HAZEL
"And you still let me come here?"
"You will survive it, Hazel. You survived worse."
I wanted to argue. Wanted to scream that this was different. That surviving was not the same as living.
But I did not.
Instead, I said quietly, "My husband-to-be does not like me one bit. I do not think I will survive it if he grows a spine against his father."
Pauline was quiet for a moment.
Then she said, "I did not think that would be a problem for you."
I frowned.
"What do you mean?"
"You seemed like you've always been adaptable. Resourceful. You do not need him to like you. You just need him to marry you."
"It would not be a problem," I said. "If the rules were not so strange. If everyone here did not seem to be repressing their sexuality as if it were something shameful."
I could hear Pauline exhale slowly.
