‘No, it’s fine. I usually have friends over, so they’re used to it. Until recently they wouldn’t even let me go out alone with friends. I just think they’re too cautious.’ Celine wanted to tell him about her sister being kidnapped but thought it was not the right time, it might sour their mood. She did not want Max to pity her like everybody else she tried to date. They thought of her as someone who needed fixing because of the tragedy which happened years ago.
The reason she felt attracted to Max, was that he knew nothing about her past, and he did not treat her like a fragile porcelain doll. He pushed and pulled at her, tested her patience, and challenged her like one would a person who was not considered damaged as she was. And she liked it, because for once in her life, he treated her like a regular person. She was Celine, the daring woman he met at the bar, and she had her own identity, not the girl who lost her sister.