living room. What do you think?”

“I think that is probably a good idea, Narnee” the young woman again put the kettle on whilst her grandmother went into the other room and got settled. Once the tea was made, she followed and made herself comfortable.

“Now,” her grandmother said,” I am going to tell you our story as though it was that of someone else. It is easier for me to tell it this way because if I tell it as my own the memories would overcome me, and I will not be able to finish. After the story is told then you might understand why I need to return to my home after all these years. It begins not back when we got married but well after that. There is a reason for my telling it this way as you will see. I recommend that you grab a hankie or tissues though, as this is a sad yet beautiful tale. So, here we go”

The rain fell as though it would never stop and for this the woman was grateful. It served to hide the tears that coursed down her cheeks. She also felt gratitude for the fact that the bench on the beach side was empty because of the rain. People seeing her like this would only make her feel worse. Every day she came here to the bench but only on rainy days did she feel able to really allow her emotions to come to the surface. Why she did is the reason for the story I am about to tell you.

This story really begins many years earlier when she was a young woman barely out of her teens. Life had been so full of promise then. She was young, beautiful and so in love. The young man who had won her heart was tall, dark and very handsome and went by the name of Henry. He was dashing and elegant which was unusual for a lad from Jersey. She knew it was more to do with his upbringing than with the island.

Henry was just a year older than she but wiser in the ways of the world. He had been to the real world…England. His parents had sent off to boarding school from which he would soon return. Having known him from school days on the island she was aware that he was a shy young man with little self-esteem. She hoped that the time in England had made him see he was truly worthy as any man.

The day of his return soon arrived and she, along with his family, waited patiently at the airport. She was excited but also nervous. She had always known that Henry was the one for her but was worried that he had found a new more exciting love over there in England. Her heart played hop, skip and jump in her chest as she waited. Alternately wishing the time would pass faster and wanting to run home as fast as she could.

Just as her decision to run won out they announced the planes arrival. She couldn't leave now. He was almost here. Before she could change her mind, again, she heard his mother and father start calling his name. She had been looking at her feet in anticipation of running so had to raise her head to see. What she saw almost made her faint.

Walking through the gate was the most beautiful man she had ever seen. Surely, this can't be him she thought. He had been a somewhat chubby boy when he left but, he was returning a tall, lean young man. He smiled when he spotted his family and that smile lit up the world. Her heart plummeted with the sight of him. She need not have worried that he had found a new love because a man so perfect would not want a plain girl like her.

She backed away from his family in readiness for flight before he could spot her. She was not quick enough though for he looked over and she saw his blue of the sky eyes lock onto hers. Now she was caught. He nodded at her to let her know he saw her and would get to her later. She gulped and nodded back then left. How foolish she felt. He was out of her league now so she may as well forget anything from him but, if she were lucky, a friendship.

Later that day as the sun was setting, she sat on the bench at their favourite place. Here is where they had come to talk and make plans for the future. He had had such big plans back then. He was going to grow up to be a hero like Superman and save the world. She had only ever planned to be where he was even then. Her dreams seemed to have evaporated with one look at the magnificent man he had become.

She was so absorbed with her memories that she didn't hear him walk up behind her. His voice broke her reverie and startled her.

“I knew I would find you here”, he said in a voice that was deep yet gentle.

“I didn't know you were looking for me” she replied.

“Of course, I would look for my first and best friend. Why would you think I wouldn't?”

“Maybe because I didn't think I was still your best friend” her voice held all the hurt and broken dreams she felt.

“You are, why would you think differently?” his voice held genuine puzzlement.

“Maybe because I haven’t heard from you in almost a year”, she said rather tartly.

“I am so sorry about that, but it has been an incredibly busy time for me. You have no idea what has been happening. Will you please look at me?” he almost begged.

Finally, she relented and turned to face him. She almost fainted with the shock. He stood before her dressed in the Uniform of a British Officer. She had been aware that the war was getting closer but, to see him ready to offer his life to defend their home was more than a surprise. Though she immediately knew it should not be. If anyone she knew was likely to join up it was him.

“When did you join up?” She asked when her throat cleared.

“Six months ago as soon as I graduated”, he replied, “That is why you haven’t heard from me. I didn't want to tell you in a letter, and they wouldn't allow us to leave barracks until we had graduated. Are you very mad at me?’ he asked.

“I should be but….no, I’m not. I am proud of you” she told him. And she was proud of him. Proud, and also scared.

” When do you leave for the front?” she asked while wondering if she really wanted to know the answer.

