Chapter Ten – Where We Stand
307 Words
Two years later, the ocean looked different.
Not calmer. Not kinder.
Just… known.
Amelia stood on the Cebu shoreline at dusk, shoes in her hand, skirt brushing her calves as the tide came in slow and sure. Her life fit her now. The work challenged her. The apartment felt earned. The quiet no longer frightened her.
She had loved before.
She had not settled.
When she heard her name, she didn’t turn right away.
“Amelia.”
The voice was familiar—but no longer fragile.
She faced him.
Inigo looked older in the way people did when they stopped running from themselves. The lines around his eyes were softer. His stance unguarded. He held nothing but a paper cup of coffee, like he had nowhere else he needed to be.
“Hi,” she said.
“Hi.”
They stood there, the space between them unclaimed, unafraid.
“I’m here for a project,” he said. “Temporary.”
She smiled faintly. “I figured.”
He nodded. “I didn’t ask around. I didn’t expect—”
“I know.”
Silence settled—not awkward. Considerate.
“I don’t need anything from you,” Inigo said finally. “I just wanted you to know… I’m well.”
She searched his face. Found no hunger. No urgency.
“I can see that,” she said.
The wind shifted. The sea breathed.
“I’m staying,” she said after a moment. “Not because of work. Because this is where I want to be.”
Inigo absorbed that. Didn’t attach himself to it.
“That’s good,” he said.
She stepped closer—once. Then stopped.
“This is me choosing,” Amelia said quietly. “Not saving. Not waiting. Choosing.”
He met her halfway.
Their hands brushed.
This time, neither of them pulled away.
- Writer
