Ella-Louise sat with her mum one side of her and her dad the other, about mid way in the seating on the opposite side to where Ziggy and his dad were. She kept a close eye on Ziggy after he and his dad had followed the casket into the church.
Ziggy kept his head hung, never looking up, and as he walked past Ella-Louise's row, she swore she saw trail marks from tears down the cheek that she could see.
The church was packed to capacity, Emily was a popular person among the village, and while the church wasn't huge, people were having to stand along the back of the church.
John kept a stern but somber expression on his face through the entire service, he hadn't spoken, even to Ziggy, since Emily's death, and Ziggy had noticed that morning while getting ready that John smelt of alcohol. Perhaps to help him through the day, or perhaps to help him cope with the loss of his much loved wife.
After the service in the church, the casket was carried out into the grave yard where Emily would be laid to rest.
"In sure and certain hope of the resurrection to eternal life through our Lord Jesus Christ, we commend to Almighty God our sister Emily; and we commit her body to the ground; earth to earth; ashes to ashes, dust to dust. The Lord bless her and keep her, the Lord make his face to shine upon her and be gracious unto her and give her peace. Amen." Said the priest as John stepped forward, full of tears in his eyes and dropped a rose into the ground atop Emily's casket, followed by Ziggy.
As the people attending the service slowly dispersed, giving John and Ziggy condolences, Emily's sister Rita hugged John, who by this point was cracking. Tears falling relentlessly, so Rita and her husband walked John to the car, Ziggy squeezed his hand to his fathers shoulder as they left. Ziggy stood under a nearby tree as the grave diggers began to tumble earth into the void that held Emily's coffin.
Ella-Louise and her mother noticed Ziggy, and her mother encouraged her to go to Ziggy, which Ella-Louise did willingly.
She didn't know what she would say, nothing she could say would ever make Ziggy feel any better. So she paused behind him before placing a gentle hand to Ziggy's shoulder, making his jump slightly as his concentration from the grave diggers was unexpectedly interrupted.
He turned to see who's hand it was, trailed his eyes along the arm and up to see Ella-Louise's face, puffy and red eyed, tears silently falling, his facial expression and tears matched hers. More so when he saw her and collapsed into a hug. They tightly embraced, Ella-Louise rubbing his back comfortingly, while Ziggy sobbed on Ella-Louise, not wanting anybody else to see the state he was in, so hiding his face into her neck.
Her heart broke even more by his reaction, causing her to become more upset, but desperately trying to hold it together for him. As he broke away from their embrace, she reached into her handbag to grab some tissues for Ziggy and herself to mop up the emotion from their faces.
"I know nothing will make things better, but I am truly sorry" sniffed Ella-Louise. Her voice cracked as she spoke and Ziggy knew the sincerity was genuine. He looked down to the ground and nodded quickly in response.
He slowly looked up to Ella-Louise's face "I'm sorry about Saturday" he commented gruffly. "Don't" she said sharply holding her hand up for emphasis. He blinked at her, a little taken aback by her quick and sharp response, "It doesn't matter" she confirmed before putting her arms round his neck and hugging him again.
Ziggy realised she understood and that it didn't matter. Things could always be rearranged. It had played on his mind about standing her up, but he now had confirmation that she was fine about it all, given the circumstances. He pulled her more tightly to him and sighed on her shoulder.
"There's a wake at the house" he said lowly, "will you come?" he asked. Ella-Louise hadn't planned on it, thinking he might like to be alone after such an upsetting week, but asking if she would come felt like he wanted her around. She pulled back from their hug and slid her hand down to interlink her fingers with his, "Sure" she smiled reassuringly.
Back at the house, lots of people had come to repay their respects, family, friends, locals. The house was like a maze of people. John and Ziggy had organised for food to be bought to the house, with the help of other villagers.
Ella-Louise had noticed Ziggy had disappeared, after getting caught chatting to elderly family members who repeated the same things everybody else who spoke to him had said "It's a terrible tragedy", "Why don't you think about quitting show business and helping out your dad?", "We can't imagine what you're going through" etc.
She grabbed a quick bite to eat for herself and then put a couple of sandwiches, sausage rolls, and a scotch egg on a plate before heading up to Ziggy's old bedroom. The door was a jar and she knocked on it before pushing it open to find him sat on the floor with his back against the side of the bed, clutching a framed photo.
She entered, closing the door behind her, then setting herself on the floor next to him.
She saw the photo frame he was grasping tightly was a photo of Emily, John and himself when he was younger, on a boat with mountains behind them, all smiling, arms around one another. Happier times together.
She nudged Ziggy and held the plate to him, "I'm not hungry" he sighed, "Ziggy, you can't exactly afford to loose anymore weight, you're a stick insect. Now EAT" she instructed him, it wasn't an offering at all.
She took the photo frame from him as he reached for the plate, and she studied the photo. He eyed her carefully. Making sure she was careful with it.
Ella-Louise noticed he hadn't eaten anything still after a few sections of having the plate in his hand, she turned her head to him "EAT!" she snapped, wide eyed and expectant. Ziggy rolled his eyes and picked up a sandwich and began eating.
He hadn't realised how hungry he actually was, due to not eating much since his mother's death, only picking here and there, so when he started, he found he actually was enjoying he food. Ella-Louise felt relieved and studied the photo further as she rested her head against his shoulder.
"When was this taken?" she asked, "On holiday in the Lake District, that's Lake Windermere" he remarked with a full gob of food. Usually Ella-Louise would have scolded him for talking with his mouth full, as would his mother of, but she was just glad he was eating so said nothing. "How old were you?" she asked "Mmmm, maybe 9 or 10" he confirmed.
"Looks like you were all having a good time" she smiled briefly, "Mmmm" confirmed Ziggy. She paused for a bit while he continued to eat before thinking out aloud "You see the funny thing about death is, it's not really about the person that goes, it's about the people they leave behind cuz they're the ones who have to deal with the loss" she paused and Ziggy slowed his chewing to look down at her, "but then we're left with all these wonderful memories of that person. Something no one ever can or will ever take away from us for as long as we live" she smiled as she thought of her own loved ones gone, pets and family members.
Ziggy kept his eyes on Ella-Louise, even though she couldn't see his face as she kept looking at the photo. He put his finished plate down beside him, finishing his mouthful before speaking. "Ella-Louise?" he said lowly "Mmm?" she responded in question. He'd hoped she'd lift her head from his shoulder but didn't, so he nudged his shoulder gently so she would.
Their eyes met and held an intense gaze for a few moments before Ziggy leaned in, reaching his hand to cup her face, and kissed her passionately. And she let him. She turned her body slightly to find a more comfortable position for herself before reaching her arms around his neck. Returning the passion back with the same intensity. She opened her eyes slightly and noticed tears falling down his cheeks.
She pulled away and rested her forehead against his and sighed. Reaching her hands to his face to wipe the tears away.
"I need to escape" he whispered to her, opening his eyes to meet hers once again, "Escape what?" she asked confused, "My life" he simply replied.