They Canceled My Ticket I Canceled Them Chapter 36
The server wrote everything down.
Julien, sitting beside me, asked quietly, “What are you in the mood for?”
“Tomato soup.”
He smiled.
“Just soup?”
“And a turkey sandwich.”
It was the same dinner I had eaten alone in Seattle.
Back then, sitting in that tiny restaurant, I had thought that after leaving them, all I would have was loneliness.
Now, the same food sat before me, but I was surrounded by colleagues who respected my boundaries and a team I had built with my own two hands.
Julien raised his glass.
“To Northstar.”
Everyone at the table lifted their glasses.
I raised mine, too.
“To every choice, spoken plainly.”
After dinner, Julien walked me to my car.
“Elena.”
“Yes?”
“I’m taking some time off next month. I was thinking of going to Bainbridge Island to see the museum. Would you like to come with me?”
He didn’t say, *You know the place.* He didn’t make me guess from a photo.
He just stood there, waiting for my answer.
I looked at the snowflakes settling on his shoulder.
“I’d like that.”
“And if you change your mind, just tell me.”
“Okay.”
We made no grand promises. We didn’t make one trip mean forever.
An equal relationship doesn’t need games to prove its strength.