AllFreeNovel
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I nod. “I think it was a date, or it was supposed to be. But we kind of set an expectation that there are no expectations. That we’re going to be friends right now,” I say.
She nods, “I think that’s incredible. Honest communication and a big milestone for you.”
I sigh, “Yeah, I guess.”
“How did you feel about your time together?” she asks.
I think about that for a minute. “I like spending time with him,” I say softly.
“Why?” she asks, and I furrow my brows.
“Why what?” I say, confused.
“Why do you like spending time with him?” she clarifies, though I still don’t fully understand why she’s asking that.
“Well, I guess he’s easy to talk to?” I answer, even though my voice goes up at the end like a question.
“Why else?”
I sigh, knowing she’s trying to wring everything out of me. The more she can wring out of me, the more conversation we can get into. Real conversation, not just surface level babble. “He really is easy to talk to,” I say, “I have to really put in an effort in conversation with most people. Not my family and Madeline and Elliot, but with everyone else I have to really think about what to say, about how to say it so that people don’t think that I’m as empty as I feel inside. But with David, it’s easy. I find myself not thinking at all and just talking to him.”
Naomi nods. “That’s wonderful, Ana.”
“He just feels genuine,” I continue. “Like he knows about the broken pieces now and he doesn’t look at me with pity, but with compassion. With kindness and understanding.”
“So you shared with him a bit about your past?”
“Yes, I told him that Hayden died and…how hard it’s been for me this past year,” I say. Those words never seem to get any easier to say, or to hear.
“I’m so proud of you for sharing that, I’m sure it wasn’t easy,” she says.
“It wasn’t,” I admit, “I kind of started hyperventilating and then cried all over him as he hugged me.”
“Oh,” Naomi says, truly surprised now. “This was after your date?”
“Actually before the first time we tried to go out. Obviously it didn’t work out. But he stayed and we ordered food and we just talked.”
She nods, smiling. “That’s great, Ana.”
I sigh, “Yeah, I guess.”
“Don’t guess, be sure,” she tells me. “That is seriously incredible.” I let out a tiny smile, only a little bit fake. “Can you think of other reasons that you enjoy spending time with him?”
I think about that for a moment, “He makes me feel safe.”
“Safe, how?” she asks.
“Safe in…our surroundings, I guess. But also safe in my…sorrow,” I say, not sure if that even makes sense.
“Can you explain that a bit more for me?” she asks, jotting some notes down.
“He has a calming presence.” I sigh. “He’s very grounded, and peaceful. He kind of…soothes me, in a way. And maybe that’s why I feel so comfortable talking to him,” I say. “He also makes me feel okay to be sad sometimes. He doesn’t try to pressure me to share more than I’m comfortable sharing, and he also understands that…I’m not…okay all the time. That I have a lot of hurt in my heart right now, and he’s not upset by that. If anything, he helps that hurt.” I think for a moment. “Is this making any sense? I’m having a hard time, like, really explaining how I feel.”
“I think it makes perfect sense.” Naomi smiles. “It sounds like he is exactly the kind of person that you need.”
I let out a humorless laugh. “He’s just…the complete opposite of Hayden,” I whisper.
“Hayden was what you needed then,” Naomi ponders. “And maybe, David is what you need now.”
