Lesson 161- Appreciate the people who are there on your bad days.

**LINDY**
Richard Keys is an annoying asshole. I knew he was an asshole before I ever even met him and once I did I thought it even more. Even worse though, he’s a CHARMING asshole. He hurt my friends and could have killed them, yet somehow he’s managed to talk his way back into this bar. Rina might be my friend, but she is just far too trusting. Then again, it’s probably easy to trust people when you know a demon has your back. A protection which now somehow extends to me. At least it does when I’m in this bar. It’s become a safe place for me, one of the few places I can go and spend time in public around other people who know what I am without being terrified that I’ll lose my freedom. I’m comfortable here, or at least as comfortable as I ever am. Which is why it is so incredibly irritating that Rick the Dick manages to somehow find out EVERY time I come here and he ALWAYS shows up. Seriously, he must have someone feeding him information because without fail within ten minutes of my turning up here he always appears, strolling confidently into the bar where he immediately orders me a drink. I have told him repeatedly that he is wasting his time trying to win me over, but he insists on trying. A few times I tried rejecting the drinks and flat out ignoring them. But regardless of if I drink it or not, without fail, he buys me a drink. He never seems put off or bothered when I refuse them, and when I refuse to speak to him he accepts it and just sits at the bar quietly. It freaks me the hell out. What scheme is he trying to pull? Is he trying to lull me into a false sense of security with his stupid smile and pretty eyes? The most suspicious part of all this is that he keeps trying. Why hasn’t he given up yet? He can’t possibly like me enough to put in this much work. I’ve never even been nice to him. He MUST have an ulterior motive. I just haven’t figured out what it is yet.

Tonight I’m planning to go visit Rina. I carefully unlock my front door, and by that, I mean I unlock several locks. I also shudder as I step through my wards. They cost me a lot of money, but I’m not made of money so they aren’t perfect. The witch I hired to place them basically asked if I wanted them strong or precise. I chose strong. It’s the only way I can sleep and feel safe. Protecting my pelt is a full time job. No one has ever successfully managed to steal it from me before, but every selkie is raised on stories of girls who had their pelts stolen and lost their freedom. It’s a nightmare scenario that we are all raised to fear. So many selkies end up hiding forever and dying alone because they can’t bring themselves to trust anyone. There’s a reason there aren’t many of us left, and most of those that are left are born in captivity, their pelts taken from them when they’re too young to know any better. I know I could stay at home, hide and stay safe. But I don’t want that. I watched my own mother live that way. I never met my father, I’d like to think he was a good person, but she never spoke about him, and in all likelihood he probably wasn’t. She loved me and I adored her, but she was lonely. She had me and no one else, then when she passed away last summer, I was left all by myself. My mother taught me how to stay safe, to stay away from people and to never take risks. I can’t help the slight feeling of guilt I experience every time I step out my front door. I know my mother wouldn’t approve. But I can’t live my life alone locked up in my apartment, hiding from the world. So, I hop into the waiting taxi to head down to visit Rina and Torin. 
“Hi Cole.” I greet the driver. Cole is an absolute godsend. He is the only reason I manage to get around anywhere at all without having a panic attack every time. Sometimes Torin drives me home from the bar, but unless I want to stay all night, he can’t give me a ride. Plus, I feel bad asking. Not to mention I still have to get TO the bar. 

I think back to the day I met Cole. It was the day of my mother’s funeral. I was the only person who attended because she didn’t have any friends. It was just starting to get dark and I was walking home because it was close and honestly I was just not thinking about my own safety. I was devastated and miserable so I didn’t notice the man following me until he tried to grab me. I ran, but I’ve been a homebody all my life. I’m small and not particularly fast. I wasn’t going to be able to escape and I knew it. But in a stroke of luck, a cab was pulled over on the street nearby. In a last ditch effort, I jumped into the passenger seat and slammed the door shut. The locks clicked shut the moment I was inside. All I could think was that was it, I was going to be captured because of one careless mistake. My mother would be heartbroken. She had been gone only a few days and I had already let her down. I was on the edge of a panic attack, everything was going blurry and my heart was racing. I could barely breathe. Then, a soft voice spoke from the driver’s seat.
“Relax. He can’t get you here. It’s rare to see a selkie walking the street alone. I’ll give you a ride. Where would you like to go?” The man at the wheel was odd. Mostly because he looked young, like he was only in his twenties, but something about his eyes made me think he was a lot older. Despite the strangeness, I didn’t really have any other options. So I told him my street and hoped that he was actually taking me there. A few minutes later he pulled up in front of my home and wordlessly, unlocked the car doors, got out and walked with me to my door. I was still frightened of him at that point. He hadn’t made any attempt to take my pelt, but he had convinced me to lead him to my home. I eyed him nervously but he just looked at me sympathetically. 
“You look like you’ve had a tough day.” He commented and I just gave a slow nod. He then reached into his pocket, rifled around a moment and pulled out a card, offering it to me. 
“Call me if you ever need a ride.” When I didn’t reach out to take the card, he carefully placed it on the doorstep by my feet, then turned and went straight back to his taxi and drove away. I took the card and ran back into my home.

It took almost a year until I was brave enough to leave my home again. But when the time came, Cole was the one I called. Oddly, he looked exactly the same as he did the first time we met. I suspect even his clothes might have been the same. But he showed up and without question, drove me where I wanted to go. I offered him cash but he just waved me off. Each time he drives me, I try to offer him money and he always declines. To this day, I still have no idea what or who Cole is. But I know that he saved me when I needed help and he didn’t ask questions. I also know that despite his strangeness, I trust him to get me where I need to go. 

Over the past few weeks I’ve been working on my conversation skills, and I’ve been using Cole as my practice partner. He’s very supportive, but more and more often our topic of conversation has come around to Richard.
“He just keeps TALKING to me. All the time, and he is constantly trying to convince me to talk to him. Sometimes he even tries to pester me into talking to other people. Just what is his problem?” I complain. Cole gives a slight smile. 
“You talk about Richard a lot.” He observes and I groan.
“See! He’s annoying me without even being here now! Ugh. I can’t stand him.” I grumble. Cole chuckles.
“But you still keep going to the bar.” He comments and I sigh. 
“Richard might be a dick, but I refuse to let him chase me away from where I want to be.” I say firmly. Cole nods proudly. 
“Good.”