Page 30 of Rockstar Retreat

15

Sharon

I changed backinto casual clothes and left my room. It was light out, but since I was no longer an employee anyway, it wouldn’t be wrong of me to go and visit Jerrik in the daylight, worrying about keeping our little affair a secret. I had to wonder how the boss found out, but it didn’t matter.

When I stopped at Jerrik’s door, I waited for a moment, feeling a little excited to be seeing Jerrik. I made myself knock on the door and wait. Not long after, the door opened, and Jerrik stood there and smiled at me. He looked happy to see me, but he was also confused. Then he took in how casually I was dressed, and he glanced around, before turning to me, confused.

“Not that I’m not happy to see you, but what’s up? I thought you had work.”

I shrugged and smiled coyly up at him. “I did.”

He looked even more confused. His head tilted a little to the side as he regarded me. “Okay, I don’t know what’s going on, but can you just tell me? I’ve never been good at guessing games.”

I laughed, and I almost surprised myself with how light the sound was.

“Don’t worry so much about it, I can tell you later. I wanted to ask you something.”

I paused and pursed my lips, thinking about what we could do now that I didn’t have work in the way. I had peeked at his schedule, and I knew he didn’t have anything on his plate for the day unless he decided to hang out with some of the other people at the retreat. I hadn't missed him growing more social.

“What did you want to ask me then?” Jerrik sounded curious.

Then I had the best answer. “Why don’t we go… and visit your mom’s grave?” I said carefully, trying not to cut him off the idea if he hadn't already gone. “I mean, if you haven’t been, you should probably go on your own, but I thought we could do it together.”

If he was going to move on from his guilt, he was going to need closure. There was no one he could talk to. He hadn't mentioned much about his dad, so I thought he was out of the picture, so all he could do was visit his mother. Even if she couldn’t talk back, he could talk to her all he wanted, and it might help him if only a little.

He had improved a lot since he first came, but that wasn’t to say that he was a hundred percent okay.

I waited, chewing lightly on my lip as I watched his face keenly. I wasn’t sure what reaction I expected, but seeing his expression go blank wasn’t it. I had no idea what he thought when he did that, and though his eyes were still on me, I had a feeling he wasn’t seeing me.

“Um, Jerrik?” I called after a minute had passed and still no reaction. “Hello there,” I waved my hand in front of his face.

He started slightly, his gaze focusing on me. Then he gave me a sheepish look.

“Sorry for spacing out on you. I wanted to say… yes. And I would love for you to come with me, Sharon. If anything, I’m pretty sure I can't go on my own.”

The look in his eyes as he said it was so sincere, I believed him.

“Do you want to go and change first, then come meet me?” I offered. “The car is where you saw it last.”

“Sure, Sharon. And really, thank you.”

I waited for him to close the door and turned around. I already had all my stuff packed and in the trunk, so I wouldn’t need to come back. I’d have to let Jerrik know at some point that I’d lost my job, but it was still too early to let him in on it. I’d have to think about where I was going to stay and what I was going to do about bills at a later time, but right then, I was going to be Jerrik’s support as much as he would let me.

Around fifteen minutes later, we met up at my car, and Jerrik got in the passenger seat. The drive was silent, and neither of us felt the need to fill it with idle chatter. We were going to visit someone’s grave, after all. Some respect would be warranted.

Several hours later, I parked the car, and we got out, and I turned to Jerrik.

“Do you know where to go, or can we find someone who can tell us where her grave is?”

He smiled down at me, his expression tight. “I know the way.”

I didn’t ask if he’d come before on his own, or how he knew. I just took his hand and let him lead the way to where his mom was buried. I wondered what he would say to his mom, and if he would be fine with me being there to hear it all, but I didn’t ask that either.

After we were doneat the cemetery some hours later, I drove us to a hotel just outside of town. We checked into a small room and went where we were directed. My feet ached a little from all the standing, but I felt it was worth it, so I wouldn’t begrudge a little pain for the relief Jerrik now felt. I didn’t think everything was entirely okay, but at least now he had a better outlook, far removed from his old, bleak one.

“I don’t think I’ll be going back to the retreat again,” he said once we were in the room, closing the door and leaning back against it, watching me as I slipped off my shoes and made my way to the bed. “I can just have someone check my stuff out for me later.”

I hummed. “Lucky you that you can have people do things for you,” I said with a snort, though all in good humor.