14th May 2015

23:18, 5 August 2023

Epilogue

14th May 2015

"Miss Edwards?" I hear a voice and come out of my trance, I look at the young girl with red hair and green eyes I've been talking to for the last two hours. She holds her notebook tightly in her hands and I see her knee bounce.

"Sorry, dear, I was lost in memories" I smile.

"What did Jade tell you?" she asks me trepidatiously.

"Oh, I guess I'll never know. My father dragged me onto the train and I didn't hear the answer" I reply, thinking back to that moment, one of the worst of my life.

"Miss Edwards, you were one of the pioneers of modern reportage photography, you travelled for years telling the stories of women around the world. In 1978 you won the Robert Capa Gold Medal, in '85 and '87 the World Press Photo of the Year and your career has been marked by countless awards and honours, do you think if you hadn't met Jade you would have pursued this career?"

I smile at the question and say to the young woman in front of me just what I said to Jade many years ago, "Jade has been my inspiration all my life, not only was she the one who gave me my first camera, but she was the one who encouraged and inspired me to chronicle society and women's lives in those years, if I had not met Jade, that day in the alley, my life would have been completely different" I answer truthfully.

"Here we are, at the No Time For Us exhibition, you have stated that this is a personal and intimate collection, what do you mean?"

"Here are the most iconic photographs from my career, the ones that have ended up in newspapers and magazines and everyone knows about, but most of the photographs shown today are unpublished, a collection of the images from my private life, the pictures taken behind closed doors and away from curious eyes" I smile.

"Thank you for your time and the interview, Miss Edwards. If you'll allow me I'd like to ask you one last question..." the young woman looks at me softly and places her notebook back in her backpack, I nod in agreement, "Did you ever find Jade again?" she asks.

"Come with me" I smile, "I want to show you something" I stand up leaning on my walking stick and feel a pair of arms supporting me.

"Mom! Please be careful" my daughter tells me, helping me to balance.

"Don't worry, Amelia, I'm only 83, I'm still young!" I tease her and see her shake her head smiling.

"Amelia?" the reporter asks.

"Amelia Edwards, this is Miss Wright, the journalist who will be covering the article on the exhibition, Miss Wright, this is my daughter Amelia" I introduced the two women.

"Pleased to meet you, Miss Wright" my daughter says, shaking hands with the girl whose eyes are still surprised.

"What did you want to show me, Miss Edwards?" the girl asks me.

"Here, this is Jade, the first photograph I ever took of her" I smile.

"Wow, she was beautiful" the woman beside me says sincerely, admiring the photograph I took of Jade that night, her body covered only by a semi-buttoned shirt lit by the dim light of the bedside lamp and the moon.

"This are Jade, Jasmine and Norma" I smile showing the next photo, "We were at the beach, on the day of Jasmine's fifth birthday" I take a few steps forward pointing to another photo, "Here you can see, from the left Jesy Nelson, Leigh-Anne Pinnock, Jade and I, it was the same night and Jade and I wanted to remember our friendship with our friends, I put the camera on a pile of books and took the photo delaying the shot, I guess you call it a selfie today!"

I squeeze my daughter's hand and see her smile as she looks at the photo where Jade and I are sitting on the sofa and her hand is resting on my belly leaving soft caresses.

I go through a few more photos, some are my most famous ones and I don't waste time explaining them knowing already that all the guests at the exhibition know the story.

"Do you see that table over there, Miss Wright?" I point to the small wooden table at the end of the room where snacks and drinks are placed, the woman nods and looks at me curiously, "Come with me"

I make my way to the table with Amelia helping me by supporting me and Miss Wright following impatiently, "There, take a good look, that lady in the yellow dress is Miss Pinnock" I smile pointing to my friend intent on a glass of wine, I see Miss Wright's eyes widen and I smile, "The one by her side in the black dress is her wife, Jesy Nelson-Pinnock".

"Wait, what?"

"Oh yes, it's a funny story, Leigh-Anne was also in love with Jesy but too scared to tell her, they remained friends for many years and turned down any marriage proposal, when the suitors were too persistent they would make plans to run them off. Every year they organised a holiday together, until 1969 when they ended up in the United States, went to the unforgettable Woodstock concert and, thanks to the loud music, alcohol and probably a few joints, although they would never admit it, they finally kissed and confessed their feelings. They were inseparable ever since" I tell laughing at the crazy story.

"Unbelievable" Miss Wright whispers.

"Now see that woman in her seventies?" I point to the woman in the green dress, Miss Wright nods, "That's Jasmine" I smile.

I see Miss Wright snap her head up and look at me with wide eyes, "So you found her!" she exclaims.

