After their conversation yesterday afternoon, they were both quite pleased with the outcome. Neither were particularly happy with the circumstances to begin with, but they were more than glad that the conversation was had and that they were able to come to some sort of amicable agreement, to say the least.

It was a big thing for Jane to have opened up to someone. Even more so, knowing that it was something that she actually wanted to do. It had been nearly 24hours since it happened, and Jane was so far not experiencing any anxieties regarding the matters discussed. She was relieved. No; she was happy.

Miss Isles was quite surprised that she allowed herself to be honest with a student about her past. Although she didn't divulge much, it wasn't something she'd thought professionally appropriate nor necessary in the past. I suppose Jane is different… She was also quite aware of how big of a deal it was to Jane, and knew how careful she was going to have to continue to be. She hated the thought of destroying someone's trust, particularly when they don't often have the confidence to trust others. Particularly Jane's.

Unlike Jane though, every ounce of Miss Isles had been wanting to properly evaluate the success of their conversation since the moment it ended. However, having never been entirely fond of her own emotions, she had made it a habit only to rethink an event through 24hours after the fact. She found this was the best way to reduce emotional blurring of the events recalled, it would allow her to maintain normal day to day function, as well also increasing her own objectiveness so she would be less biased. Although it wasn't something that she often reminded herself of, it also allowed her to be as minimally emotional overall as possible. She's never really enjoyed feeling various emotions and found it was often easiest to not feel them at all. Having said that, when faced with the emotions of others she was often incapable of inhibiting her own, and that sometimes bothered her. All the same though, she intended to treat this situation no differently to any other.

The 24hour mark could not have passed unnoticed today. As soon as school had ended that day, Miss Isles practically began counting down the seconds until the clock finally struck 3:35pm. At that moment, it were as if the floodgates had been opened in her mind and she was ready to analyse every single aspect of their conversation. Breaking her rule ever so slightly though, she had spent a large portion of her free time in the past day thinking that it was a good thing for Jane. She didn't allow herself to go into too much detail otherwise she would find it too hard to compartmentalise it. Despite her habits though, she did think it was a good thing for Jane, even if she did push her a little bit. If I were her, I would have needed a little 'guidance', she thought to herself.

Trying to surpass her emotional attachment to the conversation she'd had with Jane, Miss Isles went through the instance chronologically.
A little different than usual though, she was finding it rather hard to do this.
Each time she recalled something that either of them had said, she was overwhelmed with the emotion she felt when it was said.

While she was certainly happy that Jane had seemed more at ease with her. And she was pleased that she'd also agreed to talk to her should she ever need to. In spite of these very positive emotions though, she kept being confronted with the one emotion: sadness.

Whether it was sadness because she didn't like seeing Jane go through a rough time, or sadness because she too had been there and felt what Jane was feeling, it was sadness all the same.

Although she never would have admitted it, she began fearing that this sadness was more than just a direct response. She feared that it may in fact be a marker that perhaps her relationship with Jane, whilst it may be good for the young girl, was a negative one for herself.

As soon as Miss Isles arrived home that afternoon, she got changed into her leggings and a singlet and went for a run. Right now, she wanted more than nearly anything to clear her mind and get some fresh air. So that's exactly what she did.

It took a while to draw her focus away from the circumstances with Jane but by the end of her run, nearly an hour and a half later, she was feeling quite rejuvenated.
Her head was clear, the endorphins had begun to kick in and give her a little boost, and she happily came to the conclusion that it was definitely good for Jane, and perhaps even a little positive for her also. She put the fear she was feeling done to simple nerves and left it at that.

This chapter is just a short insight into the mind of Miss Maura Isles.
Hope you enjoyed reading it. Would love to hear any thoughts you have.

Looking forward to posting more for you all.

CC