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“Are you sure you’re going to be okay? You're shaking.”

Jeanette forced herself to look Colleen in the eyes. The Wolf’s expression looked concerned, understanding. Like she had been through this a hundred times before.

She probably had. Jeanette reminded herself that the service that had sent Colleen here was a reputable one. The friend that had recommended it had friends who had used it before, and they had come out okay.

“Y-yeah,” Jeanette said. “I’ll be fine.”

“I could just walk there with you, if you’d prefer. Or we could take a cab together.”

“N-no!” Jeanette started hyperventilating at the thought of crossing the open space in front of her apartment to reach a taxi. Even the taxi itself would probably be too much, with only the thin glass windows insulating her from the oppressive outside world. “I, I, I c-can’t, can’t do it…”

“Okay, okay, I’m sorry,” Colleen said, her tone soothing. “I didn’t mean to upset you.”

“M-my fault.” Jeanette forced herself to take several deep breaths. After a moment, she felt much steadier. “I just can’t handle it… I’ve tried. That’s… that’s why I called for you.”

Colleen nodded. “It’ll be completely safe, I promise. But I’m not going to make you do anything you don’t want to. You hired me, remember? If you’re nervous about this, we can call the whole thing off. No harm done.”

Jeanette glanced towards the window of her small apartment. Even with the blinds down, just the thought of the open street beyond it made her shudder. “N-no,” Jeanette stuttered. “I’ve missed too many of these things. I have to go to this meetup tonight. My friends will disown me if I don’t start showing up to things every once in a while, and I don’t exactly have an easy time making new friends, either.” She turned back to Colleen, her gaze resting on the Wolf’s stomach. She swallowed hard, then said, “I’ll do it.”