Mia drank to take some time to think. Lou had stopped eating, so she left her fork untouched as well. “First of all, I learned not to let my self-esteem depend on my relationships. Second, I haven’t had that many affairs that deserve the term relationship. And when those relationships ended, it was often more a relief than it was painful for me.”

“Because you felt more comfortable hiding?”

Mia shook her head. “I don’t know. But I’m hardly the exception. I know a lot of people my age who are single and happy, who have short-lived affairs, casual sexual encounters, who live a more unattached life. This is not the fifties anymore.”

“And thank goodness for that.” Lou narrowed her eyes. “I have so many questions for you, Mia. I’m beginning to think our talks might be somehow therapeutic for me, or at least cathartic.”

“Shoot.” Maybe that was what they were to each other more than anything else; a means to put the past behind them once and for all.

“Does your father know, er, you’re a lesbian? From what you told me, he didn’t do very well with anything that didn’t fit the norm.”

“God no. My mother left him when I was nineteen, during my first year at uni. I hadn’t come out yet. I was still dating boys. I saw him a few times after they divorced, but I felt increasingly uncomfortable around him, so I stopped seeing him. I was an adult. I never told him, so as far as I know, he doesn’t know. Or maybe he does. Maybe he found out somehow, and that has contributed to his decision to never seek me out. Since I broke contact, he has never been in touch, has never tried to fix our broken ties.”

“Personally, I can’t imagine life without either of my parents,” Lou said.

“So I see. You live with them.”

“I know.” Lou scoffed. “Exactly how pathetic does that make me look?”

“It just makes you look like someone who gets on really well with her parents. It only has positive connotations in my mind.”

“I don’t do very well on my own,” Lou said in a musing tone. “The thought of coming home to an empty house every night fills me with dread.”

“It’s not too bad. And I speak from experience.”

“Have you ever lived with anyone?” Lou asked.

“When I was at university, but I’ve lived on my own for the past ten years.”

Lou glanced at her but didn’t say anything. From the way she furrowed her brow, Mia could tell there was something on her mind.

“You can ask me anything, Lou,” she said, and meant it, because she had given away much more of herself to Lou already than she had to anyone else. She could give more. Lou had that effect on her now.