Chapter 23 - ELEANOREleanor did not apologize for a year.
Her first attempt:
“I’m sorry everything got so out of control.”
No.
Second:
“I’m sorry you felt pressured.”
Worse.
Then one day she asked through my attorney to send a letter.
I almost refused.
Read it anyway.
I saw signs of Julian’s anger for years and treated them as evidence that women around him needed to become calmer.
I stopped.
Then:
I knew you had not agreed to sell the townhouse. I still helped him pressure you because I had loaned him money and wanted the sale to solve my own problem.
Better.
Then:
I did not know he had bruised your face until I saw you at noon. When I saw you, my first impulse was still to ask how this could be handled privately. I am ashamed of that.
That mattered.
Not because I needed Eleanor redeemed.
Because she finally described what she had done without making Julian’s violence my responsibility.
I did not respond for months.
Eventually:
I believe you understand more now. I am not ready for a relationship.
She answered:
Understood.
May you like
No pressure.
That was the first respectful thing between us in years.
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