These Things Happen by Michael Eon

Author:Michael Eon
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Girl Friday Books
Published: 2023-05-15T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 15

I left Dale at the coffee shop and took my time walking more than three miles back to my apartment in Bay Ridge, in the southwest corner of Brooklyn. I was sweating profusely in the cool evening air. I felt great about finally having a sponsor. I was also hoping that if I took my time, Jill would be asleep when I got home. When I got within ten blocks, I slowed my pace even further. I didn’t know what I would say if Jill was still awake when I walked through the door. The doubt I’d felt about our relationship in recent months had turned to something much harsher in the days since Max’s suicide attempt⁠—especially since I’d seen Brie again.

What, I wondered, am I going to do about Jill?

It had been nineteen years since Frankie Woburn had died. Nineteen years since I rudely ordered him up the street to his death. Why⁠—I wondered now, as I often did⁠—hadn’t I just ignored his obnoxious behavior that morning? And why had I opened the door for Benny the day before that? If I hadn’t done either of those things, Harry and Frankie would both still be alive. I’d been carrying my guilt over those actions for decades⁠—and that guilt was, most likely, why I was still with Jill when we obviously weren’t good for each other. But did it have to be that way? Or was I only making it that way?

I paused at the stoop of my apartment building and looked up at the windows on the seventh floor. No light, but I still didn’t want to go inside. I was too hot, anyway, so I sat.

I owed something to Jill Woburn. It was as simple as that. I really wished I could give her brother back. Barring that, I could at least not be an asshole of a boyfriend. She was upset about Brie, but the two of us would never get back together. Brie and I were simply too different. And I’d blown things completely the last time we’d tried to make it work together. I wasn’t certain about a lot of things, but I was definitely certain about that.

Jill was also upset that I wanted Max to stay with us for a while, and I needed to listen to her. I had to find a way to convince her that things would work out if Max was there. Because regardless of how I felt, I would stay with her. Jill and I needed one another in order to stay sober. We were bonded by our original pain. It made sense to me that we should stay bonded in our healing. Brie and I were done. We had been for a long time. It would be delusional for me to think that would ever change. I had to stay grounded in reality. Jill was reality.

Feeling that I finally had the strength I needed to face Jill, I climbed up the stoop and went in the building. Our seventh-floor walk-up had gotten old fast, but nothing in this location could beat this price.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.