Erin opened her eyes. It was already getting dark and she was cold. She wrapped her arms
around herself and looked around. She had been happy here, or at least the closest to happy
that she'd ever been. And it was over. She tried to figure out how she felt. There was nothing.
No pain, no regrets, no sadness. She felt empty.
"Back to normal," she thought and got up. She stepped off the boat and went to the club-
house without looking back.
At the counter the clerk greeted her with a smile.
"Hi Erin. You came to pick up your bag, right?"
"Yes. Could you give me something to write? I need to drop a note for the Jones' of the
"Spirit of Endeavour"."
"Sure, here you are."
"Thanks"
She wrote a few lines explaining she had to leave and that she was sorry but she wouldn't be
able to look after their boat. She folded the sheet of paper and handed it to the clerk.
"Could you…"
"No Problem. Here's your bag."
"Thank You. Bye"
"Bye. Come visit us when you are somewhere in the area."
"I will."
With that she picked up her bag and left the club-house.
She took a bus to the railway station. She would travel south, Florida maybe, not that it mattered.
At the depot, she opened her bag to take out a warmer jacket and saw a white envelope on top
of her clothes. It had just one word on it: Erin.
Her heart stopped. The skipper! She sat down on one of the benches and stared at the
envelope in her hands. Her mind raced. What did he want? She knew she had disappointed
him by not showing up at the club-house. Why didn't he just leave her alone? Maybe she
should throw this note away. Pretend she never got it. But she couldn't do that. What if
he…..She blamed herself for being a fool to hope he would want to see her again. But if he
did, what would she do? Leaving she realized, had been painful. Too painful to allow these
feelings to sink in. If she met him again, and she would have to leave again……
But why should he want to give her another chance, after what she did? Erin felt like she was
about to faint. She had to know. This had to end or she would go insane. She opened the
envelope and took out a single sheet of paper.
The writing looked blurred and she had to wipe her eyes to get a clear view. When had she
started to cry?
The message was short. One line, six words that changed everything.
"If you need me, call. Anytime."
She could see Gibbs writing that. She could hear him saying it.
She knew what she had to do. She went to a pay-phone and dialled his number. Her heartbeat
was so loud, she was afraid she wouldn't be able to hear him.
"Gibbs."
She couldn't answer. She held on to the receiver like her life depended on it.
"Erin, is that you?"
She had no control over her voice. Tears streamed down her face and she couldn't stop them.
She knew she had to say something but she wasn't able to.
"Erin, where are you?"
"The depot," she managed to whisper.
"Stay there. Don't go away."
Erin had to concentrate on breathing. She could hear a door slam shut.
"You still there?"
"Yes."
"Good," a car engine was started. "Don't hang up, okay?"
Erin wiped her eyes again. Why couldn't she stop crying?
"Erin, are you okay?"
"Yeah." She had to clear her throat.
"Stay on the phone with me. I'm with you any minute."
She could hear he was going fast. She was afraid she would wake up and find this was another
daydream.
"Erin, where exactly are you?"
"At the pay-phone by the ticket-counter."
"Okay," the engine was turned off. "I'll hang up now. Stay where you are."
Erin went back to her bag. At least she had been able to stop that flood of tears. Just as she
wanted to sit down, she saw him. She wanted to run. To run away, to run to him. She wanted
to wake up and realize it was another daydream and she wanted this to be true.
And it was true. Gibbs was standing in front of her.
He slowly raised his right hand and ever so gentle touched her cheek.
Erin looked up and met his eyes. Ocean-blue. Sky-blue. This was real.
"Ready to go home?" he asked.
It was her daydream. But this time she wouldn't wake up and find she was alone. She felt the
tears starting to well up again, but she didn't care.
"Yes, I am," she said.
And then she was in his arms and he held her as she cried.
TBC