Chapter 10 - The Departure of an Admiral
The rest of the night was a blur of apologies and awkward introductions.
Senators and CEOs who had ignored me all evening suddenly found reasons to wander back to Table 42.
They offered their cards,
their congratulations,
and their deep,
unearned respect.
I accepted it all with a polite,
distant smile,
knowing that their respect was as thin as the champagne they drank.
I stayed until the dancing began,
watching Mason and Isabella spin in the center of the room.
They were happy,
they were free,
and they were finally out from under the Foley shadow.
As I moved toward the exit,
I found Walter standing by the door.
He looked smaller than he had earlier,
the silver hair and the expensive tuxedo no longer enough to hide the hollowness within.
He looked at me,
his mouth opening and closing like a fish out of water.
"Ruth,"
he finally managed to say,
his voice trembling.
"I...
I didn't know."
"I know you didn't,
Walter,"
I said,
stopping in front of him.
"That was always your problem."
"You didn't see the woman,"
"you only saw the daughter you wanted to own."
He reached out a hand,
as if to touch my sleeve,
but I stepped back.
"Is it true?"
he asked.
"The fleet...
the stars..."
"It's true,"
I said.
"But I didn't do it for you."
"I didn't do it to prove you wrong."
"I did it because it was the life I chose."
"And I chose well."
Shane was standing a few feet away,
looking like he wanted to crawl into a hole.
I looked at him,
and for the first time in twenty-one years,
I felt nothing but pity.
He had spent his life in Walter's shadow,
and he would die there,
never knowing what it felt like to earn his own stars.
"Goodbye,
Walter,"
I said,
turning toward the door.
"I hope the ice sculptures were worth it."
I walked out of the Grand Bellevue Hotel,
leaving the scent of orchids and beeswax behind.
The rain had stopped,
leaving the city streets glistening under the neon lights.
I walked toward the harbor,
where the grey hull of my ship was visible in the distance,
guarded by the men and women who truly knew my name.
I touched the silver bracelet on my wrist,
the coordinates of my life etched into the metal.
I had been nineteen once,
standing in the rain with two wet suitcases.
I had been "nothing."
But as the wind from the ocean hit my face,
I knew that I had become exactly what I was meant to be.
I was Ruth Foley.
I was the ghost who had come back.
I was the Admiral.
And I was finally,
truly,
May you like
free.
The end.
