Finale
I’ve lasted forty days on The Final Summit. Except for the fact that Saffron’s standing in front of me, hands on her hips and her lawyer face on full display.
“I need you to look me in the eyes, Paya.” Saffron demands.
I swallow and slowly lift my chin, meeting my friend’s emerald eyes.
“I want to ask you about Raina. I think about her every day. And every time I do, I think about how I made the decision to take her out of this game because I believed in our alliance. In you. So tell me. Was any of that real, or did I lose her and you, a person I thought was my friend, for nothing?”
I hold my head up a little taller, letting my gaze sweep over the rest of the jury before looking back at her.
“I know you all probably hate me. Nothing I say will change that I hurt you and I’m sorry.
I understand this is a reality TV show competition and although my show persona may have seemed fake, my care for each of you was not.
Saffron. Seeing you get voted out was one of my biggest regrets.
I’m truly sorry. I hope you can forgive me one day and that perhaps I can visit your bird sanctuary. ”
Then, I turn and face the one person who truly changed everything for me.
“I fell in love.” I huff a wobbly breath toward Celeste’s big brown eyes. “Not only myself again, but with you and it’s been the best thing that’s ever happened to me.”
Ever since Lola’s betrayal stripped away my career and my dignity, I’ve been running on pure survival mode.
I entered this game as a production plant, viewing relationships as a transaction because I thought deceit was the only currency the world understood anymore.
I thought winning this money and the fame that came with it was the only way to pay the steep price of my redemption.
Looking back, the most defining moments of this journey weren’t the lies I told, but the ones I finally stopped telling. For so long, the ghost of Lola’s betrayal dictated my every move, making me believe that being vulnerable was a fatal flaw.
Through the anxiety sitting in my chest, I swell with pride looking at the woman I love, grateful she used her relic to save me.
Sitting next to Celeste, the reason I came to this island finally evaporates.
Lola took my trust and used it as a weapon, but I’m the one who fought hard on this island and won my courage back.
I address the jury one last time. “I learned an invaluable lesson while playing The Final Summit. Everyone has a price. But love changes the currency. It certainly changed mine.”
Over the next several minutes, which feels like hours, me, Celeste and Beya wait patiently as each juror votes who they believe deserves to win Sole Champion.
After everyone returns to their seats. Steph stands and taps her Summit staff on the ground. “This season has been truly incredible.” She holds up the golden chest. “Inside here are the jurors’ votes for The Final Summit’s Sole Champion.”
Diving off the canoe to win the first challenge feels so long ago and like it was yesterday at the same time. I think about everything I sacrificed to get to this point and how devastating it would be to lose now.
Yet, whatever happens next, The Final Summit is finally over. I lean over and hold Celeste’s hand in mine. Her eyes are full of tenderness. We share a loving smile. A part of me knows in my heart that this isn’t my final act.
Steph flashes us her famous dimpled grin and delivers one of her iconic lines for the final time this season. “Time to count the votes.”