Demanding

Leila

I sighed. “I do care about him, but he doesn’t want to be involved. I have to respect that.”

“No, you don’t.”

I laughed. “I’m just going to demand he love me and spend time with me and who cares what his son thinks?” I said being sarcastic but almost wishing she would tell me yes.

“Yes.”

“What?” I blinked. “You can’t say yes. Olin is someone who has a vested interest in this thing between Christopher and I. I’m not going to come between them. They already have a lot to work out.”

“You deserve to be happy, Leila,” she said looking me straight in the eye. “You don’t have to go through life, following the rules and never speaking up for yourself. You are a lion, let me hear you roar. Let the whole world hear you roar.”

“I roared a little bit with the dean,” I argued.

A grin spread over her face. “Ah, yes, you did. And why did you roar?”

“Because I wanted to be with Christopher,” I admitted what she was asking me to say.

She nodded her head, a look of satisfaction on her face. “Beca