A/n: I would like to preface this chapter by saying Rest in Peace to Grandma Jane. Losing a family member is the type of pain that you never get over. And they lost another family member not long ago So I'm sending light and love to Dinah and her family.
And I'm sending light and love and virtual hugs to all of you as well. This has been a shitty time for a lot of people and we can only hope that at some point things start to get better
-
Normani Promise me you'll read it only when I'm gone and that you'll read it to the end.
I shook my head, a smile tugging at my lips as I remembered Dinah asking me to pinky promise. My eyes wandered from the paperwork on my desk to the windows in my office and I found myself lost in thought, staring at buildings as though I were an architect studying their design when in reality, I was thinking about the thousands of people I shared a city with that I would probably never meet.
After a few moments of gazing at the view, I went back to my desk and my eyes immediately flicked to Dinah's envelope on my desk. I reached out, letting my hand stop in midair as I deliberated. For a while after she left my office, I had watched it, curiosity building like the anticipation as a hunter fixates on its prey.
It won in the end, and I finally emptied its contents onto my desk.
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
In hindsight, I should have seen it for what it was immediately just for the simple reason that it was handwritten. Instead, my mind flashed back to a conversation we'd had many times throughout our relationship.
–Flashback–
"Would you give your ex a second chance?"
Dinah rolled her eyes, "This is why I specifically mentioned that I believe in second chances within reason. I'm obviously not going to just keep handing people ammunition to hurt me, but I do believe that some mean it when they say they'll change. Because they learn from their mistakes and they can literally be better people. Others not so much. With some people, it's basically like handing them more chanced to hurt you. And with others, it's literally a chance to do things better than before. Like with your ex for example, you said it was literally just the wrong time right? So maybe things could be better."
I shook my head, "Even if things could be better, I don't think I want to find out and risk getting hurt. Not with anyone and definitely not with him."
"He really did a number on you didn't he—" Dinah shoved her hands into her pockets. "Never mind."
"People suck Dinah. All of them. This whole love thing is just a big game of roulette, I'll be damned if I give someone a second chance to shoot me."
She frowned, "All of them?"
"Don't misunderstand me. Obviously not everyone sucks. But everyone is just as capable of hurting me as badly as he did. Which makes falling for anyone reckless and stupid."
