She was painfully aware of the ticking clock on the wall behind her. Her time was limited and still, she had yet to say the thing she had come to say. He sat across from her, his eyes as piercing as ever.
“Are you ok?” he asked.
She couldn’t get the words out yet. What should she say? What could she say? Of course she wasn’t ok. She shifted uncomfortably and wished he’d stop looking at her but he continued to stare. He sat with his pen poised over his notebook like he was waiting for her confession but she was sure she wasn’t the one who needed to confess… What she needed-what she really needed-was to put an end to it.
“Kelly…” he prompted, breaking her reverie. He smiled in a way he probably thought was disarming. He wasn’t even a bit nervous. She marveled at his inability to see this coming.
She sighed, shifted in her seat, took a deep breath and looked him in the eye, “We’re done.”
“Oh, Kelly. We’ve been through this and we’ve been making so much progress. Why now?”
“It’s not progress.”
“Of course it is. You’ve done so well.”
“Is that what you call it… ‘doing well?’ You think I’m so fragile, so damaged that you can put any kind of spin on it… But what you’ve been doing… It’s not right. And I’m telling you, I’m done.”
The declaration had taken all of her strength… But still… She managed to stand up, walk across the office, open the door and close it behind her. She was done being taken advantage of. She was done letting him have his way with her. It would take a lot of strength but she was ready to begin again… Or maybe… She was ready to begin for the first time.
Natolie Webb 