PART 3

It’s a cloudy, snowy morning and everybody is sitting around this big brown table. Somebody drinks a coffee pretending to be neutral and completely comfortable. Somebody else just cannot stop staring at them. My eyes shift rapidly from Bette – who looks like a teacher observing a badly-behaved brat – to Tina – who looks sincerely relieved – to Jenny – who’s totally unreadable – to Alice – who seems about to burst into a hysterical laugh – to Helena – who’s simply clueless – to Peggy – who, on the contrary, is totally understanding – to Max – who looks uncomfortable and out of place – to Kit, who’s sitting by my side with her arms folded and a raised eyebrow.
I’m the last guy on the block here and, right now, I am really curious to see how this whole story will end.
Last night, we were all shocked and confused, dazed by Shane’s sudden – but not totally unpredictable – backup. We went back to our hotel rooms wondering what Carmen would do, where Shane would hide, and how Mercedes would finally kill her.
And then, this morning, there was this little note under the door of our rooms:

“Good morning.

Everything has been worked out. Meet us at the hotel bar at 10,30 a.m.
Kisses,

Shane & Carmen”

I mean, what the fuck. These two people cannot stop amazing me. Just when they seem totally over, they always find a way to put the pieces back together.

And now, Shane is sitting right beside her bride-to-be with puppy-dog eyes, moving uncomfortably on the chair and playing with an almost empty mug. Carmen cannot stop caressing her back and look at us with eyes so full of love and relief that I’m frankly touched.
She whispers something inaudible into Shane’s ear, obtaining a shy smile in return. Then she kisses her on her temple and drops the gaze onto the table.
They both look physically exhausted but emotionally peaceful and unruffled. I don’t know if they spent the whole night quarreling or making out – whatever they’ve done, worked anyway.
Shane clears her voice.
“I… I know you’re all very disappointed about what’s happened last night. It doesn’t count much but so I am. And anyway, I am here facing you because I really, really need to apologize about the mess I’ve created with my runaway…”. She remains silent for a long, endless minute.
Carmen squeezes her hand on the table and sips her coffee. It’s weird to see her so silent. It’s weird to see everybody so silent.
“And also… I wanted to tell you that I asked Carmen to marry me this late afternoon”.
The tension, suddenly, melts and everybody starts mumbling and sighing in relief. Alice finally chuckles, like she was expecting the right moment to let it go, while Jenny keeps on staring expectantly at Shane.
“I personally wanted you all to be here because I need, I really need to feel that I am doing the right thing for once. And I know this is the right thing… Apologizing with you all for what I did and for what I was about to do, and telling you that last night something inside of me has changed. In better” Shane continues. Then she sighs, between relief and tension, and clutches to Carmen’s shoulders.
Carmen cuddles onto her chest and turns Shane’s head to kiss her lightly on the lips.
“I… I really love Carmen. I really do. That’s the reason why I was so scared. Scared to hurt her, scared by the idea of becoming her life’s worst damage. But… leaving without talking with her about the whole problem would have been a slap in the face of what we’ve built together during the last year. And I don’t wanna do this to Carmen, nor to anyone of you guys”.
“So you decided to stay” states Bette with a neutral, and yet quite interrogative tone.
“Yeah” Shane answers with no hesitation. “Yeah. I decided not to give up the chance of a lifetime”.
Ten seconds of complete, total silence follow.
Then Jenny claps her little hands together: “I am so proud of you”, she murmurs with glimmering eyes.