Did she want to start a relationship with me?What about her past?Would she finally tell me the truth?My chest constricted as I walked toward the door, my mind racing with possibilities that I could not control.
I opened it.
“Hi!” I said, leaning forward to kiss her on the cheek as she stepped inside.
She looked beautiful, wearing skinny black jeans and a rust-coloured cardigan that wrapped softly around her frame. Her dark hair fell gently around her shoulders.
My heart pounded in my chest.
Every single time I saw her, it affected me like this.The sight of her alone was enough to make my knees feel weak.
“Hi!” she replied softly.
I closed the door behind her and studied her face carefully.“Is everything okay?” I asked. “From yesterday’s call, I mean?”
She nodded, but something in her expression told me otherwise.
Her fingers fidgeted with the strap of her bag as she moved toward the couch.
I followed and sat down across from her.
She avoided my eyes, her gaze dropping to the floor.
Then she finally looked up.
“Cole,” she began quietly. “I want to tell you everything about myself before anything happens between us.”
My chest lifted slightly at her words, but I nodded.
“I will accept your decision in the end,” she continued, her voice trembling slightly. “No matter what it is, I will accept it.”
I studied her face for a moment.
How bad could her past be?
I forced myself to remain calm, reminding myself that everyone carried pieces of their past that were difficult to talk about. I did not want to judge her before even hearing what she had to say.
I nodded again and let her speak.
For the next hour, I remained silent.
I let her talk without interrupting her once.
And as she spoke, I realized just how much she had been carrying inside her all this time.
So many secrets.
So much pain.
So much sadness.
At one point, a line from the movieTitanicsurfaced in my mind—“A woman’s heart is a deep ocean of secrets.”
Listening to her felt exactly like that.
Every new detail she shared stunned me, though I tried not to show it.
Jeremy.
