The right thing for the wrong reasons. Leah bit her lip, nodding. She supposed she understood that, although she couldn't think of one instance in her life where it applied. Given what Charlie had revealed about her past, Leah could only imagine what the woman had to sacrifice to get to this point. She didn't envy it, but she respected it.
"I'm not sure which is worse, honestly. Womanizers or maneaters," she mused, glancing down at her feet as she walked. "But it sounds like our brothers could take tips from each other. Maybe even out the advantage taking and advantage giving." Leah snorted softly, appreciative of the other woman's attempt at keeping her language fairly clean.
Reassurance was comforting, but only slightly. Protecting her daughter were her highest priority, and if she couldn't do that without help, where did that leave her? It was just another disadvantage she faced by being without Ben, who'd made the easy decision to walk out on her, and thus leaving her victim to such moments as these. Bitter? Oh, no, she wasn't bitter. Not in the slightest. "That's true," she spoke of meeting a potential friend. "It's so hard making friends the normal way."
Laughter followed Charlie's realization. "Well, I wasn't going to assume. My social skills aren't the greatest, anyway. Not that I'd be entirely opposed if you'd meant it that way, but yeah, you lack the manly qualities I'm a sucker for." Frowning, she paused, then chuckled again. "This is a weird conversation to be having with someone I just met," she said, keying in her number on Charlie's phone and then passing it back.
They'd reached the end of the street, finding themselves among the massive swell of people filling Times Square. Leah paused to take a look around, spotting the squad car that her brother was assigned to. "Oh! I think that's my brother's car there." She looked at Charlie. "Thanks so much for walking with me, and again for chasing that guy off. Give me a call whenever and we'll get together. My schedule's pretty flexible and my youngest sister's always willing to keep an eye on my little girl." Except for tonight. Kori was with Mike, and Leah didn't blame her little sister one bit for wanting to spend New Year's Eve with her special guy. As for Lilah, well, she was probably busy in the lab doing whatever it was she did.