A Last Letter for my Stargazer

ross from her. The worn leather seat creaked beneath me.

een her fingers. "I've been thinking about our conversa

y chair, studying her. Claire looked different here-less polished, mo

your career comes before anything else, or the part whe

lain myself better." She took a breath. "When Bennett approached us at the café,

I said, my voice measured. "We barely kno

ng the warmth spread through my chest. The sil

than before. "You took a bullet for me-a stranger-without h

. I hadn't really analyzed my ac

d simply. "I didn

st people's instinct is self-preservation. Yours

reading so much into what I'd don

r's vintage sconces. "I think you're selling yourself short. And I

, genuinely curio

rm's length. But you're more complicated than that." She paused, choosing her words carefully. "Yo

't psychoanalyze me, Claire. You don

conceded. "I don't

carrying a note that seemed to hang in the air between us. Outside, rain had beg

can decide if I'm worth the ri

ng. "I realized something after you left. My whole life, I've been defined by what others expect of me-my parents, the academy, colleagues l

rity but finding none. "And one conversation wit

oose your principles over trying to fit into my world. That stayed with me." She looked down at

espond. Claire's honesty was disarming

r even understand. I just wanted you to know that you made me question things

arrived, I found myself studying Claire more carefully. The woman sitting across from

u go back to your academy, but with

, honestly. But I do know I don't want to be the kind of perso

ted, a hint of skepticism in my

tly. "But worth seeking

the window. "Maybe. Or maybe they're just anoth

her expression thoughtful. "You'

direct for comfort. I felt my

has," I

everyone responds by cutting

es slightly. "I haven't cut myself of

after I disappointed you," she observed, a cu

an answer for. Why had I come tonight? Was it

ying to figure you ou

that. "That ma

ion hanging in the air between us like a b

sing my glass slightly. "

orward, I hope. But this time without expectations or pretenses

imism taking root despite my better ju

hile inside, something shifted between us-not quite trust, no