Chapter 19: Talking After

She took a deep breath. Then she scratched her head and forced herself to open her other eye. It wasn’t that bright out anymore. She took another breath and looked at him. “Which part, Steve?”

“The part about you not writing for six months.”

“That’s true,” she sighed, looked out at the sky. The sun was gone; but there was still that faint afterglow around the horizon, lighting the evening sky on fire. “I’ve only just started really writing again.”

“What about the rest of it?”

“Look, Steve, I just needed to say that, okay?” She shrugged. “I needed to get it all off my chest.”

“Why?” He asked in a whisper, moving closer. He sounded like he was tiptoeing, walking on eggshells. Like he was afraid she was going to freak out again.

She took a deep breath, let it out slowly, feeling herself shake as she did it. “I didn’t want you going into this with the wrong impression. And I was having a moment of insecurity. I was just hating myself, that’s all.”