She was right. But the truth of that burned like acid. So if I hadn't been in love with him, I'd let him hurt me for no good reason?

"I can see your wheels turning right now. Angry that if it wasn't love, then why did you put up with all that?"

I nodded and fresh tears started to fall. The rack of tissues arrived at my side as if by magic.

"You'd be amazed at the things the human mind will do to validate our choices. On paper, Easton seemed like the man you should want. The one who would get your parents' approval. But you're an adult now. You need to think about the one that gets your approval. And I'm going to encourage you to do that. This is a clean slate. I'm not suggesting you fall in love with the next man you meet, but you're young. I encourage you to meet people. Learn to discern the differences in how they treat you and what you're looking for, because I don't think you know yet. And where most women would be figuring that out, you know, when they were teenagers and young adults at the university, you were with Easton, trying to follow a specific path. And that didn't make you happy. You're in graduate school now, and it’s as good a time as any."

"But what if someone hurts me?"

She shook her head. "Look, life isn't about getting hurt. Because why would we even live it if that was the whole purpose? We would all stay in our boxes and ordering food and be agoraphobic crazy."

I chuckled. "Are you supposed to say crazy?"

She shrugged. "I'm a little unconventional. Life isn't meant to be sanitized. But I want you to be able to recognize the difference between someone who will hurt you and someone who won't. You don't even have to go on a date to figure that out. There's an intuition that women in particular have. We know. It's instinct. I want you to start to do that, to explore, to do the things that you've always wanted to do, the things that you automatically said no to because Easton or your parents wouldn't allow it. If it fascinates you and you want to do it, I encourage you. In the meantime, you and I will talk weekly. We'll explore your thoughts, what you're thinking, and how you're feeling. Get your brain to start making good choices through things that enrich you and make you happy instead of things you feel like you should do."

I nodded slowly. "This isn't going to be easy, is it?"

She laughed. "No, not easy at all. But you're going to take your time. Have a little fun. I mean, after all, isn't that why you're in London?"

I nodded. "Yeah, you would be right about that."

Abbie…