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“Not a damn thing, that’s what,” I said. “We need all of us running this bar when it’s up, not behind bars for beating up an old rival.”
“Whatever, Tom,” Jordan said. He stomped off away from me, and I looked around at the other brothers. Most of them had jobs to get to, and they moved accordingly. I kept my head down and went to work painting near Ava, and by the end of the day, I was worn-out. None of the boys seemed to open up to me, and I guessed I couldn’t really be upset about it. They were mad at me. But at least the bar was ours now, and all it needed was our attention and then it could get opened.
The guys stayed away the rest of the day, and I was only able to get the barest of attention to questions or ideas I was throwing out. Finally, I got frustrated and called it a day, leaving the paint and paintbrush where they were and heading for the door. A few of the boys were still there, mostly in the back, and I snuck out of the front.
My patience had worn thin, and between my job, Amanda, the bar, the new changes and the stress of the loan hanging over my head, I felt like I was already stretched too thin. As Amanda had told me, I needed to relax and let the business get handled by them. And yet, that wasn’t what I wanted. I wanted to be part of every decision, to be the face of our company, and to interact with Amanda, far more than her ignoring me on video calls.30AmandaBy the time the weekend came, I was starting to think it wasn’t just nerves that made my favorite diner food flip my stomach. The leftovers were still sitting in my refrigerator, and I hadn’t been able to bring myself to eat any of them. But when I woke up Saturday morning, I was feeling even sicker than I had when I went to the diner.
The first few seconds of consciousness brought waves of nausea through me. I just managed to get out of bed and run into the bathroom before I got sick. After a couple of minutes of pure misery throwing up, I dropped down to sit on the floor and leaned over. Resting my face against the cool side of the tub helped to calm my shaking and ease some of the sick feeling still rippling through me.
Fantastic. Not only had the whirlwind of my time in Astoria and coming back here to try to adjust to my schedule done a number on my emotions, but it was also starting to mess with my physical health as well. I had stressed my immune system into hiding and caught some sort of stomach bug or virus.
And it was the last thing I needed right then. There was so much work to be done, so many meetings that were scheduled and situations I had to handle. I really couldn’t afford to be sick and have to take any time away from work. It was a particularly cruel paradox. Being stressed out was what had made me vulnerable to getting sick, but now being sick was making me even more stressed out.
Another wave of sickness crashed over me, and I spent another few minutes hunched over the toilet. Finally, it ended, and I was able to pry myself up off the floor and brush my teeth. I filled my hands with water and drank it down, hoping to settle my stomach, or at least keep me from getting dehydrated.
I had just dragged myself back into my bedroom and crawled under the covers with the intention of hiding out there for a good while when my phone rang. My heart sank, and I let out a bit of a groan. I really couldn’t deal with Tom right now.
But I knew from experience if I didn’t answer, he would only call more. My head was spinning, and I didn’t think I could tolerate listening to it ring repeatedly, so I grabbed my phone off the table. When I glanced at the screen, I realized it wasn’t Tom. It was Ava.
“Hello,” I said.
“Amanda?” she asked. “It’s Ava.”
“Hey, Ava,” I said. “How are you doing?”
“I was upset we didn’t get a chance to say goodbye. I’ve missed you since you left,” she said.
“I’m sorry,” I said. “I wish we had gotten a chance to say goodbye, too. But I just had to get out of there. I’m sure you understand.”
“Of course I do. I wouldn’t have wanted to hang around here, either, if I were you. But it’s not the same without you around. There have been a couple of times when I’ve been out shopping or getting ready to go to lunch or something and picked up the phone to call and see if you wanted to come with me,” she said.
