The way I love you

39|I Missed You

"Alright.", Lana said, adjusting to the couch in Sean's old house, letting her hands rest on her baby belly. "It's only you and me now...", she smiled, trying to find Soma's eyes. "Just tell me.", she pleaded.

"I am just... Lost?", the young woman said, trying to avoid her aunt's gaze. "Look at me. I am 25...basically out of money and without a job. I fail in everything I touch or everything I try.", she began, nervously playing with her shoelaces.

"That's not true...", Lana argued, already knowing that this wasn't all of it. "You're an incredible artist. I have seen your work and it is amazing!", she confirmed. It was hard for her to see Soma being critical of herself. She knew that her niece had suffered in the past from bullying and wrong self-consciousness and Lana was not about to lose her to all her doubts and worries again.
"Soma, I love you. Not everyone knows what they want to be in life and that's OK! It is fine. Yo--"

"--He kissed me.", she cut in, interrupting Lana's sentence.

"What?", the actress asked with a frown, not really sure if she understood her niece right.

"There was that guy... I was just partying and I felt weird all of the sudden. Like... Numb... I don't know. Someone must have put something in my glass even if I had it with me for like... The whole evening. And that guy... He just pulled me with him by my wrist.", she confessed, softly touching the sensitive skin where he grabbed her.

"He kissed me right there. In the middle of the hallway and I couldn't do anything. I was doomed to stand there like I wasn't really existing.", she finally sobbed.

Lana didn't move from her spot. She was like frozen when she put the puzzle pieces together and got what her little girl was telling her. She was out of words, trying to find a solid response to what Soma had just said. Lana pushed herself up from the sofa, almost falling back on the first try, to get to her niece, softly pulling her into her arms. "Pshh...", she whispered, letting her cry onto her shoulder. "Did he...", she couldn't manage to say another word. Even thinking about something so disgusting made her feel sick to her stomach again.

"No... He just kissed me.", Soma admitted. "One of my friends found me and he... Well... Let's say he took care of that guy."

Lana breathed out, quite released that it hasn't gone any further. "Is that the reason why you came to LA?", she asked understandingly.

"Kind of... Yeah... I really wanted to get to know your family and I wanted to leave New York for a while.", she admitted. "But... I behaved like a dick.", she sobbed. "Sean must think that I am a real bitch... And I can't even be mean about it because that's exactly how I was treating him. I don't know... He is so nice... But he kind of triggers that situation. I can't explain it.", she said.

"Sean will understand. Honestly. He is one of the most caring people and I know that you don't trust him but you really can. I promise. And he won't judge you because of your behavior. I mean... Of course, he wasn't happy when Amè started to repeat swear words... But she would have done it anyway in just a couple of months I believe.", Lana smirked. "Worry less about that and more about you.", Lana sighed.

"I don't know what to do with my life.", Soma said. "I want to do anything useful but... I have the feeling that I am not getting anywhere in New York. It's too familiar... I need something else if you understand what I mean..."

The two of them spend the whole afternoon just talking and even continued in the next weeks. Soma stayed in the guest room of the house and with time she really was enjoying the warmth of LA, especially when she developed a certain interest in a girl she met during an art sale.

The weeks past extremely fast, since Sean was still working on the house with the help of family and friends, whilst Lana was still trapped at home but at least with a lot of visitors and more entertaining than before.