Ask Me Why

<p><span style=color: rgba(15 17 17 1)>One deep breath. Two slow blinks. Three hollow beats.</span></p><p><span style=color: rgba(15 17 17 1)>I'm still here.</span></p><p><span style=color: rgba(15 17 17 1)>After three years that reminder isn't as necessary. But everyone has their bad days. This is definitely one of them. Until an adorable little boy dashes into my store. His zest for life makes me smile in a way that's been long lost. Then I meet his father.</span></p><p><span style=color: rgba(15 17 17 1)>Well confront is more like it.</span></p><p><br></p><p><span style=color: rgba(15 17 17 1)>Brance Stone is volatile.</span></p><p><span style=color: rgba(15 17 17 1)>Offensive.</span></p><p><span style=color: rgba(15 17 17 1)>Harsh.</span></p><p><span style=color: rgba(15 17 17 1)>And can't be bothered to care.</span></p><p><span style=color: rgba(15 17 17 1)>Not that I want him to. I get frostbite just looking into Brance's glacial stare. But there's something undeniable about him.</span></p><p><br></p><p><span style=color: rgba(15 17 17 1)>My misery suddenly craves company. The suffocating numbness lifts whenever Brance is near. That alone should have me running in the opposite direction. Try as I might there's no avoiding him. If only I could understand why. As if he'd let me.</span></p><p><br></p><p><span style=color: rgba(15 17 17 1)>I don't ask. He doesn't tell. A silent bitter truce settles between us.</span></p><p><span style=color: rgba(15 17 17 1)>That was our first mistake.</span></p><p><span style=color: rgba(15 17 17 1)>It's certainly not the last.</span></p>