Total pages in book: 94
Estimated words: 86068 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 430(@200wpm)___ 344(@250wpm)___ 287(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 86068 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 430(@200wpm)___ 344(@250wpm)___ 287(@300wpm)
I walk into the bathroom and sit in front of the toilet bowl with my back to the wall. Beatrice comes in and lies next to me, putting her head in my lap. “I can’t do it.” I pet her head, ignoring the tears leaking down my face. “Won’t do it.” I put my head back against the wall. “I survived once. I’m not sure I can survive again,” I admit, trying to calm myself down. I close my eyes as I try to level out my breathing. “When I called Miles, it was the last phone call I thought I would make. I don’t know what would have happened.” Taking a deep breath in and then letting it out, I open my eyes to focus on Beatrice in my lap. “If this is how I react to even meeting with Miles, how the heck am I going to lace up my skates?” I pet Beatrice. “I would have to go on the road again,” I tell her, “and whatever team thinks of taking me, there is going to be news coverage all over it.” I try not to let it bother me. “One thing I know for sure,” I say, once I know my heartbeat is calming down. “There is no way in hell I’m playing for another organization that doesn’t support my mental health.” She looks up at me. “Not going to do it.”
I close my eyes once more with my head back. I don’t even know how long I sit here before getting up. I walk back up the stairs and clean up the mess in the kitchen. I throw out the now cold omelet that I only ate half of, adding the plate to the sink. I plug the sink and turn on the water, adding soap to it. I look up while I wait for the sink to fill up, and I see her.
She is standing on her boat's back deck and holds one of the lines in her hand. “What the hell is she doing?” I mumble as I move my head to see better. “Is she practicing tying knots?” I ask as she looks at the table in front of her, her iPad tablet propped up. “She’s on YouTube,” I tell Beatrice, shaking my head. “How crazy is that?” Beatrice walks over to the back door and barks when she finally sees Vivienne. “What did we say?” I ask her. She just looks over her shoulder at me, and I can swear she tells me to shut up and to leave her alone.
CHAPTER 9
VIVIENNE
“Quick hitch,” the guy says on the video as I sit on the side of the boat tying knots to the side tenders. I watch the video twice before doing it with him, and it usually takes me seven tries before I actually get it. I’ve been doing this all day long.
I started the day at sunrise, watching the sun come up. This time, it was uneventful. I intended to spend the day writing, knowing my parents are arriving tomorrow, but I just couldn’t get anything done. I would sit down and just look at the screen. After an hour, I closed it down and decided to scroll YouTube for boat videos. Now it’s almost dark, and I am still doing knots. I finish the knot and then get up, my stomach growling. “Time to eat,” I announce, grabbing my iPad and walking on the side of the boat to the side steps.
Sliding the door open and stepping in, I put the iPad down on the counter before going to wash my hands. I whip up a salad for dinner, watching the news before taking a shower and falling into bed. The soft alarm wakes me up, and when I open my eyes, I see I haven’t moved all night long. I have never slept better in my life. Getting out of bed, I start the coffee before going to the bathroom.
“It’s today,” I tell myself as I pour milk into the cup of coffee. “It’s today.” I open the sliding door and make my way up to the top deck, where I sit and have my coffee. I hear Xavier open his sliding door and look over and spot him coming out wearing shorts and a sweater.
“Ready to go, sleepyhead?” he speaks to Beatrice, who ignores him and walks off the boat. I take a sip of my coffee as I stalk them walking past my boat. He brings his coffee to his mouth as they walk up the dock. My eyes watch them until I can’t see them anymore. “Jerkface,” I mumble, turning back to look at the sky. Yesterday when I walked down the stairs and saw them coming out, I made it a point not to talk to him and only spoke to Beatrice, even though she can’t talk back. It still made me feel better. I wait until the sun is fully in the sky before I get up and walk back inside.