Total pages in book: 72
Estimated words: 68524 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 343(@200wpm)___ 274(@250wpm)___ 228(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 68524 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 343(@200wpm)___ 274(@250wpm)___ 228(@300wpm)
“I’m fine, Daria. I don’t know why you think I’m so miserable.”
As I took a seat and fired up my computer, she said, “If I believed you were fine, we wouldn’t be having this conversation.”
“But I really am okay.”
“You’re not though, and we both know it.” When I once again failed to reply, she sighed dramatically and told me, “The universe gave you an incredible gift, Miller. It dropped a sweet, adorable person into your lap, and Collie could make you happy if you let him. But you’re letting the past stand in your way. Just think about that.”
Daria spun on her heel and returned to her workstation. Now it was my turn to sigh. She meant well… and she wasn’t wrong, but I couldn’t think about this stuff right now. Not when I had so much work to do.
I pulled up my most recent sketches for the video game we were currently developing, and after I cued up some music, I put on a pair of headphones to block out any distractions. I usually worked from home because having a bunch of people around me made it hard to concentrate, but it was good to show up in person occasionally. It helped reassure my team that I wasn’t slacking off.
I frowned as I scrolled through my sketches. When I’d met with my art director last Friday, she’d told me my work was uninspired. She had a point. I closed the files and moved them to the trash. Then I picked up my stylus and started again.
If I wasn’t careful, I was going to get fired from my dream job. Then where would I be?
After spending the day trying to come up with some fresh ideas, I left work a little early, so I could make it to the garage before they closed. My mechanic greeted me with, “Hey, Miller. What’s up?”
“I came to get my friend’s van.” I didn’t see it, so I asked, “Is it around back?”
“No man, Collie came and got it a couple of hours ago.”
So much for promising not to drive. “What do I owe you?”
“Nothing. He paid in full for the brakes and the house call.”
I thanked him and left the garage a little irritated. As I walked home, I sent Collie a text, which said: I thought we agreed you weren’t going to drive. When he didn’t reply, I texted again: Where are you? Neither of those messages showed as read.
I knew he wasn’t home as soon as I opened the front door, because the cat was sitting there waiting for him. She let out a meow of protest when she saw me, and I muttered, “Yeah, I know. I’m not him. Life is full of disappointment.”
Just to prove to myself that he really wasn’t home, I cut through the house and took a look in the garage. My car was in there, but the van wasn’t.
When I went into the office, the first thing I noticed was the heart monitor and all its connecting wires, sitting on the neatly folded pile of bedding. There was a piece of paper beside it. As I crossed the room to check it out, I noticed all of Collie’s things were missing.
I picked up the paper and read the note, which said: I’ll never be able to thank you enough for wanting to help me, but I can’t go through with that surgery tomorrow, Miller. I just can’t. I’d rather take my chances with my defective ticker.
I know it wasn’t cool to sneak off like this. I’m sorry about that. But if I stuck around, you’d definitely try to talk me into having that operation, and there’s no way.
This isn’t goodbye, because you’re one of the best people I’ve ever met in my entire life, and I hope we’ll be friends forever. But I figure you’re pretty mad at me right now for making this decision, so I’m going to give you some time to cool off. I’ll talk to you soon, so we can make arrangements to go ahead and get our marriage annulled. With love from your Jason Alexander, C.
P.S. No, not the guy from Seinfeld, the guy Britney Spears was married to for 55 hours. We lasted nearly 17 hours longer than they did, so yay us!
I sighed and tossed the note onto the couch. While I totally understood why he was scared, running away wasn’t the solution. I went to find my car keys, so I could save Collie from himself.
I had a pretty good idea where he’d gone. I figured I’d have to drive up and down the coast until I spotted the sparkly purple van, but it was in the very first parking lot I came to at Ocean Beach.
I parked beside it and took off my shoes and socks before stepping onto the sand. Collie had set up two folding chairs and a small table, halfway between the lot and the water’s edge. He was sitting in one of the chairs, and Hubert Humphrey, his toy alligator, was sitting upright in the other. A camp stove on the table was heating a metal teapot.