Page 48 of Angels Fall

“Fair enough. Can you fire Maddie?”

He looks at me like I’m making him tired. Probably because... “What’s that, now?”

“I’m just trying to help her.”

“By making her lose her job?”

“C’mon, man,” I say, “I don’t know exactly what the deal is, but you and I both know that fucking guy is gonna be back. Whatever she’s into, she needs to disappear. But she’s so goddamn stubborn, she’ll just keep showing up until some something gets broken that can’t be put back together.”

“She’s an adult,” he says.

“Okay, fine.” I decide to change up my argument. “But you and I both know Maddie’s not supposed to be here.”

“No?”

“No. You know her. She’s not like the other girls who work here.”

Pete leans back, puts his hands on his belly. “Yeah? You know a whole lot about the other girls who work here?”

“Well,” I say, somewhat hesitantly, because I can already see where this is headed. “I—”

“Stephanie has a kid and was left high and dry by her old man. She tried about fifteen other things but couldn’t cover the bills.”

“I know, I—”

“Meredith trained to be a ballerina, got a knee injury, this is a way she can dance and make a living at the same time.”

“Okay, I get it, I just—”

“Patricia’s just kind of a sexual deviant with low self-esteem, but y’know, they’re not all gonna be stories of plucky underdogs.” Pete almost cracks a smile. Almost. Then he says, “Stop trying to make up for your fuck-up by forcing yourself on the situation. Looks to me like you and her are finding common ground”—he nods at my bloody t-shirt—“such as it is. So just give her some space and stop trying to play hero. That ship has sailed.”

Shit. Pete just knows how to get right to the heart of a motherfucker.

“Maddie’s a good girl,” Pete says. “She’s a smart girl. She’s gonna be OK.”

“I just wish she’d take some help and not feel like she has to fucking do everything on her own all the time.”

“No, you don’t.”

“What?” I ask, genuinely surprised.

“Because then she wouldn’t be her.”

Again, right to the fucking heart.

He stands, which I take as my cue to stand too. Pete says to me, “I’m not much of one for telling another man what he should do or how he should be, but…” He puts his hand on my shoulder and walks me to the door. “I know Raven already told you this, but it feels like it bears repeating. Because, you know, you’re stupid.”

“Thanks.”

“If you really give a shit about Maddie, find a way to show her you do. Not get her to forgive you or think anything about you, just show her you’re grateful for her. Think of it like giving a gift. You give me a picture to hang in my office, you don’t get to tell me where to hang it, or when, or even if I do. You just give the gift and walk away. Give her a gift. You get me?”

I turn to face him. I nod. "Yeah. Like my friend Lobsang once told me. Give of yourself freely. Have no attachment to the outcome.”

“Sure. Whatever. Just don’t be a fucking asshole.”

“That is also a way to say it.” I shake his hand. “You’re a wise man, Pete—Uh. What’s your last name?”

“Don’t matter much. And I’m not wise, I just got lucky to know somebody once who helped me learn some shit that set me right.” He looks over to the pretty urn behind his desk, then back at me. “Hell, kid, I was probably even stupider than you once upon a time. So… there’s still hope.”