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“We’re so proud of you, Jia. You did a really scary thing today and stood up for yourself. You’re amazing. This is my best
friend, everyone. She’s incredible and strong and smart and—” Lizzy stood up and lifted her glass to continue her toast.
Her boyfriend Darcy gently pulled at her arm to return her to her seat. “We’re all thirsty, honey. I think everyone gets the
idea. Jia, to you.” He lifted his glass, and Jia brought hers to Lizzy’s and then Darcy’s.
“Thanks, you guys. Ten out of ten would not recommend. But I’m glad I did it. And I’m glad it’s over.”
“Let’s be real, Wainwright should be fired. Bakerson should be fired. Shin should be fired.” Lizzy clearly had opinions on
the matter.
“I think Bakerson owns the company, my love,” Darcy said.
“And we don’t hate Henry,” Jia said.
“Oh yes, I forgot. We looooove Henry,” Lizzy singsonged.
“Okay, dear, I think it’s time we switch to water for a bit.” Darcy took Lizzy’s drink out of her hand and kissed her on the cheek.
“That was my first drink! If anything, I’m drunk on Jia’s good vibes!”
Jia warmed at the sight of the two of them. She loved their relationship and admittedly felt a tiny bit jealous of it. Jia
couldn’t have feelings for just any guy, an easy guy, a regular guy with a regular job to be in a regular romance with. Nope.
Apparently only a man who fired her and she was now suing would do. Pesky details.
But, as odd as it sounded, Jia could laugh at it. So what if she didn’t have a normal life like everyone else? She couldn’t
keep a job? She didn’t want a normal job. She couldn’t keep an overpriced, too-small apartment? She was pretty sure she didn’t
want to live in New York anymore anyways. Jia had to stop comparing her worth based on others. She needed to start looking
within and giving herself credit for what she had done.
She thought about calling Henry after she’d left the Bakerson’s Group offices. She could invite him here right now for a drink.
But she’d seen him getting pulled aside by his boss as she was leaving. She really hoped that that meant good things for Henry.
Despite being on the other side of things, she was incredibly impressed with him today. And proud.
And call her inappropriate, but she found him incredibly sexy in his lawyer mode.
Jia’s phone buzzed in her purse. She’d been so hoping it was Henry, she didn’t look before answering it. “Hello?”
“Jia.” It was her father.
Jia covered the mouthpiece and got up. “Excuse me, guys, I’ll be right back. I have to take this.” She made her way through
the restaurant and out the door. “Hi, Dad.”
“Apparently being involved in a lawsuit with your former employer is cause for celebration by the sound of it.”
“How did you know about the—”
“Jia, lawsuits are public record from the moment you file,” her dad explained.
“Okay, but unless you have my name on some kind of Google Alert, how could you have even known . . . Oh god, Dad. You guys
don’t have a Google Alert on me, do you?”
“Don’t turn this into something you disapprove of.”
“It’s weird, and intrusive, and—”
“If you didn’t consistently give us reason to worry, maybe we wouldn’t have to track you this way,” he said. No apology in
his voice.
“It’s crossing the line,” Jia said.
“Listen to me. You don’t understand what you’ve done. You’ve basically ruined your chances of a future. What company will
hire you, knowing you’ve filed a lawsuit against your former employer? Jia, we have given you enough chances to do this on
your own. Now, you will do what your mother and I tell you. Check your email—there should be a confirmation message for your
flight to Florida. We’ll handle moving your stuff down to our home from there. Do not go back to Mimi’s, understood? We want
you in Florida tomorrow morning. You’ve caused enough distress and hardship on the family.”
“Yes, I know, Dad. You and Mom have told me enough times what a burden I’ve been on you both my entire life.
Mom never lets me forget how hard I even made her pregnancy.
God, I get it, okay? Telling me again, after what I’ve just gone through, isn’t gonna make me any more willing to leave my life behind and go live the one you want for me.
” Jia buzzed with the anger and frustration and sadness of the conversation.
Her parents couldn’t accept her for who she was or the choices and mistakes she made.
They would only be okay if she conformed to who they wanted her to be.
“I have to go now. I’m out with my friends celebrating a really big deal in my life.” It wasn’t technically a win on paper.
But even taking the steps to fight for herself, despite it not working out completely the way she’d hoped, was worth something.
“Jia—”
She hung up on her father.
Jia woke up to a sore back and a stiff neck and a general feeling of regret and dread. She’d crashed at Lizzy and Darcy’s
place on their couch, tossing and turning with the fear of having truly pissed off her parents.
She and Lizzy had plans for coffee before Jia’s evening flight back to Palm Springs. She had ignored the confirmation email
about a flight to Florida. She knew her parents would be furious at her for disobeying them, but they were being unreasonable.
She’d deal with the fallout later.
They grabbed their coffees from the café on the corner and walked a couple blocks to Central Park. Lizzy’s new apartment was
fifteen blocks farther south from the one they had shared just a few weeks ago. So much had changed in that short time for
both of them.
This part of the park was new to Jia. Morning joggers filled the paths alongside people walking their dogs. Jia and Lizzy
found a bench and took in the sights and sounds of the city waking up.
“So what’s the plan?” Lizzy asked. “And how can I help?”
“I still don’t know. I mean, I didn’t expect this lawsuit, no matter what happened either way, to change my life.
I just needed to close that chapter. Now?
Well, it’s been a month, and I still don’t have any job prospects.
