Elena;

More silence. Then, so quietly I almost didn't hear it: "You're not wrong."

My entire body went hot. "Then why are we pretending? Why are we sitting here separated by a screen when we both want the same thing?"

"Because I'm a priest," he said, but his voice was wavering now. "Because I made vows before God. Because this is a church, a sacred space, and what you're suggesting is—"

"What I'm suggesting is that you stop lying to yourself." I pressed closer to the screen, my hands gripping the wooden frame. "I'm twenty-three years old, Father. I'm not a child. I know what I want. And I know...