by Tyler Grey
“Maybe she came to see you when you were sleeping?”
“No, I asked the nurses. Apparently, some woman has been calling in every day, so I guess that’s her. But it’s weird, isn’t it? I mean, why the hell isn’t she here?”
“I don’t know, man. That’s very strange. Maybe she’s just super busy,” he said brightly, but I could tell that he found it weird too.
“Yeah maybe. Anyway, thanks for coming. It’s good to see a familiar face. I haven’t been here for long, but it feels like I’ve been here for weeks already.”
“Good to see you looking better. So, what’s the verdict? What did the doctor say?” he asked. He’d come on the first day, too, but I’d been in and out of consciousness from the pain medication, so our conversation hadn’t been great.
“Well, looks like I have a broken leg and two fractured ribs, but other than that, I’m okay. Apparently, I was very lucky.”
“Dude, that’s crazy. I hope you’re going to take time off from work.”
“I don’t think so. I mean, poor Paisley has been doing the job without me. I guess that’s why she hasn’t been to visit. I’m going to have to go in to help her or at least work from home or something. There’s going to be a lot to sort out.”
“Yeah, but don’t do too much. Get some of the other guys to take over some of the work. Seriously, you need to rest.”
“You’re just scared I’ll still manage to beat you at golf despite my injuries,” I teased.
He laughed. “Oh yeah? You think you can?”
“I think it’s worth a try. You do realize that I will spend the rest of my life gloating if I win against you.”
He chuckled. “Oh, there’s no way you’re going to beat me. No way at all. And, I’m definitely not going to let you win.”
The nurse came by and laughed at our conversation. I looked at her and pointed to Shawn. “Can you believe this guy? He wants to play a game of golf with me. He is so desperate to win a game against me that he will play even while I’m crippled.”
“Ha!” Shawn said. “I’ll have you know I beat this guy not so long ago — and that was when he had two working legs.”
“Well, my bet is on your friend. No offense, Henry; you’re a great guy, but you’re not going to do great with that leg.”
I put a hand to my heart. “Wow, you cut me deep, guys. You cut me deep.”
“I’m glad to hear you’re back to normal. You’re wide awake and ready to get out there. Not so long ago, all you wanted to do was sleep.”
I groaned. “I hate to admit it, but the thought of sleep actually still sounds nice to me.”
“Not on my watch. You’re ready to go. We just need you to sign some forms out front, and you’re good to go.”
“Are you kicking me out?”
“I’m kicking you out,” she said with a grin. “But you’re welcome to visit me anytime. Give me a heads up though, so I know when to bring in some homemade brownies.”
“It’s a deal.”
Shawn helped me make my way to the front desk to sign the papers. It was good to get out and even better to get into the car. I hoped that Paisley was up for driving again because I had no idea when I would be able to do so. Not with a broken leg, that was for sure. In the car, Shawn was chuckling to himself.
“What’s so funny?” I asked.
“You. The nurse was flirting with you.”
“What? No, she wasn’t.”
“She wants to bake you brownies.”
“Well, yes, but that’s because we had a long conversation about food. Trust me; there was nothing else to do in there. She was great company. But she was definitely not flirting. First, she’s old enough to be my mother. Second, she is married with kids.”
“I still think she liked you,” he said and laughed. “The older women have always had a thing for you.”
I laughed and thought immediately of Paisley. She wasn’t old, and she had a thing for me. Didn’t she?
It was good to see the house again, although I was reminded once again that we needed to make a decision on what we were going to do. Neither one of us wanted to stay there anymore, so we needed to make a plan. I would have to talk to Paisley about it when I got the chance. I wondered if she would be at work when I arrived, and said so to Shawn.
“No way, it’s after six already. She should surely be home.”
“Yeah, maybe,” I said, and my heart soared at the thought of seeing her. What was she going to say when she saw me? Would she apologize for not coming to see me? Would I forgive her easily? It was hard to say.
I would’ve liked to have gone into the house alone because I wasn’t sure how the meet up with Paisley was going to go, but I needed Shawn to help me out of the car. He took my hand and held me towards the house. I was in a lot more pain than I thought I would be. The nurse had given me some more painkillers, but had told me to only take them if it was absolutely necessary. I knew it would be one of the first things I did when I got through the door.
As I got in, the house looked empty, but I heard noises coming from upstairs.
“Oh, hey, you finally get to meet her,” I said to Shawn. It was strange that my best friend had yet to meet the woman who had become so important to me over the past few months. I was excited for them to meet, although I wished it were under better circumstances.
Shawn helped me up the stairs, which was a long and difficult task. Paisley’s door was closed and she had music on, so she probably had no idea that I was even home. As we got to her room, I knocked on the door. I thought of opening it up and surprising her, but I was worried she would be naked. Not that I would mind, of course, but I didn’t want Shawn seeing her like that. Although, the thought of her naked definitely brought a smile to my face.
The door opened, and Paisley gasped. She obviously hadn’t expected to see me, and she looked flustered as she took me in.
“Hey,” I said with a smile. “I’m back.”
“Oh, wow, I didn’t…uh… Are you okay?” she asked.