“We leave in a month. We have been given two weeks to say our goodbyes and make preparations before returning to camp and shipping out to the front”

She wanted to scream. She would have so short a time with him and then he would leave. Gone to fight in a war from which he was likely never to return. How would she get through his time over there hoping that he would survive?

“So soon?” she said.

“Yes, so soon. That is why I had to come home to see you. I had to tell you that you are the one who has kept me going all these years away from home. Your letters, phone calls and silly gifts, along with the tales of island life made it bearable. Now, I am going away again only this time I may never return”

“Don’t you say that!” she yelled as she punched his chest, “don’t you dare say that. You will return home. You Will! I will not allow you to be killed. Do you hear me?”

“Oh, my darling girl” he said as he took her in his arms, “If mere words were enough to guarantee my safety then I would surely be one that comes home. However, much as we may wish it and rail at the injustice of war, we must accept the fact that I may very well die”

She felt his strong arms encircle her and breathed in the scent of him. She wanted to remember that smell for the rest of her life.

“I don’t want to accept it. I want to fight it and so should you”

“I most surely will, my love, but reality is just that reality”

“What did you just call me?” she asked in surprise.

“I called you My Love. Why?”

She didn't say a word. Shocked and more than surprised. Elated yet almost unbelieving she simply reached up, cupped his face in her hands and planted a kiss firmly on his lips just as she had dreamed of doing for so long. Now he was the surprised one.

“Well! That was a surprise” he said, “I was planning on doing that to you”

“Shut up, silly boy, and keep kissing me. If I have to get used to possibly losing, you then I want to have something to really give you incentive to take care” and she kissed him again.

He gathered her in his arms and returned the kiss with equal ardour. Minutes later he broke their embrace and, gasping for air, laughed in a wonderfully infectious way. She couldn't help but laugh too.

“Believe me I have incentive. Now, where do we go from here?”

She could hardly believe she was here with him holding and kissing him. It was all like a dream she hoped she never woke from.

“I don’t know!” she said, “Where do you think we should go?”

“Personally, I think we should get married, but I will bow to your decision”

“Married!” she spluttered. “But we have only kissed. Once! And suddenly, you want to get married!”

This was becoming more unbelievable by the second. Less than an hour ago she was in deep despair because she believed he could never feel for her the way she felt for him and now he was talking marriage. She couldn't help but think that she was dreaming. If she was, she never wanted to wake up.

“Of course, I do. You are my best friend; my only love and I don’t think there are better reasons or a better time. Do you love me?” he asked with a serious look.

The question threw her for a moment.

“Of course, I do you idiot. I have loved you since Junior School. I simply never thought you could love a plain and simple girl like me”

He stepped back. A look of shock on his face he said,

“Plain. Oh, Rosey, you are far from plain. No other girl I have met can come close to how lovely you are in my eyes. And simple, I think not. You are as bright as any man or woman I have known even brighter than most. I have loved you for as long as I can remember and only ever wanted to spend my life with you. Please, say yes” and he knelt down on one knee and held her hands in his.

Tears welled up in her eyes as she struggled to understand what he was saying. He loved her. He really loved her. It was not a dream. She cried openly and spluttered,

“Yes, I will, you loon. I love you with all of my heart and more. The sooner the better before you change your mind”

He rose to take her in his arms again and kissed her deeply with all the love he had in him. When they finally let go of each other they decided to go home at once and tell their families. They practically skipped all the way home from that bench by the sea.

Both families were thrilled, and the wedding plan was set in motion for two weeks later. Those weeks passed in a blur. There was so much that had to be done in so short a time that they could only manage and afternoon or two on their own. They spent them on the bench cuddling and making plans for the future. They were so young and so in love.

The wedding day dawned with perfect sunshine and cloudless skies. She took this to be a good omen for their life together. She put on her make-up and her Mother and Sisters helped with her hair. Then came the moment she stood in front of the mirror in her wedding dress. They had had to use her mother’s dress quickly adjusted to fit her but she could not have been happier with a new one. Her Mother cried as she looked at her daughter.

Before they left the bedroom, she gave her a beautiful locket that held a photograph of her and her Father on their wedding day. She told her that she hoped her marriage turned out to be half as happy as her own had been. Rosey tried no to cry and ruin her make-up as she thanked and hugged her mother. Then her Mother left her to have a minute alone.

This is really happening she thought. I am about to marry Henry the man of my dreams and the love of my life. I will be Mrs. Henry Cavill. A chill suddenly swept up her spine. She took it to be nerves and grabbed her small bouquet. Downstairs her family waited. There were lots of oooh’s and ahhh’s and compliments. And then they were out the door and in the car. They arrived at the church to find his family waiting. The smiles and applause let her know how happy they were. Then it was time.

