Page 10 of Fauxmance

It surprised me that that was the thing he chose to focus on, but I nodded.

"Why? What's someone like that supposed to look like?"

"I don't know," he said. "But wedding-obsessed people are usually deluded—"

"That's not true."

"—and you're so normal."

I had to laugh at that. "You clearly know nothing about weddings or me—which I guess makes sense since I still don't know your name."

The stranger crossed his arms and leaned back against the wall. Not going to lie, the relaxed position only added to his attractiveness.

"My name's Hayden," he said. "Happy now?"

I smiled. "Nice to meet you. I'm Magnolia."

"Oh, I caught that."

"How long have you been in therapy?"

"Basically my whole life," he said.

"Yeah, I started young, too," I said. "What do you need it for?"

"You mean what's wrong with me?" He gave a low chuckle. "Way too many things to name, Maggie. Way too many things. I'm a fun bag of issues."

I wasn't sure if it was the chuckle or the way he said my name, but something sent a shiver down my spine. Okay, I thought, so he doesn't want to talk about his problems. That was fine. I only needed to discuss mine.

"Well, Hayden, I haven't missed a session in years," I said. "The doc tells me repression is bad. ‘Express, don't repress’, she says. She's always encouraging me to let go, and there's a lot on my plate right now."

He blinked. "Okay..."

"I figured I might as well talk to you. If you don't mind."

"Can't you just pray again?"

"He's busy with more important things," I said, waving that off. "We're strangers, so I'm not afraid of you judging me. If we manage to make it out of this alive, we'll probably never see each other again. If we die, well, at least I've made my peace. I know it's not ideal. But I guess you'll have to do."

Hayden shook his head. "I take it back. You are one odd bird."

I shrugged. "Who wants to be normal anyway?"

"Good point."

With that, the stranger and I sat across from each other on opposite sides of the elevator, and I told him all my secrets. There were several. They weren't that exciting, scandalous, or crazy, but they were mine. At one point, I wasn't even sure what I was saying. I just knew I had to get it all out.

And it felt good.

No, more than that, it was cathartic.

This was possibly the most free I'd ever felt in my entire life. Knowing you might die would do that to you.

I wasn't worried about what Hayden would think. I didn't care that he was the most gorgeous guy I'd ever seen in real life, and he'd know more about me than my closest friends. I definitely wasn't concerned with the fact that I hadn't told him the whole truth about why I refused to pray again. I'd lost people in the past. I knew from first-hand experience that sometimes prayers weren't answered. I wasn't even sure God listened to mine anymore. But this wasn't about any of that.

It was about me letting go.

And on that elevator, I did.

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