I nodded. “I’m okay. A broken leg and two fractured ribs. I’ll survive. Oh, and this is Shawn, who you have heard all about. Shawn, this is Paisley, who you have also heard all about.”
“It’s a pleasure to finally meet you,” he said and held out his hand.
“Likewise,” she said.
I frowned as I realized what she was doing. She had boxes open all over her bedroom, and her closet was almost completely empty. She was packing.
“Uh, what’s going on?” I said as I gestured to the room.
“Uh, I’m packing. I… I’m moving out.”
I frowned. What? “You’re moving out?”
“Yeah,” she said nervously as she looked down at the floor instead of at my face.
“Just like that? Without telling me?”
“Of course, I was going to tell you. I didn’t know when you were coming back, so I thought I’d get a start on packing. There’s tons to be done. I really was going to tell you. I promise you. Uh,” she said as she looked from Shawn to me. “Can we talk later?”
“You do realize that you didn’t know when I was coming back because you didn’t come and visit me in the hospital, don’t you? Actually, don’t answer that. My ribs are hurting too much, and I want to lie down. I’ll leave you to pack.”
“Henry, I-”
“Mind helping me,” I said to Shawn, cutting off her conversation.
He looked shocked. He glared at her, then took my arm and helped me to my room. Once there, he looked at me with surprise.
“Well, she’s nice,” he said sarcastically.
“I have no idea why she’s doing this,” I said.
“You did the right thing to walk away.”
“Yeah. Mind passing me the painkillers? My ribs are hurting like crazy.” I gave me the bottle and grabbed me a glass of water. “You’re welcome to stay or go, but I think I’m just going to lie down for a while.”
“Sure. You okay, though? I mean, Paisl
ey…”
“I’m fine.” I didn’t want to talk about her anymore. “Look, maybe you should go. I’ll call you later if I need anything. I really appreciate you coming over. But… I think I just want to be alone.”
He nodded. “Sure, I totally get it. Call me when you wake up. Maybe I can come over and help you move around. You might as well make the most of it while you can.”
I smiled. “Yeah, I might just take you up on that offer.”
At least with Shawn there, I wouldn’t have to speak to Paisley, I thought. I was in shock at what had just happened. While I’d been lying in the hospital, she’d been planning her escape. After everything that I had done for her… I couldn’t believe that she would do this to me, especially since I was just starting to realize that I was madly in love with her. My ribs ached, but I wasn’t sure if that was the pain that was hurting me so much.
Chapter Thirty-Three
Paisley
Meeting Shawn for the first time was embarrassing. I’d heard so much the guy, and I had been looking forward to meeting him. I was sure that I had come across like a real bitch, something I had always hated. I had always prided myself on being polite, but there was simply nothing I could do. If I was going to harden my heart against Henry, I had to do this.
Another day had passed, and I’d managed to avoid him completely — mostly because he spent the whole day sleeping, and I spent the whole day out at work. Today, though, I was going to have to talk to him to let him know what was going on, and I was dreading it. It took me forever to actually go to his room. I kept pacing my own room. I thought of making us both breakfast, but then worried that he would get the wrong impression. Eventually, I made us both a cup of coffee, mostly for something to do, and knocked on his door with my elbow.
“Come in,” he said.
I put the cup down, opened the door and then picked it up again and walked in. Henry was sitting in bed without his shirt on — and the very sight of him that way almost brought me to tears. I had to keep strong, otherwise I was going to lose my resolve. I blinked a few times and walked over to him with the cup.
“Hi,” I said. “I brought coffee. I thought we could chat.”
He nodded. “Thank you.”
I sat at the very edge of the bed because there was nowhere else to sit, and for a while, the two of us just drank our coffee without saying anything. I was sure he was waiting for me to be the first to talk.
“So, uh, how are you feeling? Still sore?”
“Still sore. But I’ll be fine. It’s what pain meds were made for.”
I nodded. “Well, good. So, uh, let me tell you what I’ve been up to at work since you’ve been gone. It’s been a bit difficult because I have no idea what I’m doing. On my side, things are completely up to date. But obviously, there’s a lot that has fallen to the wayside. I’ve been working as hard as I can, doing what I can, so hopefully, it’s not too much to catch up on when you’re back. Do you have any idea when you’re going back to work?”
“Actually, I’m going today. Well, I’m not going in, but I’m starting the work. Shawn is coming going to the office to get my laptop and files, and I’ll be working from home for a little while. Thanks for everything you’ve done; I’m sure it wasn’t easy.”
“Uh, it’s fine. I did what I could. And, when I didn’t know what was going on, I just let them know that you would be back soon. I hope that’s okay. There were some things that I didn’t know anything about. I could probably have asked some people at work, but I figured it would be better to wait for you.”
“Of course, that’s fine. I didn’t expect you to take everything on and to suddenly know what was going on. Anyway, you know you could’ve just come and asked me, right? I was in the hospital, but I was awake. You could’ve just asked me.”
I gulped. I could hear he was getting angry, and I didn’t blame him. “I know. I know. It’s… Anyway, I did what I could. I’m also more than happy to help you with anything today. But there’s something you need to know. I’m going to be looking for another job.”
