VALORIA WILDEROSE
The silent suggestion that I'm not going anywhere until I spill every single detail hangs over our heads like a stubborn cloud.
I swallow, giving up before I even had the chance to refuse, and he gestures to the entertainment area at the center of the room with a table and a couch, snacks already splayed out as if they were waiting for me. As if he somehow knew I'd end up here, falling apart in his space.
And then the second I'm seated, I'm handed a cup of warm cocoa rather than tea and he's settling down a good distance away from me, waiting until I take the first comforting sip of rich, milky hot liquid chocolate before he proceeds.
The warmth spreads through my chest, loosening something I didn't realize I was holding so tight.
"So… tell me what's wrong?" he begins with his stoic countenance like a therapist about to evaluate my mind.
