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Sarah grins. "Let's go."We continue down the road to Sarah's car.
I know my friends are right. Get more details before you flip out. So, why can't I shake the feeling that something isn't right?
My stomach clenches.If they're messing with Knox in any way, there'll be hell to pay.
~K~
I steermy truck into the dark parking lot. The air is thick with heat, the humidity bearing down like a wet sponge.The last week of August stretches before me and I doubt the heat will let up.
The neon sign shines into my truck, Dave's Bar & Grill, lit up in different colors... It's afavoritebar of ours with decent food and a fewpool tables.I'm meeting Jim here fora few drinks, in hopes of catching up.
With a few minutes to spare, I sit inmy truck and scroll through my emails. A few from work, a couple from Jane, and one from Ron. My stomach flip flops when I see Emma's name on an email but when I click, I realize it's about an upcoming staff meeting.
Why do I care whether or not this woman gets in touch with me? I was the one who told her it was over, our time togethera mistake.
Part of me regrets telling her anything, butwhen she asked to meet for coffee, I couldn't say no. I needed to see her.
I knew she wanted answers.We had an amazing weekend together and then I avoided her.
Quite frankly, our weekend scared the shit out of me. I needed to slow things down before I lost control.
I almost apologized, almost asked her to come home with me. I knew it was wrong. But, I wanted to anyway.
False hope isn't fair to her.She deserves better.
Now, a couple of more weeks have passed and I know it's over for good. She barely looks my way, we both avoid each other, and when we do happen to pass by the other, it's as if we can't get away fast enough.
What a fucking mess.
The kicker isI still can't get her out of my fucking head.
I still wish I could takeher home with me. Repeat those amazing nights we had together.
My mind drifts to her sister. Our coffee meeting earlier was awkward.
She called me out of the bluelast week, after snagging my number from her sister's phone. She was in need of some help and didn't know who else to call. Her husband has a secretcocaineaddiction and he's getting worse.She'd never admit these issues to her mother or sister. She'd done her homework byresearchingme. Iwas impressed when she told meshe'dreadabout my extensive training in substance abuse.
I told her I had to think about it. It wasn't that I didn't want to help. Itfelt weird to me, almost as if I was betraying Emma. I don't know why; maybe because of theirdifficultrelationship.It also felt as if it were a possible conflict of interest. The whole situation made me uneasy.
What if Melissa was setting me up in some way? To get back at me for what happened with Emma?
After a couple of days,I decided I'd at least meet with her. If I couldn't help her, I had plenty of therapists I could refer her to.
Melissa wasa different personthan what I'd expected. She was genuine and showed me she loves her husband andwants to see him get better.
I ended up referring her to one of mycolleaguesI studied with during mydoctoratetraining. He's great with addiction andhe'll helpthe entirefamily. Melissa will need a strong support system to get her through this.
I promised her I wouldn't tell anyone about our meeting. I'm not allowed to anyway, but I reassured her. The last thing her mother needs to know is about her sonin-law'scocaine addiction.
I jump when a car horn shrieks beside me. I look over to see Jim waving, a big smirk on his face.
I roll down the windowas Jim hops out of his car.
"What's up, brother? Ready to get your ass kicked in pool?"
"Bring it." I grin, my thoughts forgotten. For now,
* * *