She walked into the Church and there he was at the altar. He looked so beautiful to her. The light from the stained-glass windows bathed him in the softest light that served to enhance that beauty. How had she been so lucky to have him love her?

After the short ceremony they had a small reception at her parent’s home and then they were finally alone. Her parents had arranged for a friend’s holiday cottage for their first night as man and wife.

She had never felt so nervous in all her life. He had never seen her naked and she was worried that she would not please him. She had no need to fear. Before they could get to the bed, he was behind her and it was obvious that he found her...appealing. She felt his manhood, in all its glory, through the soft material of her gown. It made her lady-parts tingle. His hands slowly moved over her breasts making her nipples rise.

He let them rest on her full luscious breasts for a short while, but he was anxious to explore her more fully. Undoing the many buttons on the back of her dress proved no obstacle to his desire. Soon he had the dress on the floor, and she stood in her lacy under garments. She shivered more from anticipation than from cold. His warm breath preceded his lips as they kissed her neck and shoulder. She turned to him and let him lick her from neck to breast. He gently eased her to the bed and with great tenderness took that which a woman can give only once.

He was an ardent, yet considerate lover and she felt things she had never dreamed possible. Her body knew instinctively how and when to respond to his tongue and fingers. He covered every inch of her with his tongue and she learned a new way to please a man that none had ever talked of to her. She knew that in time she would learn more ways in which to please him and herself.

She had not known her body could react in such many and varied ways but, she was glad he was the one to teach her. When they could no longer bear to wait, he slowly, tenderly and with much patience entered her. She gasped at the feeling of him sliding deep within her and again as he started to move in and out. A new and indescribable feeling began to build in her and in a very short time she felt her first but not last orgasm. When he felt her come, he could hold back no longer and filled her with his seed.

After, they lay quietly and languidly without speaking. After a few minutes he rolled over, whispered I love you in her ear and enfolded her in his arms. She looked into his eyes and felt such a love as she had never known could exist. She wanted to burn this moment into her heart for all eternity. This was to be their first and last time together. The next day he left for the war and she never saw him again.

Months later she received notification from the War Office that he had been killed in action. Her heart died that day, yet she lived on. She tried to continue her life on the island but the memories the island held were too heartbreaking for her. A few months after she got the news, she left the island and moved to London and got a job working in a Book Publishing firm.

The years passed and for all those years she never forgot her lost love, Henry. In her heart she was always to remain his wife. Eventually even London held too many memories, so she decided to emigrate to Australia to try and forget. It did not work. She tried using her work to fill the void. She made friends and tried socializing. Men wanted to be with her, but she had no interest. Her heart, it seemed, truly had died with Henry.

After working in the publishing field for a few years she decided that she wanted to become a writer. With encouragement from her boss she wrote the story of her lost love. It became a huge hit and she made lots of money. Even this did nothing to brighten her world. She remained a sad and lonely woman. One day as she was getting ready to leave on a book tour she realized that she could not keep running from the very thing that had made her famous.

Instead of flying to New York she took a plane back to Jersey. All the way there she debated on whether she should have done it or not. It was too late now to change her mind she thought. This was something she needed to do. As she had told no-one what she was doing so when the flight landed there was no-one to meet her. She was quite happy with this as she preferred no-one knew she was back, yet. After settling herself at a quiet hotel she made a few phone calls to real estate agents.

She wanted to know if she could purchase the little cottage where she had celebrated her wedding night with Henry. Finding out that it was indeed for sale she bought it and moved in straight away. As luck would have it the cottage came fully furnished so she did not have to worry about that aspect.

Not having to work for a living due to the success of her book she had her days to do with as she wished. So, she spent her days sitting on the bench looking out to sea. People wondered why she spent her days there, but she did not enlighten them.

This brings us to today as she sits on the bench in the rain.

As always she sits and looks out to sea waiting for her true love to return knowing he will not. On this day however her reverie is interrupted by a cough. Irritated at the intrusion on what she perceives is her bench she turns. She is about to say something nasty when her voice catches in her throat. There at the end of the bench stands a man in a raincoat and hat.

“I am sorry to disturb you, “he says in an oddly familiar voice. “I was looking for someone”

“Who are you looking for?” she asked.

“A woman I knew not so long ago. She used to come here with me when we were children”

She felt a cold shiver rise up her spine much like it had on her wedding day.

“Why do you look for her?” she asked.

“I want to tell her that I did return home just as I said I would”

She moved closer to look into his eyes. It cannot be. It is impossible she thinks. Yet, her heart tells her it is not. And there in his left eye was the proof. A small brown area in his blue left eye. The only man she had ever known to have this was her Henry.

