All I'm going to say is I really need Bernie back because the lack of Berena is starting to have angst-y consequences now! I hope you like it, let me know if you want me to continue it :) -Sophie x
"What's wrong with me Jason." Serena sighed sadly into her wine glass. Two empty Shiraz bottles stood tall on the coffee table, surrounded by tissues and discarded takeaway boxes. Jason sat on the sofa opposite the chair his aunt occupied, looking distastefully at the state of the living room.
"A lack of memory. Today is Tuesday. Tuesday night is sausage and mash night. Why did you buy Chinese food?"
"Because I don't have the effort to cook." The woman's eyes flickered up to her nephew, but she found his face slightly hazy and unfocused.
"But it's sausage and mash night auntie Serena, not Chinese night!" Jason protested but Serena took no notice of him. She let the remainder of the intoxicating red liquid run down her throat before reaching to her side and pulling another glass out of the cabinet and opening it.
"Why are you drinking so much auntie Serena?" Jason asked her outright, his voice wavering slightly. Too drunk to notice, the consultant shrugged, swaying slightly where she sat.
"Because why not Jason. How else am I meant to relax, hm?"
He looked at her for a moment, studying her facial expression as he said "You're drinking because you miss Bernie."
Immediately she froze, those last two syllables hitting her directly in the heart. She felt her pulse increase and her hand holding the wine glass begin to shake, the alcohol within sloshing over the sides before she slammed the glass on the table.
"Don't mention her name Jason, not anymore." Serena snapped, glaring at him. Instead of backing down, her nephew crossed his arms.
"Berenice Wolfe, Berenice Wolfe, Berenice Wolfe. Face it auntie Serena, you miss her because you're in love with her!"
"No I'm bloody not!" She roared, her voice like thunder and eyes like lightning.
"Yes you are!" Jason roared back, making his aunt jump. Serena had never heard him raise his voice above his normal level before, never mind shout at anyone- especially not her. The shock seemed to pull her from her drunken daze. He carried on.
"When Bernie was around you were so happy. You'd talk to me about her for hours and what you had done together that day. When George the porter told me that she kissed you I was so happy because you were so happy. Now Bernie has gone, you're upset so I am upset too. I don't like breaking our sausage and mash night routine with Chinese food. I don't like seeing the living room in such a horrible mess. But most of all, I don't like seeing you so upset auntie Serena. I love you. You love her and she loves you back. So do something about it and call her."
As he spoke, gradually his voice softened until he was back speaking at his normal tone again. Speechless, Serena just stared at him.
"Come on. Here." He reached to the other side of the table where her mobile sat motionless. He picked it up and pressed the home button, watching as the screen brightened to a picture of Serena, Bernie and Jason in Albies. Jason smiled.
"I remember that night. It was the first time Bernie had fish and chips with us. You let me have a pickled onion from the fish shop. It was a good night."
Serena thought back to that night and sighed fondly. She remembered how Bernie smiled at her over her glasses of wine. How her laugh seemed to fill the room, her eyes outshine the lights and her voice soothe all worry from Serena's conscience. She remembered how easily Bernie had clicked with Jason and how they sat and chatted like old friends. She remembered getting up and letting the army medic past her, breathing in the waft of her cinnamon-scented perfume she so dearly loved.
Then Serena remembered catching a waft of that same perfume as the woman she loved pushed her away and ran for the hospitals in Kiev. The same scent that encompassed her when they kissed, that clung to Serena's clothes for the rest of the day, that made her stop by the supermarket the day Bernie left for Ukraine, to buy cinnamon scented candles so she didn't feel so alone.
"I love her." Serena whispered, body still, her voice barely audible. She looked to the floor, her eyes beginning to water.
"I love her. I love her and I let her get away because I'm a fool. I miss her like, like crazy, Jason. She meant the world to me, my- my ray of sunshine in the storm that is the NHS, my best friend, my... soulmate. She's my soulmate and I can't live without her. I want her back. I need her back. God knows I need her back."
A lone tear spilled down her left cheek as she looked to her nephew. He was smiling. Slowly, he held up the phone, Bernie's contact photo filling the screen and a small timer ticked away in the corner.
"Great speech fräulein." Came the slightly choked, yet still unmistakable whisper of Berenice Wolfe.