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Elena smiled and nodded

“What is the real reason you accepted my insane proposal?”

“I wouldn’t have,” she admitted, “if it hadn’t been for the last two days that I spent with my family My relationship with them – well, it’s been rocky, to say the least You’re lucky to have had a family as so supportive”

“Even if it did ood?”

Elena thought about that “I think it’s about balance Everything in life is about balance My parents… well, they’re people you would call pretentious They’re the kind of people who have their lives mapped out, and that includes their kids’ lives, too”

“Ah,” Neal said, understanding, “let uess You refused to conform”

“Actually,” Elena said, “I did try I went to their stuffy parties, I mixed with their stuffy friends I even had a boyfriend they approved of in high school”

“Conformity didn’t work out for you?”

“It was too alien, I wasn’t happy, and in the end, I think I realized that I wasn’t asking for much All I wanted was the freedom to choose what I wanted to do in life, and who I wanted to be”

“They didn’t approve of sculpting?”

“I found sculpting in college,” Elena explained, “but when I told the to pursue a career in the fine arts, they were less than thrilled They did everything they could to try and discourage me”

“And when that didn’t work?”

“They toldto pay for my tuition”

“Wow,” Neal said, “harsh”

“I thought so too,” Elena replied, hurt coloring her voice for a second “They gave ical; very reasonable They tolda sculptor was a hard business I would find it hard to support myself… so on and so on All I really heard was that they didn’t think I was talented enough to be successful at sculpting”