“Briggs, I need you to watch for the delivery today. It’s paper and I don’t want April lifting that again. Is that clear?”

“Yes, sir.” Briggs Nelson was an orderly who had also been a client. He hadn’t gone down the rabbit hole as far as Brody had, but his family was more observant than most when it came to painkiller addictions.

He was a good kid, but addiction didn’t care who you were. It didn’t care if you were a straight-A student applying for colleges like him or someone who barely attended school like Brody. Once it had an opening, it grabbed you and wouldn’t let you go. His opening was an infection he received after his wisdom teeth were removed. The pressures of getting good grades and getting into the right college drifted away when he took the pills, so he kept taking them.

His mom confided in me one night that she didn’t realize the pressure he was under. She didn’t care what college he went to or what his GPA was. She only cared that he tried. She only cared that he was happy.

He was one of the few I didn’t have to bust his ass to get stuff done. I probably came down a little too hard when I reminded him about the delivery. “You’re doing a great job here. Keep up the good work.”

He smiled. “Yes, sir.”

I turned to leave and saw Hank smiling. I narrowed my eyes. “Something funny?”

He looked around as if to ensure I was speaking to him. “I wasn’t laughing. I can’t appreciate a nice moment between two co-workers?”

Briggs headed toward the back. “The delivery should be here soon.”

He had to walk around me. I wasn’t backing down. If Hank thought I was going to be okay with him dating April, he was mistaken. I wasn’t okay with any of it.

“You’re all about nice moments with co-workers, aren’t you? Just how nice are you getting?”

“I’m not sure I follow.”

“I wasn’t aware you had become friends with Brody to attend his wedding.”

“I’ve met him a few times, but I didn’t go for him. I went because a friend asked me to.”

“A friend? Is that all you’re calling her?”

His lip twitched, but not in disgust. It was almost as if he was trying to hold in laughter. That fucker was laughing at me.

“Something funny?”

“That’s the second time you’ve asked me that when I wasn’t laughing. Are you hearing voices? Maybe you should be evaluated.”

I took a couple of steps forward and tried to rein in my anger. It was one thing to beat the shit out of Brody, because that was what we did, but Hank would’ve pressed charges. I didn’t need the center to get that kind of attention. By the time I was toe-to-toe with him, I’d managed to calm down enough to speak.

“The only thing that needs to be evaluated around here is inter-office dating.”

“Because you don’t want her, she’s off-limits with this new policy? She’s a grown woman who can spend time with whomever she pleases however she pleases. She’s no longer any concern to you, is she?” He cocked his head to the side as if to challenge me.

“What she is to me is none of your fucking business.”

“I’d have to say the same. What she is to me, what we do together, and how often we do it is none of your business.” He took one step back, stood up straight, and cleared his throat. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, some of us have work to do.”

He walked away, but I stayed in the same spot with my fists still clenched and my jaw tight. I wanted to beat him until he was unrecognizable. I wanted to beat him until he hurt as much as I did when I saw them together. I wanted to beat him as if it would turn back the clock and make her mine again.

* * *

“You came.” I smiled when April showed up for her first day and walked around to the door to let her in from the lobby. “You can park in the back after today. I’ll give you the keys and codes you need to get in.”

“I wasn’t sure where to park. Will I be walking through the rehab part of this place?”

“Some of the hallways connect to the back, so it’s possible you’ll see people, but if you do, they will be at the end of their stay. You most likely won’t deal with anyone still struggling. They won’t be allowed the free pass to walk around.” I motioned for her to head down the hallway to the office area.

“You keep them locked up?”

“We keep them contained.” I closed my eyes and shook my head. “That sounded worse. It’s for their protection that they not be allowed to access every part of the building. They are free to go whenever they want. They just have to ask and sign some papers.”

“I’m not used to dealing with these types of people.”

“And what the fuck type of people are they?” Brody was pissed with what he just heard, and I couldn’t blame him. I didn’t feel it was a malicious comment, though. “This is the bitch you wanted to hire, and she’s already fucked up. If you’d think with your head instead of your pecker, we’d have better luck.” He walked to his office and slammed the door.

“I’m sorry about that.” My face felt as if it was on fire. I was so embarrassed. Her face matched mine when I looked at her.

“I’m the one who is sorry. Maybe I should go.”

“No, you’re fine. I understood what you meant. I’ve grown up with this type of person my whole life.” I jerked my thumb over my shoulder to point in Brody’s direction.

“He’s an addict?”

