Bridget considered the other woman for a long moment, contemplating the best way to answer her questions.  They were questions drawn out of emotion and fear, both things that Bridget understood all too well.  She made her living feeding those things, after all.  She glanced down at Cyril for a moment and tried to see what Marissa was seeing, but she knew that it was useless.  She had never been in Marissa’s shoes and never would be.  She did realize in that moment that she wasn’t the one who needed to answer those specific questions, however.<br/><br/>“Cyril, you may raise your eyes and look at us,” she said finally.  She didn’t hesitate to reach out and run her fingers through his hair, her nails scraping across his scalp hard enough to sting.  It wasn’t necessarily sexual, though there was a touch of that there of course.  It was more about rewarding him for being so still and silent, and about giving him the uncomplicated affection that was part of what he craved from her.<br/><br/>“I want you to answer Marissa’s questions for me with complete honesty, do you understand?” she asked.  She waited until he responded before she sat back and draped her arm across the armrest of her chair, her attention turning once more towards Marissa.  She wanted to see the woman’s reactions not only the answers but also to the way Cyril responded to her.<br/>