Dear Griffin

The doctor quickly brought in a writing board and explained what had happened, Griffin looked at everyone around her and saw the tears before she smiled and shook her head.

"Ironic, first my heart gets broken, then my entire body and now my hearing," she spoke loud but that was expected due to her not being used to not hearing anything.

Scarlett broke down in tears at those words, no matter how hard Griffin's family tried to convince Griffin that Scarlett cared, they seemed to be bumping into a wall. Griffin was so caught up in everything that was happening to her, the way her life was changing and how she hardly had any hope left of making a life for herself.

**********

Within months Griffin had settled into a deep depression and no one was able to reach her or to convince her that she had a life left to live. She locked herself in her apartment and ignored everyone. Her family had set up the apartment so that she was able to know when the phone rang and someone was at the door. Their efforts however had only managed to remind Griffin that she was now only half a person. She found it hard to cope with not being able to listen to music or even hear the TV.

"God, face it, you will never be anything again!" she said to the reflection in the mirror and threw a frustrated hand full of water at the offending item showing her reflection.

Her face had become hollow and the long scar running from her temple to her jaw only reminded her of the day the final pieces of her life fell apart. As if her nightmares didn't do enough to haunt her, she still had to wear the scars and suffer the inability to hear. This was some cruel joke by the universe and she continued to wonder what she ever did to deserve this punishment.

The light on the wall blinked again and again, someone was at the door and she questioned whether she should open it. She chose to ignore it and settled on the couch, she picked up the magazine with Scarlett's smiling face on the cover. She cried every time she looked at the picture and wondered if Scarlett ever thought about her. Headlines were made when the engagement was broken off and Scarlett had never commented on the reason behind the decision. There had not been a mention of another person in the singer and actress's life and Griffin often wondered what the reason behind that was.

She put the magazine down and looked at the picture of the short two weeks they sent together, the fourteen days in which Scarlett managed to steal her heart only to trample on it months afterward. She believed that Scarlett felt what she did but she was an actress after all and it could all have been a pretence. Wondering what part of their time together was true became a constant as she fought sleep to avoid the nightmares she knew would come. She pulled herslf from the couch and went into her home gym and started an intense workout to drain all of her energy in hopes she would just pass out and enter a dreamless sleep.

**********

Scarlett had her leg folded under her as she watched TV with a glass of wine in her hand. She wondered about Griffin daily and got constant updates on the ex-soldier's life but none of that satisfied her need to be with the soldier and support her through this difficult time. But tonight she cried because it was exactly one year ago that they made love for the first time and she craved the touch.

Her phone rang and she recognized Braydon's number, "hey."

"How are you holding up?" she could hear the strain in his voice.

"I need her, Bray," was the only thing she whispered.

"We all do but she's still not opening the door. I don't know what to do anymore, my brave sister is just gone," he broke into tears and Scarlett felt her heart ache.

"I'm coming to South Africa, I need to try and reach her. My life has been empty," she sobbed in return.

"If she opens the door."

"Yeah, but I wanted to tell that I have an interview tomorrow and I'm going to tell the world about her and what I found with her."

"That's a big decision," he sighed.

"Maybe she'll see it," Scarlett whispered in hope.

"Maybe..."

They talked for a while and she prayed that she could break through to Griffin because she didn't know how long she could continue living this lie. She was an empty shell and she never knew it until she met the soldier and now that her presence was gone she felt even emptier.

Griffin would hear her story, she had to because this was her only hope. She was sacrificing her career because she realized that there were more important things in life than money and fame.

"Please let this work," she whispered to the silent room.

**********

Griffin was breathing hard, the fucking nightmares were back and she couldn't go back to sleep again. She looked at the shadows cast on the wall and walked to the kitchen to grab some water. Her laptop sat on the coffee table and reached for the machine, she had an urge to write and tell her story. She needed the world to know about the love she had once shared with Scarlett and the tragedy that had befallen her. Her fingers worked furiously as word after word appeared on the screen and pages started filling.

She switched the TV on and watched with half an eye as she tried to control her emotions of remembering the one time she was truly happy. Scarlett's face flashed across the screen and she put the laptop down, her attention focussed on the TV as she read their lips instead of the subtitles.

"So, Scarlett, you said you had a story to tell the world."

"Yes, I do," she smiled and waited for her cue to start.

"So, please tell us," the host beamed.

"A year ago I went to South Africa to get away from the press and have a holiday. In those two weeks my entire life changed. I went jogging one morning and literally ran into a woman on the beach, I remember it feeling like I ran into a wall. Anyway, we became fast friends after the incident and I realized that I felt more like myself in her company than I ever remember feeling before. Then the real shock came, I realized that I was falling in love with her. But we only had two weeks together and we made the best of them. The most amazing feeling was falling asleep in her strong arms and waking up in them the next morning. But there was a catch, she was a soldier and had to report for duty. My heart broke the day we said goodbye and she was shipped off to Cairo. Then the engagement happened, I guess I agreed because I felt so lonely without her and I didn't know if we would ever be anything. I mean we live in separate countries and live different lives. So I stopped writing and then I see the news and recognise her as the soldier who ran into the building before the bomb went off..." she stopped and wiped a tear.

