“But she has?”
“Several over the years, though I think she’s down to just one other at the moment.”
“Intriguing. You find me interesting?” Lila’s eyes danced with confidence.
“Yes.” Heidi squeezed Lila’s hand. “It’s why I came here today, to get to know you better.”
“Color me curious.” Lila stepped around Heidi and toward her couch. “Come, sit. We’ll get to know each other then.”
Heidi, much calmer than when she’d first walked in, shucked her jacket. Lila told her to put it in the closet, so she did, hanging it up before shutting the door. When she joined Lila on the couch, she sat a little closer than she normal would, their thighs brushing. It was her subtle way of saying she wanted more eventually, if they connected, if they got to know each other, if they clicked well.
“What do you want to know?” Lila asked.
Heidi snorted. “I have no idea. I figured we could hang out.”
“Like a date?”
“Sure.” Heidi wrapped her fingers together in her lap tightly, twining them. Lila’s warm hand covered them before rubbing gently to ease the tension. Heidi let out a shuddering breath. “Sorry, it’s been a long time since I’ve started a relationship.”
“And trust doesn’t come easy.”
Heidi gave her a knowing look. “No, it doesn’t.”
“So stop putting expectations on this, and we’ll just see where it goes, okay? Take each moment as it comes.”
“I wish I could,” Heidi whispered.
“Then let’s work on it. Let’s not put a lot of pressure on this. I much prefer for things to happen naturally instead of being forced, don’t you?”
“Yes.”
“So…tell me, Heidi, what have you been up to these past few weeks?”
That was a loaded question. She could take it one of two ways—she could skirt around the truth or she could dive right into it. Lila had already proven herself to be worthy of this kind of trust in the short time they had known each other, and so she was tempted to dive in, but still, Heidi hesitated.
“You said it was rough the other week.”
“Still is,” Heidi mumbled, knowing the decision was already made. She wanted to be more open, vulnerable, and she had to take baby steps to do that. “It’s better though. My client is in a specialized home for now while in recovery.”
“I’m glad to hear that, but what about you?” Lila made eye contact.
Heidi hesitated. “I’m getting better.”
“By forcing yourself to hang out with other people?”
“Yes.” Heidi smiled. “That was part of my reasoning for agreeing to come over today. My partner is at work. It was getting quite lonely in the house, and I knew it was going to be a struggle to force myself up to do anything.”
“Then I’m glad I could be here to help.” Lila kept her hand on Heidi’s as she relaxed into the couch cushion. “You want to tell me more about it?”
Heidi nodded slowly. “What I can.”
“About you, not your client.”
“Oh. I guess. I was pregnant when I was twelve.”
“What?” Lila’s eyes went wide.
“It wasn’t a great situation. I was in the foster care system, and when I was walking home from school one day, three of the high schoolers on my block grabbed me and took me to one of their houses and raped me in the closet for three days. They took turns.”