“You’re always saying that one day you’ll finally stop letting them win and take a hold of your own life. This could be the day.”

“Easy for you to say. Your folks are great. They don’t pressure you. They let you find your own way and just be there for you if you need them. They love you. My parents only bother with me when they need to whore me out.”

“Seriously?” Natasha rolled her eyes. “Kim, you’re nearly thirty years old. No one is stopping you from having the life you want. You’re just scared to actually go out and get it. You find excuse after excuse for why you can’t walk away from your parents and this ‘woe is me’ attitude, but the truth is you’re afraid to let go of the trappings that Mommy and Daddy’s cash can buy.”

The words were a fist to the gut. “So what if I am? You mean to tell me you wouldn’t be scared if having what you want meant giving up everything you already have, your entire way of life?”

“Of course,” Natasha answered. “I’d be terrified. We can’t pretend that we haven’t had an easy time. We’ve always had everything we’ve ever wanted. The best that money can buy. People kill for the types of lives we were born into.”

Her words weren’t helping Kim feel any better. “So what’s all this talk about me being scared?”

“I’m saying it because there comes a time when you need to decide if what you want from life is more important than the trappings you’d forfeit for that freedom. Does having everything handed to you beat the ability to make your own choices? If it does, then go to England, Kim. Make Spencer what’s-his-name fall head over heels for you. Get married, have two point five children, smile for the Christmas card photos and make your parents happy, while you—Kim Weston—are dying inside.”

She could see the exact image in her mind as Natasha described it and it made her nauseous.

“Or,” her friend continued, “take a bold step. Do something different and unexpected, and see where it takes you.”

“Like what?”

“I don’t know. Something no one would see coming, not even you. This may be your last chance, Kim. Take it. Before you commit your life to misery, take a chance that maybe there is something more out there for you. Maybe getting the life you want isn’t so scary. I’ll help you.”

“How?”

“I don’t know. It depends on what you want to do.”

“I don’t know what that is either,” Kim answered with exasperation. “I just want to escape from all this.”

Natasha’s eyes lit up. “They why the hell don’t you?”

“What do you mean?”