79. What He Deserves

[LAURA]

I’m not a gown person.

I have never been. In my entire life.

I’m a tomboy at heart.

The first and foremost thing that set me apart from my own sister.

But for the sake of this job—for the sake of catching the bad guys and relieving this earth of their burden—I have taken so many myriad roles that sometimes I wondered if I lost my real self along the way.

It doesn’t make sense. I know. How can someone lose themselves? How can someone forget who they are unless they hit their head and actually lose their memories?

But in my experience, it’s very much possible, to lose yourself in the hive of all the characters you shoulder to please others. Sometimes, you willingly bury your genuine self and stifle your natural instincts, simply to avoid confronting a harsh reality. At times, the desire to be someone else becomes overwhelming because you’re afraid to confront the person who stares back at you in the mirror when you finally remove the mask.

I have always been afraid of removing t