?


    Ava stands up and walks towards me the moment I get outside the door.


    "How was it?" she asks, her eyes shifting between mine.


    If I am being honest, then I''m surprised she''s still here. When she said that she would wait for me, I didn''t expect her to. I just thought she would wait till I was inside, then leave. I never thought she''d wait the entire one and a half hour.


    "It was surprisingly nice," I reply, not really sure how to put it.


    I liked the session more than I thought I would. For so long, I kept what I was feeling inside me. Sure, I told Molly, but I never allowed myself to feel the emotions. I never told her how I felt. The heartbreak, the pain, the emptiness, all of it, I kept it to myself.


    Being able to do that with Mia was eye-opening. I don''t know how she did it. I don''t know how she got me to open up... But everything just came tumbling out of my mouth and heart. Every feeling I''ve tried fleeing from. Every pain I''ve tried burying. Everything just tumbled out of me.


    I''m nowhere near okay, but I feel good. I feel great that I was able to release that part of myself that I''ve been trying to bury.


    "That''s good,e on then" Ava tells me gently. "Let''s get you cleaned up, and then we can get some ice cream."


    I feel like I''ve lost my mind or something. Ice cream? With Ava? Did I wake up in an alternate universe or some shit?


    Before I can even question her on her actions, she pulls me to aidor. We enter the washrooms and she turns me so that I''m facing the mirror.


    I gasp in shock when I stare at my face.


    "I learned early on to carry wipes whening in for my session," she says as she pulls out wipes, concealer and mascara from her handbag.


    I continue staring at myself in the mirror. My eyes were red and puffy, and my mascara was smudged all over my face. If I had known this would be the aftermath, I would have gone with a waterproof mascara instead.


    In my defense, I didn''t expect Mia to break my defenses and have me bawling like a child. I''ve always held myself upright and uptight. For Mia to be able to break through my defenses is honestly shocking.


    I''m pulled out of my thoughts when Ava hands me the wipes. Slowly, I take them from her hand and begin wiping the mascara. We stay silent as I get myself cleaned up. Once I''m done, I use the concealer to cover the blotchiness under my eyes. Thank God Ava and I have the same skin tone.


    "How do I look?" I ask when everything is done.


    "Better?" she says it more as a question than a statement.


    I just shrug my shoulder. "That''ll do."


    We pack everything up and leave the washrooms.


    After setting up my next appointment, we leave the building. We were outside and I was just about thank her when she speaks.


    "There is a small ice cream shop across, do you want to join me?"


    She had mentioned it before we went to the restroom, but it still catches me by surprise. I didn''t know what to do. Do I ept her invitation? Do I reject it?


    "It''s okay if you don''t want to, and I don''t want to be pushy," she says when she notices my dilemma. "It''s just something I think you''d like. My first therapy session was hard, getting ice creamter and collecting my thoughts helped."


    I think about it for a minute before nodding. "Sure, why not?"


    She smiles at me brightly, and for the first time, I truly see the beautiful woman who was hidden under years of neglect and mistreatment.


    We cross the road and head to the shop. It was small and cozy. It kind of reminded me of a grandmother''s house. Not my grandmother though. My grandma was a cold woman who cared mostly about wealth and status.


    We get seats near a window, in a farer. The whole ce wasfortable, and I get why Ava liked this ce.


    "I still can''t believe we are here, together," I say after our ice creams arrive. "And we are not pulling each other''s hair out."


    Sheughs, her eyes shining. "I know, right? If someone told me this a few years back. I would haveughed in their faces and told them hell to the no."


    I can''t stop the grin that spreads across my face. "You really hated me, didn''t you?"


    I wasn''t asking to be malicious, I was just curious.


    Ava stopsughing and bes serious. "I didn''t really hate you, Emma. I was jealous of you. There is a difference. You had everything I wanted. Rowan''s love and that of our family and his family while I had nothing but hate and indifference from them. I had no one but myself. That is until Noah came along."