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“Well, I hope you’re right, Grace. I hope I’m smart enough to sort through something in the next six weeks while my ankle heals because I’m fairly sure my job at Tino’s is gone.”
She tried to reassure me, but her words were weak. I could tell she didn’t believe them. After a little while, I couldn’t stand watching the new girl effortlessly handle the job that took me months to only somewhat learn.
I told Grace I’d be back later in the week, grabbed my crutches, and hobbled out the front door of Tino’s. I plopped myself onto the bench, staring out at the ocean. I wondered how things had gone from bad to worse to the worst. Tears ready to fall, a soft voice interrupted my internal spiral.
“Doesn’t get easier, does it?” Leo said, hands in his pockets. He took a seat beside me.
“What?” I asked, trying to compose myself but failing at it.
“Being an adult.”
And with that simple camaraderie, that simple sense of understanding, the tears just fell.
I should’ve felt embarrassed, perhaps. I didn’t. As Leo put an arm around me, I settled into him and, for the first time in a long time, I didn’t feel so alone.
Chapter Eleven
“I’m sorry,” I said, wiping away the tears after a few moments. I pulled away from Leo, and he returned his arm to himself.
“Don’t apologize for being real. Things are rough sometimes. And I’m sure the injury isn’t helping things.” I could hear the guilt in his voice.
“Things were a mess long before the broken ankle, in truth.”
“Really? What’s going on?” I turned to look at him. His blue eyes, his hand smoothing his beard—it was weird to consider, but it was like Leo Turner was just a normal guy. Sitting on the bench looking out at the ocean, I could forget that this guy had been in full stadiums singing to crowds of swooning girls. I could forget about the mansion he lived in and the staff who probably waited on him hand and foot. In that moment, I could almost believe we were just two average people on a bench.
And then I did get real.
“Nothing you could understand,” I said.
“Try me,” he said seriously.
“Well, to be honest, life at thirty isn’t what I thought it would be. I had these big, crazy dreams when I was eighteen, and I went for it, you know, like all the books and podcasts tell you. I took my crazy big shot. And it was fine for a while. Until it wasn’t. So now I’m thirty, living back in my parents’ house with a failed business, a failed relationship, and an ex-best friend. And I don’t even have a crappy job to earn a little bit of money to try to dig myself out of the hole I’m in.” The words tumbled out before I could stop them, and I realized that all along I’d just been waiting to vocalize how bad things had gotten. I bit my lip and told myself not to lose it again.
I waited for Leo to say anything, to respond, to agree that my life was a mess. Instead, he looked out at the ocean, stayed silent for a moment, and looked back at me.
“Sounds to me like an opportunity.”
