Page 167 of Captivated

Liliana smiled. “Yeah, I know.”

“You feel like ballet took something from you. That’s the first time I’ve ever heard you say that. Why?”

Well, that wasn’t so easy to explain.

That was complicated.

Cara waited her out.

She always did.

“Rich watched me dance once … it’s what made him seek me out, and brought him into my life. Now, I’ve got this strange place in the back of mind that I keep going to every single time I have to think about getting back out on the stage.”

“Like someone else is going to be waiting.”

“Someone like him, yeah.”

“Someone else was waiting once,” Cara said softly. “Didn’t you tell me that? Someone else watched you dance once, and he was nothing like Rich, Liliana.”

Yes.

She had told Cara that.

She told her everything.

“Joe,” Liliana murmured.

“You haven’t seen him in a while, I suspect,” Cara said. “Your father tells me it wasn’t possible, so that must be difficult, too.”

“He calls. We talk.”

“Not the same, though, is it?”

Liliana frowned. “No, not at all.”

“When will you get to see him?”

That, Liliana didn’t know.

“Soon, I hope.”

Cara nodded. “Have you thought about what you might want to do besides ballet?”

Months ago, Liliana would have said nursing. She only had a little bit of schooling left to finish to actually get her degree for that, but now, she wasn’t so sure.

So was her life.

Suspended.

Upended.

Confusing.

“I still want to work in a hospital setting,” Liliana said, “but I’m not sure in what department, or whatever.”

“You know, the first place to see a domestic violence case is the hospital, Liliana. There are also shelters who employ nurses and counselors, on top of them having separate jobs at the hospital. I mean, if something like that was … in your thoughts.”

She stiffened a bit.