**Isa

I hadn’t been this nervous in a long time. My hands were sore from me trying to wring them of my anxieties. My chest was so tight, I wasn’t even sure if I was breathing unless I made the audible sound. And my stomach ached and pinged with reminders that I was supposed to be laying off of stressful endeavors.

But this seemed unavoidable. And frankly, I was curious.

This man who my mother and I had managed to escape over ...