Page 71 of So Close to You
Seraphina turns her head toward him. Contempt crosses her face.
“No,” she replies very slowly. “For the first time in years, I’m thinking without fear. And that, Adrian, is something you’ll never understand.”
Two security guards appear by the side door, accompanied by legal representatives. The board isn’t even debating it. The machinery has moved too quickly. Adrian realizes he’s finished.
“This isn’t over,” he threatens.
Seraphina watches him gather his documents while security discreetly escorts him toward the exit.
When the door closes behind him, Seraphina picks up her laptop and leaves the room without waiting for applause or any kind of acknowledgment.
The outer hallway is silent. Nerissa waits by the lobby windows with her hands tucked into her jacket pockets.
“Is it all over now?” she asks her.
Seraphina nods slowly.
“Yes.”
The surgeon takes another step closer.
“How are you feeling?”
Seraphina feels a tight knot in her throat.
“I don’t know yet,” she admits honestly. “I’m exhausted, Nerissa. But I’m also relieved.”
Nerissa strokes her wrist with a small, human, genuine gesture. Outside, several journalists and photographers arewaiting. But when Nerissa intertwines her fingers with Seraphina’s, Seraphina feels a surge of confidence.
“Are you ready for this?” she whispers.
Shortly afterward, they step outside together, and the flashes start going off immediately. Seraphina walks slowly beside her, cutting through the noise with an almost unreal serenity. Then they get into the car and drive away from that damn hell.
*
The restaurant in the Northern Quarter is filled with lively conversation. It takes Seraphina several seconds to process where they are. She watches as the waitress approaches, sets down two menus, and walks away as if it were perfectly normal.
Nerissa watches her intently from across the table.
“What’s wrong?” she asks.
Seraphina lets out a shaky sigh.
“I can’t remember the last time I sat down somewhere without thinking about how to escape.”
Nerissa reaches across the table and intertwines her fingers with hers.
“You don’t have to run anymore, Seraphina. We’re here, together, and no one is going to separate us.”
Seraphina looks down at their joined hands. She feels the warmth of her skin, the calm it conveys. And for the first time since Chester, since Adrian, since the photographs and the collapse of everything she knew, the food doesn’t make her feelnauseous. They order a bottle of red wine and share warm, freshly baked bread.
Because after all the horror, this still exists. They still exist.
Minutes later, the waitress sets the plates on the table, and the warm aroma of the food fills the space between them. Seraphina takes the first bite. Then another. And then another.
“Is it good?”
Seraphina nods, and tears begin to well up in her eyes.
