Post by HARRIET CARDEW on Mar 18, 2020 12:29:42 GMT -5
Harry tried not to make assumptions about people. She knew that everyone had a story as individual as they were and that their unique circumstances dictated how they reacted to the world around them. She’d seen it first-hand on the job, how even the most commonplace situations were processed in different ways by different people. How some people crumbled beneath trauma and others were able to carry on. How some people laughed and others cried. How the first reaction for some was anger and for others it was heartbreak or denial or humour or shock. A hundred different ways to cope – all valid, all unconscious, and all as distinct as the person feeling it. As she watched Gabriel, she realised he was more the ‘hold it all in’ sort. She’d seen it a lot, especially with men, many of whom believed emotional strength and resilience was a desirable trait. As if showing vulnerability, even at a time of great need, made them weak somehow. She tried to show him that it was okay. That he was well within his rights to feel angry or sad or hurt about what had happened to him. And as he lifted a hand to cover hers, she thought she could see it. The subtle shift, as if he’d been given permission to own his feelings, however ugly, however intense. Relief settled on Harry. If she could leave his place knowing that was the only thing he’d taken on-board, she’d be happy with that. Nothing good would come from him bottling everything up. He had to let it out, process it, and learn to move on. Someday. Somehow. She felt the same flicker of discomfort when he thanked her again, unsure she really deserved his gratitude, but she hitched a smile onto her lips all the same. Harry wouldn’t tell him how to feel. So much had been taken from him already and she wouldn’t take more. Her smile brightened when Gabe added that he’d always thought she didn’t like him very much. She let out an amused breath. ”I mean, you’re not not wrong,” she replied, half teasing. There had been a time when she would’ve cursed his name any time it was mentioned, but that seemed like forever ago now. A different lifetime. For Gabe, perhaps it was. ”Let’s just say we disagreed on a few things,” she said with a smile, looking over his face with soft eyes. She didn’t add that what they’d disagreed about most was whether or not he deserved Al’s attention. Harry had been staunchly in the ‘no’ camp and hadn’t been shy about saying so. Not to Gabe, perhaps, but that had only been down to good fortune. Given the opportunity, she would’ve told him exactly what she thought of him. She found herself glad that had never come to pass. ”All water under the bridge now,” she added, lifting her mug to take a tentative sip of her coffee. |