Chapter 25 - I Date Again
Two and a half years after Octavia, I met Rebecca Hale.
Forty-one.
Corporate restructuring lawyer.
Divorced.
One seventeen-year-old son.
We disliked each other for six weeks professionally.
Then had dinner.
I told her about Juniper early.
Obviously.
About Octavia.
The cake.
The slap.
Everything before she met my daughter.
No polished version.
Rebecca said:
“You hit her?”
“Yes.”
“Once?”
“Yes.”
“Did you complete diversion?”
“Yes.”
“Therapy?”
“Yes.”
“Would you do it again?”
“No.”
She nodded.
“Okay.”
Not:
I forgive.
Not her role.
Information.
Rebecca met Juniper after ten months.
I asked Juniper first.
“She your girlfriend?”
“Yes.”
“Like Octavia?”
“No person is like another person.”
“That sounds therapist.”
It was.
Juniper agreed.
First dinner.
Rebecca did not try to impress her.
Juniper asked:
“Do you like horses?”
“No.”
Bad start.
Then:
“Cake?”
Rebecca looked at me.
Juniper smiled.
Testing humor now.
Rebecca said:
“I like cake.”
“Face?”
“No.”
Juniper laughed.
There.
Past becoming usable.
Rebecca and I moved slowly.
No engagement by year three.
No pressure.
She had her own house.
Her son visited.
Juniper sometimes liked him.
Sometimes considered him boring.
Normal.
I did not ask Rebecca to become mother.
She did not ask to outrank Juniper.
We discussed roles.
Directly.
Amazing technology.
May you like
Conversation before crisis.
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