Epilogue
One year later
Amy Cahill watched as familiar faces greeted her arrival at the JFK International Airport.
The first one to race to her side and give her a hug was Natalie Kabra. It was a bit ironic judging from the fact that she was always the one who was smooth and suave during emotional occasions like these.
The airport was filled with businessmen, tourists, and families alike. Voices mingled in the air along with the smells of disinfectants. Canine units roamed about the premises and other airport personnel went about here and there.
"Hey there," said Dan awkwardly as he walked to stand by Amy's side.
"I didn't know you missed me so much, Natalie," the Cahill woman said.
The holder of the aforementioned name chuckled in response.
"Do you have a place to stay already?" asked Dan.
"As for now, no," Amy answered to his question.
"Well, you're invited to stay for as long as you like in our house," Natalie declared cheerfully.
"Oh, how's Renee?" Amy inquired. She hadn't heard about the girl since the catastrophic Cahill gala.
"Well, she's doing all right," murmured her brother, "depending on your definition of 'all right'."
"Why, where is she?" asked Amy in a half-curious tone.
"Well, we disowned her. I reckoned that it was past due the time she learned responsibility and respect," mandated her sister-in-law in a most superior tone. "We finally decided that she had done enough."
The older of the Cahill siblings barely suppressed her shock. It was apparent that Renee was in need of desperate disciplinary measures but she never thought that the people who had the rights to exert the measures, Dan Cahill and Natalie Kabra, would actually get to it.
"Okay, so where is she now?" the trio had started walking towards the carousel to retrieve Amy's luggage.
"Well, all I know is that she probably is chilling with Ian's wayward son," replied Dan begrudgingly. "I should've seen it coming you know."
Amy could hear the repentant tone evident on her brother's voice. She knew from the heart that it wasn't his fault, but he was a father and even though Amy hadn't experienced being a parent, she recognized how hard it must be for him to deal with the departure of Renee Cahill.
-x-
They decided to stop at a nearby airport cafe to grab some lunch. The place they had stopped by was a small, Starbucks-like cafe whose air reeked of brewed coffee. There were few people inside, a businessman who clutched at his Blackberry as if it was his lifeline, a single mother who was desperately trying, and failing, to feed her son his food, and a foreign model who, by the looks of it, was expecting someone, possibly her partner or her talent agent.
The barista had blonde hair and dull green eyes, the normal features of an average American kid. He looked bored as there were no customers in need of being entertained. The guy looked like he was just about eighteen or seventeen, quite probably still in college.
"What will you guys have?" asked the barista dully, boredom apparent in his features.
"I'll have a ham and cheese croissant and a non-fat latte," said Natalie.
"I'll have a club sandwich and a double-shot espresso," Dan said absentmindedly.
"Me, a triple-shot espresso and a Caesar salad," Amy dictated.
The guy entered their orders into the machine and gestured for them to take a seat. When their orders came, the three of them ate in absolute silence.
Amy decided after a few minutes of quiet, that the silence needed to be broken.
"You know, in the entirety of my trip, I found out that you cannot hold grudges forever."
Natalie and Dan looked up.
"I think I'm gonna' go talk to Ian tomorrow."
-x-
Amy started unpacking her luggage the moment she was assigned the guest room, the room she previously resided in before she took off, in Dan and Natalie's house. After she had all her stuff stored in the right places and her toiletries arranged accordingly, she remembered that she didn't have a job.
She sat down on the bed and contemplated calling the firm but she knew that it would be unfair if she was just reinstated on her previous position and plus, he was still working for the firm last time she checked.
She heard someone knock at her door and yelled, "Come in!"
Natalie Kabra carefully laid her dainty feet on the wool carpeting of her room. Amy felt her sister-in-law's Prada shoes near her. She felt the bed tilt to one side because of the additional weight.
"Hey there," the woman greeted awkwardly. "You're gonna' talk to my brother tomorrow right?"
She nodded in affirmation.
The other half of the Cahill siblings noticed that the lady she was speaking to was holding a cream white envelope between her slim, dark-colored digits.
"What are you gonna' say?"
Amy smiled morosely. Honestly, she hadn't thought about it.
The other woman nodded in understanding and decided to change the subject.
"Have you gotten a job?" Natalie asked as if she had just read Amy's mind. Apparently, she recalled her broadcasting the decision a year ago"Not yet," she said.
"You could work for us in my company's legal department if you want," offered Natalie nicely. "Besides, we're currently running short of people to handle our cases."
Amy smiled.
"Of course I would."
Both women chuckled.
"You can start tomorrow," said the Kabra girl. An awkward silence passed before the Kabra handed her the envelope. "Work starts at nine in the morning and ends at five in the afternoon."
Before Natalie went away, she said, "I think this letter is long overdue."
She then handed her the envelope. Amy waited until she had exited her room before opening the letter.
Amy,
I know that I have done something unforgivable and that I don'tdeserve your trust anymore. But I would like you to forgive me in that heart of yours. I would be eternally indebted to you if you manage to do so. I know that what I have done was in many ways unspeakable. I beg this of you.
I don't mean to sound cliché but I just fell in love with the wrong woman. And I do not recant that this is all my fault too. I should've known better and should've seen through my selfishness.
Ian
The redhead could barely control the sob that escaped her lips. She closed her eyes as she felt hot tears make their way down her cheeks. How could she have been so ignorant? She should've foreseen this before.
Well, tomorrow was another day. And she will make it all right in the end.
-x-
Times Square was particularly busy during lunchtime. People bustled in and out of major banks and firms to swarm through the streets. Amy Cahill sat quietly on a bench while she waited for Ian Kabra the day after she read the letter.
After a moment, a Mercedes-Benz parked on a curb and a handsome man with adark skin tone exited the car and ventured towards where she was sitting.
"Hello. Long time no see," the man started awkwardly.
The woman he was speaking to took a sip of her coffee and told him, "I forgive you. But I haven't forgotten the pain and the heartbreak you've caused me. I don't think I ever will."
The man proceeded to take a seat beside her, his head slumped.
"But I'm willing to start over as friends," she dictated. The man beside her looked at her with a grateful expression. Amy then stood up and held out her hand. Ian then went to do the same.
"Hi, I'm Amy Cahill. Pleased to make your acquaintance."
The man smiled, not a smirk, not a grin, but a real smile.
"I'm Ian Kabra. Equally obliged."
Fin
Disclaimer: I don't own the 39 Clues or anything associated with it.