AllFreeNovel
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“What?” I asked, wondering if the guy beside me was just out of touch.
“To start over. To get a new dream. Or to chase your dreams in a new way. So many people live their lives dying of boredom in jobs they hate just to play it safe. Sounds to me like that’s not you. So this risk didn’t pay off. That’s okay. You can start over, be whoever you want. That doesn’t sound like a mess. Sounds like freedom.”
“Easy for you to say. All your dreams came true,” I argued, raising an eyebrow.
He shook his head. “It might seem that way. I don’t blame you for thinking that. But trust me, it’s not all fame and glory.”
I perused him, wondering how it couldn’t be glory when you were Leo Turner.
“I know, I know. I used to think that, too, when I’d hear celebrities complaining. But trust me. Money, fame, that’s not success. Freedom is.”
“But you have freedom. You have enough money to do whatever you want. You don’t have to worry about waiting tables to make money to pay your car insurance or to get an apartment,” I argued.
He looked back out at the ocean, retreating. I could tell I hit a nerve. “No. But there’s a lot of weight that goes with the life I’ve built. There are a lot of people counting on me. It gets to be...heavy. Claustrophobic, even.”
We sat, two confused adults staring at the ocean. We were from two different worlds, for sure, and I didn’t really think he could understand what I was going through. But maybe, in some odd way, he could.
He turned to me after a long while. “I meant it when I said you didn’t need to worry,” he said, gesturing toward my leg. “I’m prepared to take full responsibility. I’ll have my accountant send a deposit to your account so you won’t have to worry about Tino’s or lost wages or anything.”
His words were kind, but resentment started to build. I wasn’t helpless. I wasn’t the careless woman who needed to be taken care of like everyone seemed to think.
“I don’t want your money,” I replied, a little angrier than I’d intended.
He studied me, his eyes sparkling for a while. He even grinned a little, which made me suspicious. He looked a little surprised.
“Let me do this for you. I know you can take care of yourself, and you don’t need it. But it will make me feel better. Besides, it’s the only real thing I’ve done. Let me have that.”
His words reverberated with a sadness I couldn’t quite pinpoint. The stubborn side of me wanted to say no, wanted to hobble away from the bench and send Leo Turner packing back to his life of caviar and sold-out arenas. But there was something lingering between us in the air, a familiarity I didn’t begin to understand. A need to feel like our lives mattered. A need to feel independent, free.
“I don’t like to be taken care of. I’m not a charity case,” I replied, my words softer, though.
“I know. Which is why you’ll be helping me in exchange. Remember? You’ll show me around town. Think of it as a tour guide stipend.”
“So, you’re really staying?” I asked. “Don’t you have places you have to be?”
He laughed at that. “I always have places I have to be. Which is exactly why I’m here with this scraggly beard.”
“You’re playing hookey then? For the whole summer?” I asked with a little bit of a grin.
“We all have to sometimes, don’t we?”
“At least you didn’t have to break an ankle to do it,” I teased, elbowing him.
“So, for the third time, do we have a deal then? You’ll show me around town, and I’ll take care of your medical bills and living expenses. Do you believe me this time that I’m serious?”
“As long as you don’t get carried away. My medical bills and salary, which arguably isn’t a lot. Nothing more.”
“You’ve got it.”
“So, when does this tour thing start then?” I asked, mentally making a list of all the places I wanted to show him.
“Tomorrow? If you’re up for it, of course.”
“Oh, I’m up for it. If I have to be carried out my parents’ house, I will,” I replied, thinking of my mother and her hovering ways.
“It sounds crazy, but I’ve been here for almost a week and haven’t really even been out to the beach. If you think you can manage. I don’t want to push you with your injury.”
“Getting out of the condo and away from my hovering parents is the best thing for my healing journey,” I answered.
