Page 62 of Severance

“I really don’t feel like opening up that can of worms,” I explain. “I owe him no explanation and he’s going to ask too many questions and then I’ll miss my flight because I’ll be too busy strangling him.”

“Jesus, cut the dramatics.” Tierney laughs lightly. “Fuck. I’ll tell him, if you promise you’re gonna chill the fuck out.”

“I promise.”

“Consider it done,” Tierney confirms and I hear the smile in her voice. It’s a sad goodbye, but I’ll see her again. One day, when I’m in a better place, I’ll have more room in my heart for people like her.

The kind of people that didn’t leave when shit hit the fan.

I glance over at Kai who’s watching me with a grin playing on his lips.

My people.

???

The engine rumbles as the plane slowly drives onto the long runway. We’ll be in the air in a matter of minutes, leaving the place that harbors our nightmares behind. But that same place is home to our greatest blessing.

Mia.

We weren’t leaving her behind, we’re simply leaving her where she belongs. As hard as it is to accept, her life is with her familyand she deserves to have a shot at a normal life. Kai and I need to figure out what a normal life even is. It wouldn’t be fair for us to rip her from the people that have cared for her since she was born.

She’s our child, but she’s their daughter, and we have no choice but to love her from afar.

For now…

???

“Are you sure that you’re ready?” Kai asks as the engine roars louder and our surroundings flash past us.

Staring into his soft brown eyes, I know this is where I’m meant to be. Every step in my life pointed me in this direction. This was my destiny. “I’ve never been surer of anything in my life.”

Kai smiles as the plane lifts off the ground and my stomach goes out with it. Adrenaline courses through my veins as I’m acutely aware that we’re in the air.

“Good.” Kai’s lips curl upward into a playful grin as he leans forward and peers out the window beside me. “I don’t think you’d survive that jump now.”

Chuckling, I shake my head lightly and push him sideways. He sits back in his seat and wraps his arm around me as he pulls me as close as our seats allow.

“I don’t need to worry about surviving anymore,” I whisper against his chest. “It’s time for us to live now.”

EPILOGUE

Dahlia

six months later

The warm ocean breeze blows wisps of stray curls across my face as I sit on our balcony, watching the sun slowly descend into the horizon. Tucking my hair behind my ears, I settle deeper into my lounge chair as Kai steps through the sliding glass door.

Six months ago, we left everything we had ever known behind and moved to the Keys. New York held too many painful memories, it was where our demons were bred, and it wasn’t where we were meant to be.

Here, together, in our own little paradise is where we belong. We came here to start a new life, a better life, and that is exactly what we’re doing.

We bought a condo in one of the buildings and try to live a modest life without flashing our money. People tend to ask questions though when they find out you live in the penthouse on a bartender’s salary.

We spent the first few weeks down here in a daze from the trail of bodies we had left behind us. After we began to settle into our new life, we realized we could be whoever we wanted to be.

I landed a bartending job at a local beach bar two or three nights a week. Kai got a job at the Marina, working in their boat rental shop.

The Keys and the people that live here welcomed us with open arms and a clean slate.

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