“A recovering one, yes. He’s been clean and sober for a while now. I’m very proud of him, but I do wish his anger would settle down.”

I looked around the office, unsure of what to do next until I saw her desk. “Oh, this is where you’ll be sitting.”

She turned and looked. I thought she was going to start walking to her desk, so I stepped forward, but she turned back. I wrapped my arms around her to keep her from bouncing too far off me.

“I’m sorry.” I looked down as I held her. “I thought you were walking.”

Her eyes were closed as she fought to slow her breathing down. I’d startled her when I ran into her. When she opened them, my world turned upside down. I wanted to look into those eyes every morning when I woke up.

* * *

“Are you fighting with the wall, or did someone put you in timeout?” April looked between the wall and me a few times. “Hello? I’m talking to you here. What are you doing?”

“It’s none of your fucking business.”

She threw her hands into the air with her clipboard and walked away. “Fine, go fuck the wall for all I care.”

“Hey!” I waited until she turned around before I said anything else. “You wait for Briggs to unload that shit. I don’t want to hear about you carrying a single piece of paper.” I stormed off and didn’t wait for a response.

I had too much to do to be reminiscing about old times that were never going to be again. She was moving on with Hank, and who could blame her? She deserved to be happy no matter how much it was going to kill me.

I just made it back to my office before my office line started ringing. I jogged over and picked it up. “Tim Michaels.”

“Hey, have you made a decision yet?” Brody was still bugging me about contacting Dad. He’d called and messaged my cell phone a few times, but I didn’t want to talk to him about it. He knew I didn’t have caller ID on the office phone.

“I’m busy. I’ll call you tonight.”

“Don’t hang up. You’ve said that the last two times I talked to you. Then you stopped answering me. I need to know. I’m not waiting any longer. Either you go or you don’t, but I’m going.”

“When?”

“If you’re not going, then I’m going Friday. If you will go, I’ll go whatever day works best for you, but I’m not waiting past next week.”

“Don’t make any plans yet. I promise I’ll let you know tonight.”

“You get until tonight. If I don’t hear from you, I’m booking my flight first thing in the morning for Friday.”

“I understand.” I hung up and rubbed my hands over my face. I didn’t want to deal with it, but it had been a couple of weeks since he asked. He deserved an answer.

“When are you going to tell me what’s going on?”

I didn’t bother to open my eyes when I pulled my hands away and looked down at the desk. There may have been a time I told April everything, but there was no way I was discussing my hatred for her new boyfriend any time soon.

“Nothing is going on. Don’t you have paper to put away?”

“Briggs already had most of it unloaded before I got there. He said he wanted to put the supplies away, and I wanted to get back up here and find out what crawled up your ass and died.”

“It’s none of your concern.”

“I believe it’s entirely my concern when the partner of my business seems to be losing his fucking mind. You’ve been a real asshole for a while, but lately you’ve cranked it way up. Knock it off.”

I stood, ready to fight her and thought better of it. “I’m fine.”

“Really?” She looked me up and down. “You call this fine? When’s the last time you ironed anything? How about shaving? I’d say by the looks of that shit growing on your face it’s been three days. I don’t even want to get close enough to see if you’ve bothered showering or not.

“Admit it or don’t, but your life is a mess, and it’s spilling over everywhere. You’re falling apart, and I won’t let you take this place down with you.”

She had just reached the door when I spoke. “Brody asked me to go to our dad’s with him.” I wasn’t sure if she was going to turn around or not. I wasn’t even sure why I was telling her. She used to be my best friend. She was the only one I could talk to.

She turned and took a couple of steps back in. “Are you going?”

“I don’t know.” I took my seat again and shook my head. “I have to give him an answer tonight.”

“You know how I feel about this. I’ll always feel this way, but with the way you are right now—”

“How am I, April? Tell me.”

Her voice was soft but still stern. “You’re an asshole, Tim. You’re full of hate. I’m not sure it’s the best idea to go to your dad’s right now.”

“Well, Brody’s going with or without me. He wants me there to support him. I think I should because I don’t want him to be alone when it all unfolds.”

She walked up to the desk and stood in front of it when I wouldn’t look at her. “You know family to me is the number one answer to everything, but you’re not well. You need to go on vacation and get your head screwed on tight.”

I was sick of her telling me what I needed. She didn’t have a clue. I looked down her body and tilted my head a little. “I’ve got another head you can screw tight if you think it would help.”

“Fuck you.”

“That’s what I’m saying,” I called out after her when she got to the door. “Is that a no?” She slammed the door and I sat back, disappointed in myself.