Lessons Learned, Healing Hearts

Revelation Brings Confusion (Chapter 20)

It had been a rough night, and sitting at the kitchen table, still in her pyjamas, Marlow didn't care if she looked like crap. Absentmindedly pushing her yogurt and granola around in her bowl, she stared blankly out into the backyard. When Zoe came into the kitchen far too chipper for this hour, Marlow didn't even lift her head.

"You look awful," Zoe said, reaching into the cupboard for her cereal. "What happened after I went to bed?"

"Piero called, and I told him about growing up."

Zoe paused, mid-reach. "And how did it go? Did he take it well?"

"I don't know."

"What do you mean?"

Hearing herself answer that she hadn't given him a chance to respond, Marlow realized just 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, not willing to let Marlow justify potentially losing a great guy.

Lowering her head, Marlow mumbled, "He started with, 'wow, Marlow.'"

Zoe blinked. "You hung up on a great guy just because he said, 'Wow?'" Shaking her head, Zoe crossed the kitchen and dropped into the chair next to her. "I'm sorry, but that's just plain stupid."

Marlow flinched. "You don't get it."

"No, you don't get it." Zoe leaned in, fierce and protective. "At some point, you have to stop assuming the worst. You're allowed a love story, Mar."

"Yes, but my relationships in the past have been disasters," Marlow defended.

"Unfortunately, we all have to go through at least one train wreck. But not everyone is going to leave, and not all guys are flat-out jerks."

"Still..." Marlow again tried to interrupt. "It always starts with someone saying 'Wow, Marlow,' and then the pity kicks in. Assumptions that my mom was unfit."

Zoe's hand settled on her roommate's, warm and steady. "She wasn't unfit. She struggled, but she loved you. And maybe—just 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 spilled onto the table before Marlow could stop them. Wiping at them with the cuff of her sleeve, Marlow just shook her head.

"Piero is a good guy," Zoe said gently.

"I know, but I don't want to get hurt."

Zoe laughed. "That's a first! It's only been five days, and are you telling me that you are falling in love?"

Marlow's head snapped up. "I didn't say that."

"Yes, you did. Perhaps not in those exact words, but you have never once 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."

Zoe quietly sat until Marlow had finished.

"Do you actually believe anything you just said?" she asked, tucking a strand of hair behind Marlow's ear.

"No," Marlow said, her voice barely audible. "I really, really like him, and think about him all the time."

"Then talk to him, and no matter what he says, let him finish."

Marlow laughed, sniffling.

"You are the most optimistic person I know—until your heart's involved. Then you're like..." Zoe whistled through her teeth and sliced her hand through the air. "Gone."