Page 125 of A Chance for Us
“No, dude, she does. I know she does.”
“Oh, now you’re a mind reader, awesome, can you imagine what I’m thinking now?” I focus hard, and Jack laughs.
Great. He missed that message.
“Go back over the fight, Ollie.”
I sigh heavily and replay the events again. Over and over, I see her face, hear the words, and hate her fake tears. The ache in my chest is so bad it feels as if I’m right back in her house going through it all over again.
I was concerned about telling her about the cancer, hopeful she would stand by me and fight, but she had already given up.
“Did you ask her why?”
“Of course I did.”
Jack raises one brow. “Really? It sounds like all you did was flip out and leave.”
“I’m about to flip out on you.”
“I don’t care,” Jack says and then leans forward. “Seriously, you didn’t get an explanation.”
“I got served with the end. I don’t need the why.”
“Then let’s settle it before you go in for treatment.” He gestures to the envelope still in his hand. “Sign it, and I’ll send it in. Then you can be done and move on with your life of being the weird dude who lives out here alone. It’s cool. Chicks will totally like that. Or you can just fuck the guests who come to escape. That way, they leave and you never have to worry about falling in love.”
I walk over to the desk and grab the pen. “Sounds good to me.”
He extends the paperwork and then pulls it back. “Giving up is kind of your thing, so I guess this fits.”
When he puts the envelope back in front of me, I grab it and yank it away from him, tossing it on the table. “What the fuck does that mean?”
“What?”
“The giving up thing. I don’t give up.”
“No?” Jack asks, pursing his lips. “Really? Because there was the girl you were engaged to in high school . . . what was her name? Janelle? Janice?”
I huff. “Janie.”
“Ah, that’s right. When that ended, you went to college, to a school that you weren’t planning to go to but was clear across the country, which looked like running away to me, but what do I know?”
“Not much.”
“Then there was Devney. You met her in college, followed her out to Pennsylvania after begging your dad to let you take over that resort, and then let her go without even a fight.”
I clench my fists, wondering if Stella would forgive me if I broke his nose.
“You’re one to talk. You’ve loved Stella since you were, what? Twenty-two? And it took you until a year ago to get your shit together?”
“So, you’d rather spend fifteen years wishing you could be with her, love her, hold her, and give her everything than actually getting to do it?”
“I was with Maren for a month and a half.”
“And I kissed Stella once and spent years wishing I could do it again.” He throws his arms up. “Don’t make that same mistake, Oliver. Don’t let your pride or fear of being hurt again stand in the way of what you want. Don’t run away. Don’t refuse to fight for her. Go to her. Talk to her and find out what the hell you can do to make her see how much you love her.”
“I’m tired of it!”
It’s not that easy. She wants out, and I’m not going to beg someone to stay with me. I won’t be like my mother, taking the scraps of whatever is offered. I won’t be like my father, forcing someone to stay when you wish they’d leave. If she wants her freedom, then that’s what she’ll have.
