THE GROWTH
A month passed. Then two. The studio was busy. Brides came and went. Dresses were designed, fitted, finished. Lena kept the books. Julian kept me sane. Vanessa came by every week, sometimes with coffee, sometimes with wine, always with a story. Life was ordinary. Life was good. I woke up one morning and realized I hadn't thought about Daniel in days. "Julian," I said. He was in the kitchen, making coffee. "Yeah?" "I haven't thought about Daniel in days." He turned. Looked at me. "How do you feel?" "Free." I smiled. "Actually free. Not pretending." Julian crossed the room. Kissed me. "That's because you are," he said. "You've been free for a while. You just didn't notice." --- Vanessa came over that afternoon. She had news. "I'm going back to school," she said. I stared at
- Writer
