Page 115 of As a Last Resort
The line fell silent.My breath was short and fast and tears stung my eyes.Her voice came a few moments later as a whisper.“You want to know why I stayed here, Sam?Because of my family.They were worth staying for.”Then her voice came through, angry and full of steam.“And then Rex.He was worth staying for.And my friends.And the life I’ve built here.That was all worth more to me than chasing some dream somewhere else.”
“Yeah, well, we’re not the same person.”
“No, we’re not.I decided to stay because of the people I care about.You decided to run to get away from the one person who didn’t care about you.”
It was a slap I never saw coming.If anyone understood what I carried, what I went through, it was her.For her to throw it back in my face wasn’t just cruel—it hollowed me out, leaving me with nothing to fight it off.
“What I wanted to be didn’t exist here.”
“Don’t pretend you left to chase a dream.You left to escape her at the cost of everything.”
“You have no idea what it’s like to have something ripped from you.To live in fear that every single thing you care about eventually gets snatched away or leaves.”
“I’m sorry, Sam.I’m sorry for what you went through but it doesn’t mean it’s always going to end up like that.”
I needed to be at the boat dock five minutes ago.“I have to get to the airport.I need to go.”And I hung up.
I looked at the graduation picture again.Anger welled in my eyes as I walked over to it and slammed it face down.I didn’t even bother to wipe the tears away this time.I just let them fall to the floor, along with all the expectations and hopes I had that maybe, just maybe, home could mean something different this one time.
34
SAMANTHA
My tiny city apartment refrigerator was stocked with fancy waters and prepackaged lunch and dinner containers.The fern in the corner of the kitchen looked livelier than when I left.
This was the right decision.I belonged in a world where honking and yelling drifted up from street corners below, where white and gray dominated color palettes with clean lines and angles.Where things were as they seem.And where there wasn’t a godforsaken starfish in a ten-mile radius.
I didn’t need homemade breakfast.I had a five-star chef just down the street who did that for me whenever I wanted.He cooked bacon too.Painted white wicker and sea creature sculptures didn’t belong here.Neither did splashing waves or palm fronds rustling in the wind.No drunk dials in the middle of the night from some guy asking me to come get my inebriated mother.
And people woreshirts.
I took a breath.This is what I had worked my whole life for.To gethere.Not to be stuckthere.
ME:I’ve got an idea
IVY:does it involve burying a body
ME:Close.
You mentioned before
you’ve got a board connection
IVY:i said that?
ME:I need a 10 min slot with the entire board
at the meeting next week
to discuss the resort proposal.
Has to be before Glenn and the team
pitch their whizz calamity.
IVY:BEFORE glenn???
ME:Yes
