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“I’ll start at the top and explain it all as best as I can. You’ve said before I’ve got no backbone.”
“No. I believe I said you should stand up for yourself. Not that you don’t have a backbone.”
“What’s the difference?” she asked.
“One is an insult, the other is a suggestion,” he said.
She didn’t think so but wasn’t going to argue with him.
“If you say so,” she said. “A coworker set me up with Eddie. I’m not one that likes being set up, but it was a cousin of hers and Deb and I got along well at work. I mean not like we went out and partied or anything, but we did talk a lot.”
“Do you normally get set up with people?”
“No. I was talked into it.”
More like she couldn’t say no. She’d said no a few times, but it never ended and just to get it to stop she agreed.
“You mean she pressured you,” he said.
“Yes. But she was right, and Eddie was a nice guy. We got along well even though we were total opposites. We went on a few dates and the next thing I know we are going pretty strong and he’s talking me into doing things I’ve never done before. Exciting things I always was scared of or just never thought I’d like. We double dated with Deb and her boyfriend too. I think deep down she wanted that to happen.”
“What happened to Eddie?” he asked.
“He went rock climbing with his friends. Something he wanted me to do with him, but I’m a little afraid of heights. I mean he got me to do things up high like rollercoasters and stuff, but hanging off of rocks…yeah. I couldn’t do it.”
“It’s one thing to be pushed out of your comfort zone, it’s another to be pressured if you’re uneasy or scared.”
“I said that more than once. But he had a way about him to always charm me into trying something. But this time I said no and he went with some of his friends. He was drinking and goofing off.”
“Not really smart,” he said.
“He wasn’t often. I guess you could say he always had to be the life of the party. He had to have all eyes on him at all times. He fell. He hit his head on a rock had a serious concussion, had a lot of cuts and broken bones. His leg was broken, he dislocated his shoulder, he fractured a few ribs. It’s hard to get around on crutches when your arm is in a sling too.”
She remembered trying to help him in those first few weeks. She’d taken time off of work when he was released from the hospital. He was lucky enough to have a wheelchair he could move around in and then a scooter to help.
But there were things he couldn’t do. Laundry, clean, cook at times.
“So you cared for him,” he said.
“I did. More than his family, but they did help out when they could. He wasn’t working. Or he was trying to do some work from home, but it wasn’t until a few months after. Even after his leg, shoulder and ribs were healed, he was still having headaches from the concussion. Then he had to go to rehab for another month.”
“So he was out of work a long time.”
“Almost four months,” she said.
“You got close during that time, I’m assuming,” he said. He started to make crepes and there was some kind of chocolate mixture in a bowl. She sure the heck wanted chocolate right now. Fruit was in a bowl too and she was trying not to let drool come out of her mouth.
Not just from what he was making or the aroma in the kitchen, but the hot guy in shorts and a T-shirt with his hair in a messy bun on his head. She didn’t even laugh when she saw that now. She knew he’d done it right before she got there.
“We did. He was so appreciative of everything I was doing for him. He thanked me all the time. He said he didn’t know what he’d do without me.”
“He should have been thanking you,” he said. “I should keep my mouth shut, but I know you’re leading up to more since he was an ex.”
“It’s fine,” she said. “There is a lot more. He finally got better and went back to work. And with that came partying again, drinking. He liked to smoke pot. He said it calmed him and helped him sleep.”
“To each their own,” he said. “I’d rather have a clear head to get through life.”
“Me too,” she said. “Just so you know, I’ve never done drugs, but I was trying to be accepting of it because so many are. He really didn’t do it around me, just talked about doing it.”