He nodded as if he’d been expecting this. “That’s fine. You don’t have to stay there. We’ll have to figure something out, though, as you do own half the company.”
“That’s not really fair. I mean, it’s not my company, and we both know it. I want you to take over the whole company. You can give me a bit of the money so that I can sort myself out in my new apartment, but otherwise, I don’t really expect anything.”
“New job, new apartment, new life. That’s great, Paisley. Just great. I’m so very happy that you are moving on with your life like this.”
I wanted to cry. The coffee was going cold in my hands, but I couldn’t drink it. It was just nice to have something to hold. I didn’t want to be like this with him, and seeing the hurt on his face was almost too much to endure.
But I had to be hard. If I dropped my guard, then all my defenses would come crashing down. I already promised myself that I wouldn’t get close to him anymore, that I would push him away. It was the only way that I could continue with my life. I could not afford to lose another person that I loved — and I did love Henry.
“Right, so let’s talk business,” I said because I didn’t want to talk about anything else.
He glared at me. “You want to talk business? Nah, it’s okay, Paisley. I’ve got it. Shawn will be in soon, and I’ll get started on my work. He’s going to help me out today. You know, like a nice person would do for someone that they cared about.”
I nodded, stood up, and averted my gaze. “Well, if you need anything please let me know.”
He shook his head. “No, you’ve made it pretty clear that you want nothing to do with me. I’ll figure things out on my own.”
“Okay, well, what about work? Should I go in today?”
“No, you can carry on packing. Don’t worry, Paisley; I’m happy on my own.”
I walked off with a lump in my throat. I felt sick at the way I had just treated him, but relieved that I had managed to do it without changing my mind. I just needed to officially leave the business and move into my new apartment. If I didn’t see him all the time, it would be a lot easier. Now, I just wanted to crawl into bed beside him and hold him.
Instead, I made my way back to my room and continued packing. It wasn’t easy because I was also trying to pack up my mom’s things, too. There were some things I wanted to keep, and others I was planning on either throwing away or giving away to some sort of charity. My mother would’ve liked that. She didn’t like anything to go to waste.
The tears were pouring down down my face as I went through her things. Eventually, when I couldn’t take it anymore, I went back to my room and stood with my head out the window. I wanted the cool air on my face. The house was beginning to suffocate me. I took several deep breaths and then finally made my way back to her room to continue with the process.
I’d found an apartment with relative ease. In truth, I wasn’t being overly picky, and now that I had money it made it a lot easier. It was a small place, but it was clean and airy, and I could easily imagine myself living there. It had only been the second apartment I had looked at, but I’d immediately said yes. I simply didn’t have the heart to look around for the perfect place, and the only reason I didn’t take the first one was because someone else took it before me.
There was a knock at the door, and I rushed to open it. I thought it was going to be Olive because she had promised to come around and help me pack. I could do with a friendly face, and her talking would at least help to fill the empty space. I opened the door with a flourish, and then gulped when I saw Shawn standing in the doorway.
“Uh, hi, Shawn,” I said with guilt. I still felt bad about the way I had come across to him. I wanted to apologize and explain, but I didn’t want him to tell Henry.
“Hi,” he said tersely. “I’ve come to help set Henry up with his work.”
“Oh, uh, sure, go on up,” I said and let him in.
&
nbsp; I walked back to my room, but I could hear the two of them talking. I knew that I should be the one helping out. Henry had been there for me ever since our parents passed away. He’d been so supportive of me. I felt like a horrible person, but I couldn’t let the emotions get in my way. I had to be strong. I was doing the right thing. One day I would explain to him, and one day he would understand.
An hour later there was another knock on the door, and I ran downstairs. This time, thankfully, it was Olive. As I let her in, Shawn came out the kitchen with a tray of food. Olive and Shawn looked at each other, and I stood awkwardly, not knowing what to do. Eventually, I made the introductions, then took Olive to my bedroom.
“He’s Henry’s best friend,” I said. “He’s helping him set up his laptop so he can work from home.” I wasn’t sure why I felt the need to explain, but I knew she could tell how awkward I felt with everything. Shawn looked like a nice guy, but every time he looked at me, I could see just how much he hated me for what I was doing to his best friend. I didn’t blame him, and as hard as it was to see, I was actually glad that Henry had him there.
“Ah, okay. So, what do you need help with today?” she asked with forced enthusiasm.
I looked around the room and pointed to the corner. “Could you help me with this section here? All of this is going into boxes. I just need to wrap some of the glassware in bubble wrap.”
“Sure, of course. Are you excited for the new apartment?” she asked.
I nodded my head, but I lacked the enthusiasm. “Yeah. It looks like a nice place. And, you know I’ve been wanting to stay in my own place for ages now.”
She smiled sadly. “Yeah, it will be nice, Paisley.”
We spent the rest of the day packing. For the most part, we worked in silence, but when we did talk, it wasn’t about anything important. We were both clearly acting like nothing was wrong. Shawn had left at some point in the day, and every now and again I could hear the clicking of Henry’s laptop. I heard him hobble to the kitchen to get something to eat, but I never offered to help.