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Period.
The end.
I have nothing to worry about anymore.
I can finally pause and take a full breath because the panic has subsided.
Looking at the situation for what it is, and after distancing myself from the mental chaos, I came up with a list in my head of just exactly where my life has ended up.
Number one: I earned my ten grand. There are no favors due. No sexual requirements. No pretending I like somebody or play the role of a narcissist’s pet to pay my bills for the next couple of months.
Number two: Brinley seems happy with her new man. And I’m happy for her. Just as long as he turns out to care about her as much as he appears to from what I’ve seen of them together. Shane is not a murderer. At least as far as I know from what Luca told me.
Number three: Granger can’t boss me around anymore. I don’t owe the man a damn thing, so he can’t harass me. He’s finally gone, and I didn’t find myself in a tight spot where I would have to worry about crawling back to him.
And number four: My mother is happy in the place she’s found with Kane. For that, I can be happy for her without worry of her returning to the life she led when I was a child.
All the problems that haunted me for the past two years have come to a head. The festering wound gave up its poison. And I’m still standing strong, despite the nightmare I went through to get here.
It’s weird how life works.
I don’t agree that our fates are always written in the stars. I think sometimes the hustle is a necessary evil that rolls the dice across the cosmic board, and we end up standing in a place we neither expected nor wanted, but its exactly where we belong for that moment.
Who knows what the next roll of the dice will bring? But as far as I’m concerned, I’ve closed this chapter, and I’ll worry about that day when it comes.
As for now, I’m taking my life back. Without worry of my past, of Damon, or of all the secrets he keeps trapped in his head.
Those are no longer my problem.
They can’t be my problem.
I have to take control of my life, and that man’s presence has driven me to a point of absolute insanity.
My focus now is fixing the mess I’ve made of school during the day, and dancing at night.
That’s it.
I’m keeping it simple, because complicated is just too damn messy.
Before opening the door of the Uber I took to work, I pay the driver and thank him for the ride. An old guy, he stares curiously at the feed store facade and can’t help his question.
“Honey, do you realize this place hasn’t been open for years now? Hell, by the looks of it, the building is falling apart.”
Smiling kindly at him, I shake my head and zip my lips about the truth of what’s inside.
“Thanks again for the ride,” I say, letting myself out then walking to where Patrick sits on his stool, guarding the front door.
Patrick looks at his watch then at me, pushing two fingers to his throat as if checking for a pulse.
“Everything okay?”
Patrick looks healthy, but he’s acting as if his heart might come out of his chest at any second.
He pinches his arm hard enough to bruise before glancing at me curiously.
“I think so,” he answers on a laugh. “But I thought I’d never see the day you show up on time, much less early. So I’m either dead and don’t know it or dreaming.”
Laughter rolls over my lips. “I know, right? Maybe I’m turning over a new leaf. Got some shit straight in my life and now I’m not going to be a problem any longer.”
