Chapter 24 David
Isat back down after Emma left.
My coffee had gone cold an hour ago, but I stared at it anyway. The café had filled up around me—couples ordering lattes, friends laughing over pastries, someone working on a laptop in the corner. All normal Saturday morning things.
I'd just had the most important conversation of my life.
And I didn't know what it meant.
Emma had listened. Really listened. She'd told me her truth—painful, brutal honesty that had gutted me. And she'd seen me. Acknowledged that I'd changed. Said she didn't hate me anymore.
But she hadn't forgiven me. Hadn't said we could be friends, or that she wanted to see me again, or that there was any possibility of anything more than the professional relationship we'd built over the past nine months.
She'd said she didn't know what we were now.
And she was right. I didn't know either.
But for the first time in three years, there was something other than just guilt and regret. There was... possibility. Maybe. Somewhere down the line.
Not today. Not soon. Maybe not ever.
But maybe.
I pulled out my phone, opened my notes app, added to my list.
Things I'm grateful for:
My practice (small but honest)
My sobriety (three years, no slip-ups)
My health
Marcus and the few friends I made
My parents (still talking to me, even after everything)
A second chance to become someone better
Emma is happy
Emma listened
I stared at that last line for a long moment.
Then I put my phone away, left money on the table for both coffees, and walked out into the October morning.
I had work to do. Cases to prepare. Clients who needed me.
A life to keep building, one day at a time.
Whether or not that life would ever include Emma again, I didn't know. But I'd told her the truth. Apologized without asking for anything in return. Given her everything she'd needed to hear.
The rest was up to her.
And that was exactly how it should be.