All you need

Perhaps it was the emotional intensity of the novel I've been reading. Perhaps it was the culmination of all the thoughts that have been swirling stormily through my mind lately. Either way, something was weighing down on me, casting its heavy shadow like a lead weight on my mind.

I wasn't even sure what I needed or was looking for, when I reached out.
"There's something I need your advice on," I blurted when we met in the cafe. And as I started talking, she just listened quietly to everything I had to say.
"...So that's what I've done," I concluded my story, awaiting judgement with apprehension.

Not sure what reaction I was expecting. Perhaps censure. Probably shock, or at the very least surprize.

But she just smiled gently. "I don't think it's that big a deal, actually. I wouldn't worry about it."
I smiled uncertainly. "Really?" Promise?
"Really." Promise.
Something within me soared.

I guess that's what I'd been looking for - a smile, a warm reassurance, and a metaphorical hand-squeeze.

Sometimes, that's all you need - some external validation, from someone older, wiser, trusted and loved.