Tequila Americano

27. farewell

March, 2018

Michelle had already gone home, so it was just Ian, Caitlin and Murphy seeing Pri and Ingrid off at the airport. Priyanka hadn't gone into detail, but it appeared that her brief romance with Eric had burned out.

"I'll miss you so much," Caitlin murmured in Ingrid's ear as they hugged tightly. "I love you dearly, Ingrid, and I'm so incredibly grateful for everything. Don't you ever forget that."

"I'm not likely to, sunshine," Ingrid whispered back. "We'll keep in touch, yeah? And you can visit me anytime."

"You bet I will!"

Ingrid stepped forward to shake Murphy's hand once Cait moved on to Pri. "Thank you for everything, Murph. You've been a literal life-saver."

"My pleasure, ma'am. Keep up the good work."

Ian lingered on the sidelines, hands in the pockets of his jeans. They exchanged a charged look, neither of them able to voice the thoughts swirling through their minds in that moment.

"Been a wild ride, this," Ingrid said.

He nodded. "Quite."

"Come here." Ingrid closed in and pulled him in a warm embrace. His arms wrapped themselves around her, as if by instinct, engulfing her whole. "It's been fun while it lasted," she spoke into his skin, "so much fun. I... I'm so sorry I couldn't give you what you wanted. Hope I haven't used you up. Hope there's enough left for you to move on safely."

He chuckled and kissed her cheek. "I'll manage."

She held him tighter. "Thank you. I'm sorry."

"I'm sorry, too. And grateful."

Something snapped inside of her as she pulled away. A piece of something indefinable broke off and stayed behind, maybe with him, maybe in the space between them, floating unhinged until it vanished into thin air.

A heavy piece, that lightened her load, freed her soul of chains that had constrained it for years. She'd torn down her own walls, marched into the abandoned battlefield of her past, buried the forgotten dead and now stepped back into her transparent safety bubble, poised to fly out into the unknown, like an early explorer in a hot-air balloon.

The mental image made her smile. She made a note to share the idea with Cillian, it felt like it would have fit with the steampunk universe he was striving to build.

Ingrid blew Caitlin a kiss and waved as she backed away, trailing a small suitcase along. She and Priyanka passed through security together, then sat down for a snack and a final coffee, reminiscing.

"I'll see you on the other side," Pri said when they parted. "Take care, Ingrid."

"You too, princess. I have a feeling we're gonna have a lot of fun."

Priyanka laughed, walking away. "It's Australia, baby!"

"Yeah...," Ingrid muttered to herself, "that's what I'm counting on."

*

Ingrid was surprised to find her old friend Remington waiting for her at the arrivals gate in Berlin with a bouquet of flowers. He waved when he spotted her and she headed in his direction with her luggage.

"Seriously, Casanova?" she said once she was within earshot. "Red roses?"

Remi shrugged a shoulder. "They were by the till when I went to buy smokes."

She took the roses from his hand. "I missed you too, you little bitch."

Remi laughed low in his throat and pulled her to him, squeezing her. He smelled of the cigarettes that had inspired him to get her flowers.