Lisa stayed on the couch, quiet for a moment, just listening. She didn’t interrupt. She rarely did when Rosé spoke like this, half joking, half unraveling, the truth always slipping through the cracks of humor. Hank and Lola thundered past again, briefly shaking the peace of the room, and Lisa’s gaze followed them for a second before settling back on Rosé. "A Keynote would be very on brand for you, though," she murmured at last, a faint smile tugging at her lips. "Color-coded. Probably a slide titled "emotional recovery arc." "
But the smile faded a little as the conversation shifted.
Lisa leaned back slightly into the couch, one arm resting along the backrest, eyes softer now.
"I don't think people ever really start over, Rosie."
"I think we just keep going with everything still inside us. Like… nothing really disappears. It just changes shape."
Her gaze drifted briefly toward the window, where the evening light sat quiet over the villa grounds.
"And sometimes you realize you’re exhausted from trying to make it work with people who were never actually trying to understand you."
She didn’t elaborate further.
There were parts of that thought she didn’t give shape to. The way it had started to feel, over time, like dating wasn’t really about connection more like interpretation. People projecting what they wanted onto her, or what she represented. A version of her that was easier to love than the real one. The real one required patience. Time. Silence. Things most people didn’t stay long enough to learn. And when it wasn’t that, it was worse in a different way. Transaction disguised as intimacy. Effort measured, not felt. Lisa had lived enough of it to recognize the pattern early now. Which was why she rarely rushed into anything anymore. Why she stayed guarded even when she was sitting in rooms like this, where she didn’t want to be. She exhaled softly, eyes returning to Rosé.
"I think…" she started, then stopped herself, choosing the rest more carefully.
Because even here, even with her, she didn’t say everything.
She just couldn’t always be the one who poured it all out first. A small smile returned instead.
"I still think there’s someone worth giving your heart to."
A little quieter than before.
"Just not someone who makes you feel like you have to prove you deserve to be loved." Then, softer again, lightening the weight just slightly as she nudged Rosé’s knee with her foot.
"And if they can’t survive Hank and Lola running a demolition derby through your emotional stability?" A faint exhale, almost a laugh.
"They were never worth it anyway."