“First of all, I wanted to say I recognize we all went through something horrific two days ago. Each of us had a different experience and will have a different perspective. Cameron and I haven’t had a chance to talk and neither have Adam and Shay. I don’t know exactly what happened between you two, but something very real happened right here in this room.” She looked at Cameron who smiled back at her.
“Just 48 hours ago, I would have never even thought, let alone said, what I’m about to say right now and while I’m aware of how it sounds, I just don’t care anymore.” She asked Cameron if he’d sit next to her. He stood up and sat beside her on the leather couch.
She took his hand and told him, “I don’t fully understand what we shared here in this room, but I do know this. For me, it was very real and well, unless you feel differently, I don’t want us to lose that.”
He put his arm around her and said, “I want to be with you now even more than I did before.”
“Shay? Is this too weird for you, honey?” she asked.
She looked at Adam who reached over and took her hand. “No more weird than this might be to you,” she said as they held one another’s hands. “Okay, you two might be a little more weird than us.” Everyone smiled and laughed quietly.
“While I no longer really care what anything else thinks, I do feel like we should be very discreet with whatever relationships we develop with one another. What happened here changed me forever. I am so grateful to be alive and I want to live every day from now on and I want to love whom I want to love.” Cameron pulled her close and kissed her on the cheek.
“I think we feel exactly the same way, Erin,” Adam said.
“I have an idea,” Shay announced. “What if…what if Cameron and I, you know, hung out at school and maybe held hands and stuff or went to various school events together? That might keep down any suspicions until we’re able to be seen together in public.”
“I told you she was brilliant,” Adam said to Erin.
“I think that’s a perfect idea. Cameron?”
“If it lets me see the woman I love, then I’m up for it.” Erin turned to him and said, “I love you, too.” As she kissed him, Adam and Shay did the same thing.
They sat there holding each other for a while longer before Erin said, “So…I guess it’s time to put ‘Operation Deception’ into effect.”
Everyone smiled, kissed their new lover goodbye for now, then Cameron held out his hand to Shay and said, “Shall we, girlfriend?”
“We’re really deep, aren’t we, Erin?” Adam said pensively as the younger ‘couple’ left the room.
“Indeed. But after what happened, there’s no place I’d rather be. Life is so fragile and so short,” she said. “I don’t want to waste another day pretending and if I lose my job for loving someone, then I’ll find a new one.”
“I couldn’t agree more,” he told her. He smiled and said, “Who knows? I might even be willing to go to work for a company like Mansanto if it meant taking care of Shay. Well, maybe.”
“Take good care of my daughter, okay?” she asked as Adam got ready to leave.