"She got the worst of the blast and managed to get up when the hostiles arrived. She tried to protect the civilians and got shot multiple times. Anyway, she was in the hospital for weeks, that was when I disappeared from the radar for a while. I sat by her side day and night as bad news kept rolling through. She lost her hearing and nearly died but she refused to have anything to do with me. To this day I pine away for her and I miss her with my entire being. If there is one thing I wish I could do differently it would be to stay true to her and fight for what I feel but I was too cowardly and today is the first step I take in attempt to win her back..."

Griffin shut the TV off and cried, she needed the actress to help heal the scars and wounds she carried. That night she fell asleep on the couch and her dreams were filled with the face of the actress.

**********

A week later the light alerted her to the doorbell ringing and Griffin reluctantly drew herself away from her laptop to open the door. Since she started putting their tale to paper she was feeling better and she gasped when she saw her visitor.

"Griffin..." was all Scarlett whispered before she started sobbing.

The soldier drew the crying woman into her arms and held her tight as her own tears fell. They stood like that for a long time, neither women saying a word.

"I'm so sorry," Scarlett finally whispered, forgetting that Griffin could not hear her.

She pulled away and stared into the grey-green eyes and repeated her words again and again.

"It's okay," Griffin smiled through her tears.

Scarlett pulled the soldier down and planted her lips on the soft ones of the soldier. Griffin pulled her into the apartment and they quickly started undressing each other. A trail of clothing was left from the door to the bedroom as their lips and hands explored each other and became reacquainted with the soft skin. Griffin laid Scarlett down and started suckling on the soft neck and planting soft kisses all over the bare flesh.

She ran her tongue over the puckered nipple and suckled the crinkled flesh into her mouth. Her only sign that Scarlett was enjoying the attention was her chest heaving and she wished she could hear the gasps and moan escape that beautiful mouth. She continued her journey down the singer's body until she could smell the evidence of Scarlett's excitement.

Griffin took a deep breath as she inhaled the heady aroma and tried to calm her nerves. She would finally taste her love again and she wanted to savour the moment. Her tongue lightly traced between the folds of the pink swollen flesh and she moaned when the taste settled on her tongue. Scarlett's hips ground into her face and she realized that she also needed this moment as much as Griffin did.

Scarlett knew she was a goner the moment Griffin's tongue touched her sensitive spot. Her hips bucked wildly as she felt her orgasm build. She felt three fingers fill her and the soft lips suck her clit and she knew she wouldn't last long. Her mind became foggy and her body tensed before it started to tremble and her orgasm ripped through her in waves. Griffin saw her mouth open and assumed a scream escaped those lips. With everything in her she wished she could hear that scream once more but knew she never would.

She crawled up the trembling body and kissed her lover softly, tears forming in her eyes as she looked at the beautiful woman beneath her.

"That was amazing," Scarlett smiled into the grey eyes.

"I wish I could hear you scream," Griffin smiled back.

"Didn't you feel the things you did to my body?"

"Yeah, I did," Griffin whispered, her eyes locked on her lover's lips.

"Then you felt my body scream in the fulfilment of finally being touched by you again."

They made love until their bodies gave out and both women fell asleep. Griffin had her first dreamless sleep since the bombing and felt safe in the presence of the singer-actress. When they awoke hours later Griffin led Scarlett to her laptop and showed her the story she had started writing. Scarlett was touched at the beautiful emotions in the story but nothing compared to the happiness she felt at being wrapped in her lover's arms.

*********

Griffin fastened her tie and pulled her jacket on, tonight would be her first appearance on the red carpet for her lover's new movie premiere based on the book she had written about the love they had found. She grimaced when she looked at the long scar that ran along her the side of her face.

Scarlett embraced her lover from behind and spoke over shoulder into the mirror so Griffin could read her lips, "you look so fucking sexy in your uniform. That scar makes you look all rugged and sexy."

"Let me see you," Griffin turned around and gasped when she saw Scarlett in the low cut black dress with a bare back and a high slit that revealed a lot of leg.

Her hair hung loose around her shoulders and her dark eyes sparkled in excitement, "ready?"

"Yeah, if we don't leave now we won't make it," Griffin smiled and ruffled her hair one last time before leading Scarlett to the car.

The red carpet was chaos and Griffin immediately felt out of her element as people buzzed around her and she saw the screaming fans on either side of the carpet.

Scarlett squeezed her hand to get her attention, "just focus on me, baby."

Griffin did just that as they walked down the carpet and when there were interviews being conducted, Scarlett signed for Griffin because the microphone tended to get in the way of their lips and made it difficult to read. They finally reached the end of the long carpet and entered the cinema where a tablet was handed to Griffin. Scarlett quickly explained that the device would show the subtitles of the movie and Griffin nearly cried at the thoughtfulness of her lover.

Griffin pulled Scarlett close and kissed her while the cameras close by snapped the picture that would grace the cover pages of magazines all over the world.