“Is it really you?” she asked afraid that she was dreaming.

“Yes, Rosey, it is really me. I have looked for you for so long my love”

She practically ran at him. She hit him in the chest and then threw herself into his waiting arms and covered his face in kisses.

“I promised I would come home to you, my love and here I am”, he was crying, and his words were stuttered but she understood him very clearly.

“Well, it took you long enough” she said with laughter in her voice and tears in her eyes too.

There they stood holding each other at long last. All the years of loss and longing were poured into a kiss that lasted a long time. When they at last parted lips and took a breath they sat on the bench and he told her of how the wrong soldier had been identified as him and it was not discovered until they had found him in the hospital he was repatriated to in London. He had suffered a rather devastating head wound that left him in a coma for nearly a year. It was not until he woke and then many months after that that they referred to him by the wrong name they realized who he was. No-one could understand how the mix-up occurred but on the brutal and bloody battlefield no-one took too long with what they termed the small details.

He explained that it took nearly two years for him to recover enough to be released and the first thing he had done was to look for her. He was devastated when he learned she had left the island and even more so after travelling to London and discovering she had left for Australia. He had searched for her in Sydney and then Melbourne and found out that she had left for New York only days before. Then, he had come home, alone.

“So, you were in London while I was there!” she asked.

“It seems so, but I was so very sick for so very long and, though I tried to find you after I was recovered, I kept missing you. Sometimes, I would miss you by a year once by a month and this time by mere days. I had given up on ever finding you when I heard someone in the pub mention the strange woman who spends her days sitting on the bench by the sea. I thought, could it possibly be you! I had to come and see for myself. So, here I am”

“Yes, here you are. You have found me now and I will make damn sure you never lose me again” she clasped his hand and leaned against him.
“Now my life is complete again. I was so worried that you might have re-married and be settled with a new love”, he said.

“Oh, my silly boy, you are and will always be my first and only love. I could never love another, ever”

“You mean everything to me, Rosey, everything”

After a while the daylight gave way to night and the temperature began to drop.

“Shall we go home now?” she asked him.

“Home!” he queried.

“Yes, home. I bought the cottage where we spent our one and only night together before I lost you. I will always consider it our first home. So, husband, will you take your wife home?’

“Yes, let’s do that right now my love” she agreed. She would be Mrs Henry Cavill again just as she had dreamed.

They practically skipped home from that bench on the beach.

Epilogue

The old woman stopped talking. She looked up to see that her granddaughter had tears rolling down her face.

“What in the world are you crying about Piper-Rose?’

The young woman had to work hard to pull herself together and answer her grandmother.

“That’s such a lovely story. I had no idea that you and Poppa had such a traumatic story. I knew he had gone to war but not that you had such a very nearly tragic ending”

“Many people had stories just like ours or worse. I just wanted you to know the full story so you will understand why I have to go back to Jersey. You see, your Poppa wanted his ashes scattered beside that bench where so much of our story took place. When he was dying, he made me promise that I would take him back and that, when my time came, I would join him there once again. Can you understand now?’

“Of course, I can Narnee. I will be more than happy to go to Jersey with you. Is the cottage still there?”

“You know it is funny that no matter where in the world we travelled or lived we always considered the cottage as our true home. The only reason we stayed here in Melbourne was to be near you and your parents and siblings. Spending so much time on book tours and movie locations for your grandfather's career in acting we wanted to settle for a few years and get to play Narnee and Poppa. Now that he is gone, I feel the need to go home with him. I want to spend what time I have left there in our little cottage”

“I can understand that Narnee. I cannot wait to see it”

“You will more than see it, Piper-Rose. It will be yours when I pass away”

“No, Narnee, Please, don’t talk like that”

“Reality cannot be ignored child. Someday I shall be gone, and I want you to have my little cottage. You don’t have to live there just make sure that it is loved and cared for is all I ask”

“Of course, I will make sure. I will also be quite happy to live there. I am not a big city girl and I want to follow in your footsteps and become a writer someday”

“I am sure you will my darling girl” Rosey said as she reached out to hug the young woman.

They arrived in Jersey a few weeks later. The first thing they did was to visit the bench by the sea and scattered Henry’s ashes. Then they sat and watched the sea for a while in comfortable silence. Rosey had the distinct feeling that if she turned around she would see him standing behind her with that beautiful smile and twinkling blue eyes. She reached over and held her grand-daughters hand smiling at the thought.

A year passed and the old woman went to join her Henry once again. Piper-Rose took her ashes to the bench and with tears and smiles scattered them alongside it. She sat and looked at the view happy knowing that Henry and Rose were together again this time for eternity.

The End