"Oh yes," I smile mirroring the expression of the young girl beside me, "And the woman sitting at the table, next to Jasmine..." the words hang in the air and I see Miss Wright quiver in anticipation.

"Yes?" she finally asks impatiently.

"That's Jade Amelia Thirlwall" I smile as I reach the table.

"What?" I hear the reporter whisper.

"Mom, if you don't mind I'd like to tell this part of the story" my daughter Jasmine smiles, I nod and sit down next to Jade who squeezes my hand.

"I think I'll go and get some more wine, I've heard it too many times already" Jesy teases us and everyone bursts into thunderous laughter.

"So, miss, you should know that my mom went back to London three years later when the general died" Jasmine starts to narrate and I see her sister Amelia go next to her and hug her.

"Of course she didn't find our mummy, she looked for her for days and went to the laundry but unfortunately it had closed a year earlier, she found out from the shop next door that one of the shop assistants, Charlotte, had gone to work in a grocery shop nearby and looked for her, when she found her she told her that unfortunately our grandmother Norma had died a year after our mom left for France due to a long illness-"

"So she gave up" Amelia interrupted her.

"It wasn't that she gave up" Jasmine resumes, "But she had run out of ideas, she was still able to be told where our grandmother was buried, and she went to the cemetery almost every day for three weeks, until one day as she was leaving I saw her" she smiles.

"I remember well that day" Jade begins, "Jasmine seemed to go crazy. She kept repeating that mom was back and I thought she was hallucinating" she laughs, followed by everyone else.

"As I was leaving the cemetery I felt two slender arms clutching my legs and when I looked at the ground I couldn't believe it" I speak aloud, remembering the day I found the love of my life and my daughter.

"I remember Jasmine running away and I started chasing after her in despair, I found her clinging to a woman's legs and when she turned around I thought it was a dream. You were more beautiful than ever, my love" Jade says looking at me and I smile squeezing her hand.

We look at Miss Wright who can hardly hold back her tears and I also see Leigh-Anne and Jesy who has come back with her third glass of wine with sparkling eyes.

"Anyway" Amelia resumes the floor, "From that day there was no way to separate them, our mummy had managed to get into Oxford and graduate, finding work as an assistant in a girls' school and then becoming a teacher, in 1974 she went to teach at Cambridge, which had rejected her years before and in 1984 she got the Chair!" she smiles.

"While mom worked mainly in England, Scotland and Ireland during that time to be with us, every summer we would then all go to exotic countries together, to the US or Europe and this was useful for us to learn about cultures and traditions around the world" Jasmine continues.

"Then the turning point" Amelia exclaims, "While mom was photographing, mummy was writing and narrating what they were seeing, they wrote a book and published it and it was an unexpected success. They often worked together afterwards and went on to publish over ten books telling of faraway countries and extraordinary people"

"In many ways it felt like reading Gulliver's Travels" Jasmine laughs and we all follow her.

"So you finally managed to find each other and make your dreams come true" Wright smiles movingly.

"Yes, we fulfilled the last one a year ago" Jade looks at me lovingly, the journalist looks at her expectantly and I can't help but smile.

"That's the last picture in the exhibition" I say pointing to the picture on the wall to the right, the woman looks at it and her eyes go wide.

"That one is? Is it?" she stammers.

"Yes! We waited a long time but we finally made it!" Jade exclaims.

"We got married on a Saturday in September last year when England approved same-sex marriage, we had waited all our lives and as soon as it was possible, we did it" I smile.

"Jade, Perrie... this is an incredible story. Thank you for sharing it with me" Wright smiles with sparkling eyes.

"Finally, our time has come" Jade looks at me lovingly and I share the same look back. I see Jesy squeeze Leigh-Anne's hand and wipe away her tears. Our daughters hug each other, looking around, retracing our and their story.

I look at my wife, the woman who haunted me from the first moment I saw her more than 65 years ago, the woman who taught me love, independence, hope and the strength to fight.

The woman with whom I have lived through the worst and the best of times, the woman who took my heart and handled it with care, cradling it and filling it with love, and in the end I think all the struggles, sufferings and battles were worth it.

"I love you, my love" I say to my wife.

"I love you, forever" she replies.

In the end, it is time for us.

THE END

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A/N - Hello everyone! What can I say? I am so emotional about how this story ended and I hope you all enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it❤️

I want to thank everyone who followed this book, you guys really are the best! 🥰

First, my wonderful, amazing, cutest, the most caring, sweetest, special, best girlfriend ever sdedwards25 to be there in every moment. I love you, babe 🥹🧡

Please, go read all her Jerrie stories, especially the latest "Connection"

And of course jerrie24-7 for her AMAZING comments and support! 👊🧡

Also, a giant thanks to:

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