Page 62 of Grouch-ish

“Where is all your stuff?”

“In a storage pod, and in a holding pattern until I know where I’ll live. My car, however, is being delivered to Chicago.” She tips her arm and glances at her wrist like she’s wearing a watch. “Today.”

Pear peers out the window once more. Not a chance that delivery is being made if this winter storm is happening in Chicago.

“So, you came here to talk with Cap. Only he left for twelve days. But you’ll be going home with him after he returns.” My mind is bumbling through the steps, always arriving at the same result.

She is going to Chicago, too.

“That’s the plan. For now.”

“And what about a job? Do you have savings?”

Pear scoffs. “Not enough to live on. Reggie wiped me out. And I’d been holding out for a promised Christmas bonus that didn’t happen. But even if I need to wait tables for a while, I’ll do it. I just want time to rethink the direction my life has taken and then straighten the path toward something else.”

“Like what? Do you have any ideas on what you’d like to do?” I’m boggled by all that I’ve heard.

She’d been harassed. She throat-punched her boss. She worked hard to dig out of a financial hole she hadn’t dug in the first place and she’s turning her life upside down to start over.

She was the superhero here. Not me.

“When I went into therapy for my head, I also started working out for my body. Not necessarily to lose weight but to help my heart, maybe slim some pounds, but also to build strength and stamina. In my limited free time, I’ve been working on becoming a certified fitness instructor. I want to help others understand our bodies are individual and unique, in whatever shape or size that might be. What isn’t normal is everything else we learn about how we should look or what we should wear. Even what we should or shouldn’t eat. It’s about finding happiness within one’s self, and honestly, fuck everyone else.”

Happiness. She’d mentioned the emotion before when we discussed Nick and what he might do with his life. Not that a job was the end all, be all of happiness. Joy was the important part, especially when you spent eight to twelve hours of your day working.

If one-third of your time applies to employment, shouldn’t that job be worth your time?

Scoffing at her desire to be a fitness instructor would be insensitive. She’d been making six-figures, and she wanted to downsize to an hourly-wage, but I’d learned the hard way that money does not equate happiness.

Time should. The time you spend at work. The time you give to others. The time you are alone.

Time is more valuable than money.

You can spend time, but you can never recoup it. You can’t save it up. You can’t earn more.

You only have the time that is given to you, which is your life, and it should not be wasted.

With that thought, I cup the back of Pear’s neck. “I think being a certified fitness instructor in Chicago sounds like a great idea.” I might even know a guy or two who could help her out. Find her a gym. Recommend individuals to be trained. It was all do-able, and it meant a future for her. And maybe for us.

I kiss her slowly at first, but the crackling energy around us quickly builds like the roaring fire in the stone hearth. With the power out, only the dancing glow of the flames skittering among the logs illuminates the room.

Pear shivers.

“Are you cold?” I rub my hands up and down her arms. The heat in the house has been slowly diminishing while the temp in this front room remains relatively consistent.

“I’m okay,” Pear lies as another shiver ripples through her.

“I have an idea.” Leaving her for a moment, I go to her bedroom and remove all the quilts and blankets from the bed, tucking the pillows underneath my arms as well. Returning to the living room, I spread out a blanket and then position the dining room chairs in a formation that supports another blanket over the top of the high backs, forming a blanket igloo.

I toss the pillows inside the space and return to Cap’s room for more pillows and blankets.

With our cozy den complete, Pear and I crawl inside, and the heat centralizes around us.

“I haven’t made a blanket fort in forever.” Pear stares overhead at the blanket design above us. “If only we had fairy lights.”

The miniature lights would add to the ambiance, but I like the atmosphere. We agreed to conserve our phone batteries by shutting off the devices, only turning them on once each hour to check weather reports. In the meantime, we have quite the romantic setting with the fire blazing and the blanket tent surrounding us.

I want this cocoon around us to stop time and make Pear mine.