Chapter 43
EVERETT
M anny’s words didn’t really hit me until I saw the face she made when I gave her the flowers. It was like she was confused for a second, questioning the very simple gesture. Questioning if it was for her, not anyone else.
Has no one ever...gotten her flowers?
It hurt to think about, so I made the long journey to Manny’s obscure boutique to get her flowers once hers wilted. She had them on her window sill, so I knew when it was time for a replacement with a simple look out my window.
The way she displayed them, it gave me hope that we hadn’t died out just yet.
I could still fix us. And I would.
I just needed to fix this damn deep fryer first.
With a grunt, I heaved myself up and leaned against the wall. My forehead was slick with sweat. My knees and thighs were also burning from being crouched down for the last three hours; luckily my time was up. I had to be back home by five, and that was nonnegotiable.
Jahnvi and I were going out tonight.
But back to the deep fryer.
I might just have needed to give up that battle and call a mechanic.
With what money, you may ask? Well, I had’t figured out that part yet.
Maybe, I’d cut the truckload delivery on groceries for the week and make the three-hour trip to get them.
Where would I find the time, you might ask?
Well, I’d just tell you to shut the hell up and mind your damn business.
That was later’s problem, anyway.
I was trying something new: work-life balance!
Ugh, sounds so pretty and simple when I say it like that. But it was much more complicated when put to test. My mind could not shut up about the order, how much I needed to have already finished by now. The only thing that helped was thinking about what I was going to do once I got home.
Who and what I was doing this for.
All I needed to do was put the deep fryer back down from its slanted position, and I could—