Chapter 41 - the woman who finally sat beside me
At a Whitmore conference, Elena joined me on the private jet.
The cream leather seat was still there.
So was the window.
So was the quiet hum before takeoff.
She paused beside my old seat.
"May I?"
I smiled.
"Of course."
She sat down.
I took the seat across from her.
She looked uncomfortable.
"You don't have to sit there because it's mine."
"I know."
"Then why?"
She smiled.
"Because I wanted to see what started everything."
I laughed.
"That seat didn't start everything."
"What did?"
"A choice."
She looked at me.
"Whose?"
"Mine."
I looked out the window.
"The moment I walked off that plane, I stopped asking someone else to tell me where I belonged."
Elena nodded.
"Was it terrifying?"
"Absolutely."
"Worth it?"
I looked at her.
"Every single day."
The aircraft began moving.
For a moment, I remembered Grant's voice.
Remember your place.
I closed my eyes.
Then opened them again.
There was no pain.
Only distance.
That was when I knew the memory had finally become what it should have been.
A story.
May you like
Not a wound.
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