SEVERANCE CLAUSE

Chapter 13: "The Rescue Boat"

POV: Julian

He sat at the piano, played one chord, then nothing.

The villa was empty, not empty like before the storm, when Rosa,Matteo and Carmen had been there, when the kitchen smelled like fish and the garden smelled like hibiscus. It was empty like a tomb and like the silence after a scream.

Julian sat on the piano bench with his fingers resting on the keys then pressed down.

C major.

The note hung in the air then it faded.

He didn't play another.

He walked through every room after she left.

The great room and the glass walls were still intact ,The boards were still up. Water stained the floor near the terrace door. He stood where she had stood, looking out at the ocean that was no longer visible.

The kitchen. Rosa's canvas bag was still on the counter. The canned soup they had argued about was still unopened. He picked it up and put it back down.

The east suite which was her room. The bed was unmade while the closet was empty. Ramona the succulent was gone from the windowsill. The gardenias were still there, wilting in the morning light.

He picked up one of the gardenias. The petals were soft and smelled like her.

He put it down.

The master bedroom,His room. The bed where she had slept beside him, The sheets where her body had been and The pillow where her head had rested.

He sat on the edge of the bed. He put his face in his hands.

He did not cry, Julian Croft did not cry but his hands were shaking and his chest was tight, there was something in his throat that felt like drowning.

He went back to the piano.

His mother's piano.The piano she had played when she was alive, before his father told her that music was a hobby, that she was embarrassing him, that no one wanted to hear her play.

He had not touched this piano in twenty years.

He opened the lid. The keys were yellowed. Some of them were out of tune because the storm had done something to the humidity, made the wood swell, made the strings go sharp.

He sat down.

He played one chord which was the C major. The same chord his mother had played every morning, the one she said started the day right.

Then nothing.

He couldn't play ,move or even think.

He closed the lid.

The boat arrived at noon.

Julian heard the engine first,then the horn, Then voices—men's voices, speaking Spanish, calling out to the villa.

He walked to the dock.

The boat was a white speedboat, bigger than the one the staff had taken, designed for rough water. Two men stood on the deck. One of them was waving.

"Señor Croft? The storm has passed. We're here to take you back to the mainland."

Julian looked at the villa. Then he looked at the boat.

Maya was already on board.

She was sitting on the port side, facing the water with her suitcase at her feet. Her dark hair was loose. She was wearing the same linen dress from the first day on the island. Her bare feet were tucked under her.

She did not look at him.

"Señor Croft?"

"I'm coming."

He walked down the path. He stepped onto the boat. He sat on the starboard side as far from her as possible.

The engine started. The boat pulled away from the dock.

The island receded behind them.

The villa got smaller ,

Maya watched the water.

Not the island or him but the water which was grey,choppy and endless.

Julian watched her watch the water.

Her profile was sharp against the grey sky. The small scar on her left eyebrow,the curve of her jaw and the way her fingers gripped the edge of the seat.

He wanted to say something.

He wanted to say “ I'm sorry that he didn't mean to lie”

I love you. I've loved you since the first morning you brought me coffee at 6:08. I've loved you through board meetings and elevator rides and the specific torture of sitting six feet from someone I couldn't touch.

He wanted to say”Please don't go”

He didn't say any of it.

The boat cut through the water. The engine and wind was loud but the silence between them was louder.

"Señorita," one of the men said. "Are you warm enough? I have a blanket."

Maya turned. Her eyes were dry and face was calm.

"I'm fine, thank you."

"Señor Croft? A blanket?"

"No."

The man nodded. He went back to the wheel.

Julian watched Maya turn back to the water.

He could see her hands. They were shaking not from cold ,but from something else.

He wanted to reach for her but didn't

He thought about all the things he should have said in the office, when she handed him his resignation letter. He should have said”Don't go”.

On the plane, when she whispered "oh" at the sight of the island. He should have said” I want to watch you discover everything.”

On the terrace, when she stepped into the rain. He should have said”I've been in love with you for three years.”

In the generator room, when he caught her. He should have said”I don't want to let go.”

In the hallway, during the storm. He should have said” You're not alone. I'm not leaving.”

In the bed, after. He should have said” I love you. I love you. I love you.”

He said nothing.

The villa was a speck now. White against green against grey.

Maya still hadn't looked at him.

"Maya."

She didn't turn.

"Maya, please."

She turned.

Her eyes were wet, not crying but close.

"What?" she said.

"I'm sorry."

"You should be."

"I know."

"That's not enough."

"I know that too."

She looked at him. Her face was hard and her hands were still shaking.

"You had three years," she said. "Three years to tell me the truth. Three years to say something but you waited until I was packing."

"I was afraid."

"Of what?"

"Of you , Of this, Of what it meant that I couldn't let you go."

She laughed. It was sharp, broken and nothing like the real laugh he had heard on the terrace.

"You lied to me, Julian. You fabricated a legal document and trapped me on an island."

"I know."

"Do you know what that feels like? To realize that the person you trusted—the person you gave yourself to—was manipulating you the whole time?"

He didn't answer.

"It feels like drowning," she said. "It feels like standing at the top of the basement stairs and watching the water rise."

"Maya—"

"Don't."

She turned back to the water.

The island was gone now, it was just water which was grey and endless.

Julian sat on the starboard side while Maya sat on the port side.

The boat moved forward ,wind blew and the engine hummed.

He could not say a single word that mattered.

So he said nothing.

The island receded.

So did she.

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END OF CHAPTER 13