She had likely seen that revealing email, yet her reaction, like before, was minimal.
Dylan couldn't quite figure out what she was thinking.
Perhaps it was the impending topic of conversation that made him nervous. Dylan unconsciously loosened his tie, his prominent Adam's apple bobbing.
"To be honest, I also used to think you weren't over him, and that's why you hadn't started a new relationship."
His words didn't surprise Noreen.
She figured many people probably thought the same thing.
After all, everyone had seen how devoted she had been to Seth.
And it was a full seven years of heartfelt dedication. How many people could truly let go of something like that so easily?
If it were the old Noreen, she would have thought it impossible too.
In the period right after they broke up, she had experienced strong withdrawal symptoms.
After all, over the past seven years, his presence had seeped into every crevice of her life.
The sudden removal of that presence caused her body and emotions to instinctively resist.
The push and pull, the reluctance, the indecision...
These feelings were like a tide, receding only to surge back again.
She had once berated herself for her lack of resolve, but after sorting through her thoughts, she realized it wasn't a lack of resolve, but simply her brain's 'habitual focus'.
For seven years, she had made Seth the center of her universe.
After leaving him, she needed time to rebuild a new axis centered on herself.
Some people choose to meet someone new, using a new relationship to overwrite the past.
Others throw themselves wholeheartedly into their work, finding their sense of self-worth there.
Noreen was the latter.
In those seven years, she had already proven how deeply she could love.
Now, it was time to prove how strong she could be.
"You know, when a person has given their absolute all, they can be quite ruthless when it's over," Noreen said after a moment of thought.
Because she had no regrets about the relationship, she could let it go.


VERIFYCAPTCHA_LABEL
Comments
The readers' comments on the novel: Never Mistake a Queen for a Lapdog