Chapter 48 - the flight i took without my old seat
Five years after leaving Whitmore, I boarded the Gulfstream again.
Not for business.
Not for a conference.
Julian and I were traveling with several foundation fellows.
There were no executives.
No board members.
No reporters.
Just people we cared about.
I walked into the cabin.
My old seat was empty.
One of the fellows looked at me.
"Do you want it?"
I smiled.
"No."
She looked surprised.
"Really?"
"Really."
I took the seat across from her.
Julian sat beside me.
The young woman eventually moved into the window seat.
She looked out at Manhattan.
"Mrs. Whitmore?"
"Claire."
"Sorry."
She smiled.
"Claire."
"Yes?"
"Was that seat really important?"
I looked at it.
Then at her.
"It was important because I once believed someone could take it away from me."
She frowned.
"But they couldn't."
"No."
I smiled.
"That's what took me twenty years to understand."
The engines started.
The aircraft rose above the city.
The skyline became smaller.
Julian reached for my hand.
I squeezed his fingers.
I wasn't looking at the seat anymore.
I was looking out the window.
At the sky.
At the horizon.
May you like
At everything that had once seemed impossible.
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