Chapter 16 - The Man at the Coffee Shop
Three years after Daniel's arrest, Emma met someone.
His name was Ben.
She didn't tell me for two months.
When she finally did, I nearly dropped my coffee.
“You're dating?”
“Don't make it weird.”
“I'm your twin. Making things weird is contractually required.”
Ben was a high-school history teacher.
Quiet.
Funny.
Patient.
The first time I met him, I watched everything.
Emma noticed.
“Stop interrogating him with your eyes.”
“Occupational habit.”
Ben laughed.
“I expected worse.”
I liked him slightly more after that.
But the important thing wasn't whether I liked Ben.
It was how Emma behaved around him.
She disagreed with him.
Comfortably.
Changed plans.
Said no.
Forgot to answer texts.
Ordered whatever she wanted.
Once, Ben suggested Italian food.
Emma wanted Thai.
“Thai wins,” he said.
Emma stared at him strangely.
“What?”
“Nothing.”
Later she cried in my car.
“He didn't care.”
“About Thai food?”
“That I disagreed.”
That was when I understood how deeply Daniel's control had altered her expectations.
May you like
Healthy love initially felt suspicious because it contained something she'd forgotten relationships could contain.
Space.
