“Dana, sweetie, I know I’m the last person you probably want to talk to, but I can no longer sit across from you and pretend that you don’t look like a house just fell on your cat.”

Dana grabbed the napkin in front of her and pressed the rough fabric in-between her fingers before looking at her mother, “You know Mr. P died over a year ago, right?”

“It’s just a saying, Dana.” Sharon reached across the table and placed her hand on top of Dana’s, stopping the tennis player from fidgeting. “Dana, a mother can tell when something is wrong with one of her children, and truthfully your appearance would make it easy for a stranger to figure out you were depressed, so why don’t you fill me in on whatever drama your life has thrown you recently.”

“Well let’s see, I broke my best friend’s heart, so I could rekindle a romance with a woman that I thought I might love, when in actuality I was just sabotaging the best thing that ever happened to me, because I was scared I wasn’t enough.” Dana’s eyes became glazed over with the tears that were threatening to fall, “and you know what, I blame you.”

Sharon’s eyes widened, “and how exactly is it my fault?”

Dana grabbed the fork sitting next to her plate and unconsciously began to tap it lightly on the table. “How am I supposed to know how to love someone openly, when I grew up with two parents, who showed less emotion than two dead fish?”

“Now you hold it right there young lady, I will have you know that your father and I love each other deeply, and just because we do not display that affection as freely as others does not mean our love is worth any less.” Sharon looked Dana straight in the eye; “I will not have you placing all your troubles on your father and me, so if you would like to start over and tell me the real reason you ran from this girl, then I am ready to listen.”

Dana let her gaze fall to the cream colored table cloth, “Alice is amazing, mom. She can make you feel loved with the slightest touch, and that’s when she’s not even trying.” A tiny smile spread across Dana’s lips as she continued to describe the writer to her mother. “When she places all her focus on you it’s like there’s nothing in the world that could stop her from making your every dream come true.” Dana’s smile slowly faded, “I don’t know how to do that. I don’t know how to give her all that love back, because I’m not even sure I’m capable of expressing just how much she means to me, and Alice deserves someone who can make her feel just as special as she makes them feel.”