Page 81 of Rainstorm

Stories about sunshine and rainbows. Yeah, right. I should listen to my own advice.

You own the sunshine.

Ariel mumbles something unrepeatable about the bank executive she has to deal with as she continues to slice the first zucchini. She might be putting on a brave face, but it’s obvious she’s very apprehensive about this appointment.

Ariel spends most of the morning cooking, so I offer to order pizza to give her a break and make her day a bit easier. After all her hard work, the apartment smells divine. No question, if there’s something this girl can do, it’s cooking and baking.

She’s a star.

A rising one.

After eating the pizza I order in, we sit together in her living room as always. She’s experimenting with a new recipe for gluten-free white chocolate macadamia cookies, and since I’m such a good friend, I taste every single thing she bakes. She is really talented, and I have no doubt about her future success.

“I’m glad you’re always honest with me.” She frowns while she mixes a new concoction in a bowl.

“Our friendship is based on that.”

“Ah, so now we are friends? I thought we just had a mutually convenient arrangement,” she teases.

“Of course we do. You feed my sugar cravings, while I do your laundry and iron all your clothing.”

“Never in my life have I had my PJs ironed and starched,” she laughs.

“Never doubt the wonders of the Niagara spray,” I laugh back.

When someone knocks on the door, interrupting our chat, Ariel goes to see who it is.

“Your ex is here,” she calls out from the door. “Says he needs to talk about something very important.”

“Well, tell him it’ll have to be some other time,” I reply. Honestly, I’m in a good mood today and I don’t want it ruined by Chase’s shit doing my head in.

“It’s okay, I got rid of him,” she says on her return a few seconds later. “So, where were we?”

Our good mood returns once we get back to what we were doing. We make plans to go for a walk in Balboa Park and also to a store a few miles away since I need to find something to keep my clothes in.

Maybe I should start looking at furniture for when I move to my new place. In the past, I liked to restore fancy old pieces, but now I’ll make do with more basic plain pieces.

After strolling around the park for a while, just enjoying the gorgeous surroundings, we spend a good two hours at the furniture store. Ariel grumbles that we could find something at a fraction of the price at a garage sale. I agree, but I no longer have the time or the inclination to search out treasures to refurbish. I need storage and I need it now.

After we arrive home, my mission is to put together my brand-new furniture. Those Swedish folks might make it cheap but it takes three solid hours to assemble it. We’re just planning what to order for dinner when someone knocks on the door.

“If it’s Chase again, tell him I’m not here,” I beg Ariel in a whisper.

She does as I ask when it does indeed turn out to be the man that I’m currently still married to. I look down at the rings on my fingers, which are a painful reminder.

Fuck, I need to get rid of them.

But I’m not going to let him bring me down. I’m going to fight with all the thorns this rose has.

“Don’t shit a brick on me, and I don’t care if you don’t believe me!” I hear Ariel telling Chase. “She’s not here, period.”

“But her car is still parked in her spot,” he argues back.

“That’s because someone came to pick her up. Get over it, man, just like she’s doing.”

He mumbles something that I can’t quite hear before he goes and Ariel reappears.

“He wants you to please call him, no matter what time it is. He says there’s something very important he needs to talk to you about.”

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