Chapter 9 - Elena Discovered Daniel Wasn’t the Only One Addicted to Being Needed
Elena began stepping back from Daniel.
At first she called it:
boundaries.
Then Richard noticed:
she looked miserable.
“You miss fixing things.”
Elena glared.
“No.”
“You checked his hotel reservation yesterday.”
“He is traveling to Boston.”
“He is thirty-five.”
“I wanted to make sure—”
Richard smiled.
Elena stopped.
The problem was deeper than:
Daniel accepting help.
Elena liked:
being the person who could help.
Not merely generosity.
Identity.
When Whitmore House was young, everybody needed Elena.
Staff.
Guests.
Richard.
Banks.
Vendors.
Daniel.
She had answers.
That felt:
safe.
Then the company professionalized.
Executives took:
operations.
Daniel grew up.
Richard slowed down.
Elena should have felt:
relieved.
Instead she kept finding:
ways to remain indispensable.
Family became the easiest place.
She upgraded:
rooms nobody requested.
Paid:
bills before people could.
Booked:
restaurants.
Rearranged:
travel.
Remembered:
everything.
Then quietly resented family members for acting:
entitled
to the help she kept offering before they asked.
Therapist Dr. Caroline Reese asked:
“What happens if Daniel doesn’t need anything from you?”
Elena answered:
“Nothing.”
Caroline waited.
Elena sighed.
“I don’t know who I am to him.”
There.
Not hotel founder.
Not fixer.
Not provider.
Just:
mother.
That felt strangely vulnerable.
Caroline asked:
“Is being loved less secure to you than being necessary?”
Elena hated the question.
Because the answer was:
sometimes.
That was not Daniel’s fault.
May you like
It was Elena’s work.
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