Page 26 of Friends That Heal Us
“Oh my god. I can’t believe what a bitch she is.” She shakes her head as her arms fall loosely around her in disbelief.
“Well, it’s no one’s job to coddle me.”
Her mouth parts at my words, and she blinks like she’s caught off guard again. “You’re right, but wouldn’t you thinksomeone who loved and cared for you would want to help you? Not because it’s their job but because they can’t stand to see you uncomfortable and not do anything about it?”
Her words settle in deep. I’ve spent so many years married, but yet always doing everything myself. I never had Rya’s support, so I never bothered asking. And if I had to ask, it was obvious she didn’t want to do it. I’ve forgotten how it feels to get this kind of care from someone who truly cares for you.
“What would she do then? Sit and watch you in discomfort?” Vi asks as she prepares her espresso.
I lean my hip against the counter, thinking back at all the times this happened around Rya. “She wouldn’t do anything except kick me out of the room so she could sleep.”
Her mouth parts even more and her eyes wide with raised brows. “She kicked you out of the room?”
My lips go thin as I nod my head.
“That’s awful. I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay.”
She shakes her head and sets down her coffee cup. “No, it’s not. None of this is okay.” She lets out a heavy breath. “They treated us so badly, and we never even realized it.”
She has a point. Small gestures go a long way. I never realized until Vi. She has shown me so much in this short time than Rya ever has in all our years married. It’s crazy to spend years thinking you’re getting the best love possible, only to have someone come along and make you realize you were settling the whole damn time. And stepping away is hard. When I realized Rya and I weren’t right for each other, comfort kept me staying. In a way, it might be a good thing that she and Zay did what they did. Well, they could have at least done something else to show they didn’t give a shit about us, but on the bright side, we’re at least figuring out what we missed out on. You have to find the bright side of any darkness.
Right?
Even if it’s the worst kind of darkness. Like they say, there is always light at the end of the tunnel or the grass is always greener on the other side. Some people just need an extra push to see it. This was ours. I’m not proud to say that my wife cheated on me because there is so much stigma around it. I know I am proud to say that my life is so much better now. Even in the short amount of time, I already see the light shining brighter each day.
The shop echoes with metal clinging against each other as I walk into the bay and set down my cup of coffee I grabbed on the way over here. I should learn how to make espresso out of the machine Vi has. Every time I look at it, it looks way too complicated for me.
“Hey, boss,” James says as he looks up towards me from under the hood of a car.
“It’s Ezra.” I shake my head. “I keep telling you to call me Ezra.” For some reason I hate the word boss. I know I’m his boss, but I’d rather we have a better relationship than boss and employee. One reason I started my company is because I hated working for people where I was only a number to them. I never wanted to create that type of environment for this shop.
“Sorry, man.” His eyes go wide. “I mean Ezra.”
Shaking my head again, “What do we have going on here?” I ask as I look down at the engine he’s tearing apart.
I’m thankful for James and his hard work. He’s the type of employee who can start work on his own without being told what to do. He also helps the other employees. Since opening my company, I’ve had my fair share of employees who had to be micromanaged. It made it so hard to get this shop up andrunning smoothly because I was still working my full-time job. Work never got done unless I was telling them exactly what to do. I would come in here early in the morning and check out what we had to work on, go to my job, and then come back over here during lunch to check on everything again. I’d go back to my job for the afternoon and then come back in the evening. It was so exhausting. I never understood how Rya never saw that I was leaving to work earlier and coming home later than usual—goes to show how much she cared or even noticed I was gone.
I’m also thankful for my dad, who helped get things running here when I couldn’t be here. He had the extra time since he was slowly retiring from his own mechanic job, but it made me feel bad that he was helping me so much instead of actually slowing down.
After James explains what’s going on and what he’s doing to fix it, he looks up at me with a curious look on his face.
“What?” I ask, shifting my eyesight around.
His lips turn downward as if he’s trying to find the right words to say. “Nothing. You just look…” He’s quiet for a moment. “Happier.”
“Happier?” I repeat.
“Yeah, boss. Happier.” He clears his throat. “I mean Ezra.”
My brows furrow. “How so?”
His shoulders shrug. “You smile more, and your face doesn’t look so…” he trails off.
“So what?”
“Tired,” he finally says. “Or exhausted.” He shrugs his shoulders again. “I don’t know you always had this sad look on your face.”