I’ve also pissed off my parents and don’t know if they’ll ever forgive me.
I could go back to crashing at Mimi’s—maybe find a job serving tables or selling souvenirs.
” Jia shrugged at the lack of possibilities.
“There’s got to be something,” Lizzy said. Ever the optimist.
“How does it feel?” Jia asked, nudging her best friend with her elbow.
“How does what feel?”
“Being a fully grown adult. Having your shit together?” Jia smiled. She meant it as a compliment, not an accusation. She truly
wanted to know how it felt not having the weight of failures and disappointments on your back.
“Listen, my life is far from perfect. And having some parts of it supposedly figured out doesn’t mean other parts aren’t a
mess. I’m pretty convinced that life is all about pulling different levers until something works and then moving on to the
next challenge. You’re not behind, if that’s what you’re thinking. You’ve just prioritized some things at the expense of others
for now. It’ll all balance itself out.” Lizzy sounded so confident in her assessment. Jia wasn’t so sure. She couldn’t think
of one thing she’d succeeded at to date. It all kind of felt like a mess to her.
“You know, all that stuff you’re doing for the residents out at Sunset Hills? It’s pretty amazing. There are few people who
have the motivation and the heart and the patience.”
Jia smiled thinking of her friends out there. She missed them already, and she’d only been away a couple days. What a weird
thing to feel so connected to and invested in people so much older than her.
“Hey, is there a way for you to make all that work you do into an actual paying job? Like, can the community maybe pay you out of the HOA budget or something?” Lizzy was a fundraiser for a nonprofit organization. It’s how her mind worked.
“They’ve never posted anything like that before. I don’t think it’s an actual thing,” Jia said.
“Well, maybe you should ask them. It couldn’t hurt. And isn’t it the dream to get paid for work you love to do?”
Jia wondered if this could be a possibility. Maybe like an event planner or a community manager role? She could do some research
online and see if such jobs existed. She could come up with a job description and a proposal. She could take it to the HOA
board. She was starting to get excited about the possibility. Even if it didn’t work out, the idea triggered something in
Jia to start thinking outside the box for her next career move.
“That might not be a bad idea. I’ll give it some more thought,” Jia said.
“Okay, my love, I have to get to work. Give me a hug before I go.” Lizzy stood up and pulled Jia to her feet. Jia wrapped
her arms around Lizzy and squeezed. She loved her bestie so much. “When do I see you again?”
“I still have a few days left in Palm Springs, and then I have to see how everything plays out with my parents, but I’ll call
you soon just to catch up. I love you.”
“Love you back. Safe flight tonight, okay?” Lizzy walked off with a wave and left Jia sitting with her first sense of hope
in over a month.
Jia’s phone rang, and she knew this time to look at the caller ID. She should talk to her parents and apologize for hanging
up on her dad last night. But she wasn’t ready for their criticism and disappointment right now. The screen read Mimi. Jia missed her grandmother and quickly picked up the call.
“Hiya, Mimi. How goes it?”
“Hello? Jia?”
“Mimi? Can you hear me? I—”
“Honey, there’s been an accident. Dennis fell during Walking Club. It was a fluke. Didn’t realize the curb on the corner of
Robart and Pine was a little higher than the others. Just lost his balance, and, boom, he was face down on the ground. Bruises
all over and a broken wrist. We’re here at the hospital . . .”
But Jia couldn’t hear the rest of it above the ringing in her ears. Dennis fell? A broken wrist? Walking Club? Jia was the
one who’d encouraged him to participate weekly. In fact, she’d suggested to him, pressured him even, to give it a try. Henry
had asked her not to push him too hard. But she hadn’t listened. She thought she knew better what would be good for him.
She’d done this. She was the one that made Dennis think he didn’t need a walker. She was the one that told all of the residents
at Sunset Hills that they didn’t have to listen to their families, their doctors, their naysayers. They could live the way
they wanted to.
She was the one at fault for Dennis’s accident.
“Mimi,” Jia croaked out around the tears and the boulder lodged in her throat. “I’m on my way.”
She hung up and ran back to Lizzy’s apartment to get her stuff. She quickly looked up her flight information and changed the
itinerary to catch the next earlier flight out to Palm Springs. It would cost her an additional four hundred dollars. She’d
put the charge on her credit card and worry about how to pay it off later.
She needed to get home.
But Sunset Hills wasn’t her home. She was just a visitor. What even made her think she was qualified to plan activities for elderly people who had limitations to actually be concerned about? She’d been reckless. Selfish. Arrogant.
This was all her fault.
Maybe it was time for her to leave Sunset Hills behind. Maybe she would grovel and ask her parents to control her life. Maybe
she could take the settlement from Bakerson’s Group and start over somewhere. Somewhere where she couldn’t hurt anyone she
loved.
But first, she had to get back and make sure Dennis was okay.
Jia grabbed her bag and called an Uber to the airport. As soon as she got into the car, she picked up her phone and called
Henry. She was sure he’d likely been contacted already, but just in case . . .
“This is Henry Shin. Please leave a message.” Not even one ring. His phone was turned off or out of service. Jia thought of
how his message was economical and to the point. So Henry. She missed him. She wanted to talk to him and make sure he was
okay. She wanted him to forgive her for putting Dennis in this position.
But would he? And even if he did, did she deserve to be forgiven?
Jia leaned back, closed her eyes, shut off her mind, and let the tears flow.