It had been a rough night, and sitting at the kitchen table, Marlow didn't care if she looked like crap. Absentmindedly pushing her breakfast around in her bowl, she stared blankly out into the backyard. Hearing Zoe come into the kitchen, she only grunted when Zoe confirmed that she did indeed look awful.
"What happened after I went to bed?"
"Piero called, and I told him more about growing up."
"And how did it go? Did he take it well?" Zoe asked, reaching deep into the cupboard for her favourite cereal.
Hearing herself answer that she hadn't given him a chance to respond, Marlow realized how awful that sounded.
"That's not fair," Zoe sternly remarked. "How do you know he wasn't going to say that your past didn't bother him?"
"He, he..." Marlow stammered.
"He what?" Zoe questioned, unwilling to let Marlow justify potentially losing a great guy.
Lowering her head, Marlow mumbled, "He said, wow, Marlow."
"That's it. You hung up on a great guy because he said, wow, Marlow?" Shaking her head, Zoe's expression was a mix of disbelief and frustration. Marlow needed to be pushed out of her comfort zone, and it was her job as #1 best friend to shove her kicking and screaming into what could be the best thing to happen to her. "I'm sorry," she said, staring down her friend, "But that's just plain stupid."
"You don't get it," Marlow complained, trying to keep her emotions under control.
"No, you don't get it," Zoe countered. "At some point, you have to trust that you deserve to experience a great love story."
Though Marlow defended herself, citing past relationship disasters, Zoe empathized, "We all go through tough relationships, but not everyone will leave, and not all guys are jerks."
"Still..." Marlow again tried to interrupt. "Everyone always starts with 'wow, Marlow', before they then pity me and call my mother unfit. She wasn't unfit. She just had problems, but she loved me."
Raising her finger to signal for Marlow to stop and listen, Zoe insisted, "Marlow, listen to me." Pulling out the chair and sitting kitty-corner to her best friend, Zoe reached for Marlow's hand. "Yes, she did, and maybe that fellow on the other end of the phone wants to love you too, but you're refusing to give him a chance."
Tears continued to spill onto the table. Wiping her eyes with the cuff of her pyjama top, Marlow's heart was heavy with emotion.
"Piero is a good guy," Zoe reassured her.
"I know, but I don't want to get hurt."
"Well, that's a first!" Zoe said, chuckling. "It's only been a week, and you are telling me you are falling in love?"
"I didn't say that," Marlow said, her gaze locking with Zoe's.
"Yes, you did. Maybe not in those exact words, but never once, in over 10 years, have you ever said you were afraid of getting hurt. The only way you can get hurt is to let someone in, and the only way to let someone in is to fall for them."
Listening as Marlow tried to convince herself that she didn't care, Zoe quietly waited until Marlow had finished.
"Do you actually believe anything you just said?" she asked, stroking her roommate's forearm.
"No." Wiping her face dry with both hands, Marlow admitted, "I really, really like him, and I think about him all the time."
"Has he done anything to make you feel guarded or unsafe?"
YOU ARE READING
Lessons Learned, Healing Hearts
FanfictionThey say people come into our lives for a reason. When Piero meets Marlow there is a lesson for each of them to learn. Coming from a hard breakup, Piero had given up. Determined to leave falling in love for a time when he could devote more of himsel...
