Serena’s POV
I looked up, meeting his eyes. “It’s just... Loretta’s shadow is everywhere. I feel like I’m constantly competing with her memory, trying to live up to this impossible standard she has created for herself. It’s too much and I’m failing to meet up with her.”
Paul squeezed my hand gently with his eyes tearing up. “Loretta isn’t here anymore, Serena. She was a friend of mine too but now I’m going to have to accept that Loretta is really gone. But you are here. You’re alive, and you have every right to carve out your own space in this world. Stop trying to be perfect be someone else or follow someone else’s path. Just be yourself. Be you. Be Serena.”
His words seemed to heal me as I nodded while taking in deep breaths.
I tried to let go of the frustration I was feeling. That t
