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CHAPTERTHIRTY-ONE
Audrey
It’s been several frustrating days of physio and pain. Simple tasks I used to take for granted are difficult for me now, but determination is the only thing keeping me going. I must admit, though, it’s hard. Really hard. When the pain hits and it’s constant, all I want to do is sit down and be done with it. In fact, one day this week, I became angry, which shocked me afterwards because I never usually lose my temper like that. I shouted and cried, which the physiotherapist allowed before I calmed. He then simply asked, “Are you done feeling sorry for yourself now?” The initial shock that he said something like that to me robbed me of speech. I got angry again, but when I took a few seconds to really take in what he’d said, I simply nodded my head. It wasn’t that he didn’t care, he was simply playing tough. Put on your big girl panties and fight. I knew I would get better, but it wasn’t going to be overnight. It would take patience and resolve—traits my physiotherapist was simply trying to engrain into my brain so that I would get better. In the end, he and I became the best of friends.
“Your physiotherapist is hot,” Trent thinks out loud after I’m done with another session.
I smile because I’ve thought that too. It’s just… well, he’s just doing his job, and I simply want to get out of here… despite said hotness.
“He’s kinda cute, but there’s someone else out there for you.”
Trent frowns. “What makes you say that?”
His question has me examining why I would say that. I take a moment to think why that came out of my mouth, but I come up empty. “I have no idea. I just… said it.”
“You’re strange,” he muses.
I laugh out loud at his hypocrisy. “Me? Acting strange? You’ve been acting weird too. Am I glad to be in my body again… whatever that means?”
He eyes me suspiciously before pulling out a magazine from his back pocket and opening it. “Eli Prescott’s fathers died. The funeral is in a week’s time.”
Sadness overwhelms me—more than it should. Yes, I should feel sad for him, but not to this extent. “That’s too bad,” I reply, glumly.
“There’s also rumors that he and Kendra are having problems. She hasn’t been seen with him in a while, plus he’s been spotted staying at a hotel.” Trent narrows his eyes at me like he’s studying me for some reason. And he keeps saying I’m acting strange.
“If that’s true about him and Kendra after his father recently passing, that must be so hard on him. Talk about these things happening all at once. Poor guy.”
“Hmm,” Trent simply replies, still eyeing me suspiciously. I’m about to ask what’s gotten into him when he suddenly speaks. “I guess we will find out soon enough. If it’s true about him and Kendra, it means he’s on the open market again.” He wriggles his eyebrows for full effect.
“Even if that’s true, he will be snapped up by another gorgeous supermodel, or actress, no doubt.”
“Pfft,” Trent responds, waving his hand dismissively in front of me. “Let a guy dream of a magical romance between a Hollywood movie star and a girl in a café.”
I laugh out loud. “You’ve been reading too many romance novels.”
“Some of them are true,” he protests, almost pouting. “Look at Samuel L. Jackson, Kirk Douglas… George Bush. They’ve been married for more years than you’ve been alive.”
“Yeah, and how often does that happen?” I roll my eyes back at him.
“Are you saying you don’t believe in true love?”
I secretly do, but it’s not something I have had time to dwell on. Sure, I went on dates and such when I was in high school, but never had anything serious. I found most boys to be rather immature, but I guess I felt that way because after my dad died, I had to grow up quite a lot. My mom was understandably a wreck for a long time after, so I had to carry the weight of paying bills and household chores myself—something that my mom has carried guilt for ever since. It wasn’t ideal, but I got through it. I got through it because I had to. By the time I was fourteen, I was going to high school and in my spare time, I was helping at the café. After I finished high school, I worked at the café full time until my aunt decided I could cope with it by myself. She was already retired and wanted to move to sunny Florida, so it was unfair to place the burden of running the place on her. I eventually persuaded my aunt and my mom that I wanted to do this by myself… to carry on my dad’s dream. I know they were concerned that I might potentially be throwing away another career I could have wanted, but I believe now that this was what I was meant to do.
With all that said, I never had time for relationships. I dated someone for around six months when I was twenty, but when he complained that I was never home, I decided that the café was worth more to me than our relationship. That spoke volumes—the relationship doomed from the start. I figured he needed someone worthy of love… worthy of a lot more love than I could ever offer. By breaking things off, I did him a favor. I have since heard that he’s married with a child on the way, so I’m guessing he’s super glad that we ended when we did as he might not ever have met his wife.
Anyway, since then, I haven’t bothered with dating because, just like with my ex, it wouldn’t be fair to the person I was with. Now, thinking about it, I can understand why so many people were worried about me. I didn’t dwell on it too much at the time, but since being stuck in this hospital, all I can do is think. And now that I’m forced to realize—and admit— that Full of Beans can function without me, it’s made me wonder about the future. About the possibilities it may bring me. I’m young, so I still have so many years to have fun, explore the world, and maybe even… find love. Hell, if that doesn’t happen for me, I can always become a cat lady or something.
“My mom and dad had true love, so I’m guessing anything’s possible,” I reply. That notion saddens me somewhat, as although they had true love, my father died, and now my mother is left to mourn him for the rest of her life. Hardly a fun thought, and enough to put anyone off.
“It can still happen to you,” he replies defiantly. “And hopefully even me if Mark Wahlberg ever gets his act together and realizes I’m the only person in the world for him.”
“Yeah, and I’m sure his wife of what—twelve years?—will have something to say about that.”
He waves his hand and pffts. “Tomayto, tomahto.” He then goes on to say, “I hope Eli visits you soon. He said he would.”
I shake my head at his enthusiasm over Eli and me. “I’m sure he has plenty of other things to worry about right now. I would be way down a long list of unimportant things to do.”
Trent quirks a smile at me. “Yeah, sure, honey.” He then glances at his nails, the same cocky grin on his face. I shake my head at him.
