I stand up and glance out the office windows to make sure nobody’s right outside. Then I sit back down. “June…something happened to me when we were in high school.”
Her eyes flash with anger. “Who hurt you?”
“I fought him off.” My voice sounds far away to my own ears. “He didn’t…even though he tried…” I can’t continue due to the sudden lump in my throat.
“Lei.” June reaches out her hand, and I take it. “I can’t believe you never told me before.”
I nod, accepting the tissue she hands me. “I’m okay. But when I escaped, I opened the door and there was…Brayden Wild.”
Her eyes go huge. “Brayden? Our Brayden?”
I smile at her affection for him. “Yes. We met twelve years ago. Just that once.”
She sits back in her chair. “So he knows what happened to you.”
“Yes.”
“This is a lot to take in,” she admits. “Did you start dating Phillip right after?”
“Pretty much,” I say. “He was stable. He was consistent and safe, and he never made me go to parties or push me out of my comfort zone.”
Her face relaxes. “I get it.”
“Phillip was my partner. He was there for me when Mom and Dad were always traveling. He was all I had for years.” I fidget with my hands in my lap.
June says nothing. She just sits and looks at me.
I play with the zipper on my purse. “But he’s been acting…distant. It’s been going on for a while, but I was in denial until recently. I’m afraid we’re growing so far apart that we won’t be able to stitch things back together in time.”
“Do you want to stitch things back together with Phillip?”
I chew on my lip. “I’m not sure.”
“I know I give you a lot of flack over it, but I’m not the best person to talk to about this.” June shrugs. “I haven’t been in a serious relationship since I broke up with Sammy senior year of high school.”
“I admire that you don’t need a relationship to define you.”
“No, I just need random sex once a month,” she jokes.
I smile. “You sound like Sophia. You guys are too hard on yourselves.” I stand up. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“Lei.”
I turn back to her.
“I’m sorry that happened to you.” Her face is drawn. “I wish I could have been there for you. But I’m glad somebody was.”
“Thanks, June. I’ll meet you out front.”
I head down Aisle 8 and grab two bottles of Phillip’s favorite red wine.
When I reach the register, June’s there too, and she starts to ring me up. “Do you have Brayden’s number on your phone?” she says in far too casual a tone.
“Yes,” I say suspiciously.
“Good. I need you to call him for me.”
“Call him yourself.”
