Sea Breeze 01 - Breathe

fun,” I said. “I would love to go enjoy this area with someone who knows where to go.”
    He grinned and ran his hand through his blond hair. “Great. I’ll make plans this week and let you know what we are doing.”
    We said our good-byes, and I watched him get back into his truck. I waved and turned to go face Jessica and her doubtless twenty questions as to what took me so long.
    The apartment was silent and dark. I peeked into Jessica’s room and found her asleep on top of the covers with the window unit cranking nonstop. I grabbed a quilt and covered her up before going back to my room and getting ready for my shower. She’d gone to sleep early. No twenty questions, and no having to cook dinner. I smiled and headed toward the bathroom. I needed to be clean and needed sleep. Today I managed to get past my biggest hurdle. Tomorrow should be easier. No more encounters with Jax. Having a friend would make things even more enjoyable.
    The next week I fell into a routine. I arrived at work and went straight to the kitchen. Ms. Mary talked much more than Fran, and her stories were entertaining. She told me all about her two daughters and seven grandchildren. One daughter lived in Michigan and had five daughters of her own. The other daughter lived in Georgia, and she had a nine-year-old girl and one little boy, who was loved immensely by a family full of girls. Hearing about her life raising her daughters made me realize just how dysfunctional my life with Jessica would sound. I imagined my life being as full and normal as Ms. Mary’s. I knew I could one day make a life just as full of family and love as she seemed to have. I often daydreamed of a life like the one she told me about.
    My first afternoons with Mr. Greg began a little tense since he wasn’t real fond of having a teenage girl helping him, but after a day of not having to get on his arthritic knees, he seemed to appreciate my being there. After my fourth day working with him, Mr. Greg and I would sit and play chess out in the gazebo when our workday ended. He beat me each time, but I was learning the game and promised him that my skills would improve and one day I would beat him.
    I saw Marcus in the evenings when we all sat around the table and enjoyed a bowl of soup and salad. Ms. Mary always sent a plate of food home for Jessica, and I suspected she sent it for my sake. Somehow, without my telling her, she seemed to understand how my life at home functioned. After Marcus got off work, he always drove me and my bike home. William was back at work to help Marcus serve, and things seemed to run smoothly with the staff and family.
    Sunday morning arrived before I knew it. I lay in bed, covering my face from the bright sunlight streaming in the windows. It was good not to have to jump up and get ready. I enjoyed my job, but I also enjoyed sleeping late. I yawned and stretched. Today I would be going out with a friend. I was more excited than the normal person would be, but I couldn’t help it. I sat up and rubbed my face, trying to wake up enough to go eat breakfast. It was still really quiet in the house, but Jessica normally slept till eleven every day. I went to the kitchen and fixed myself a bowl of Peanut Butter Crunch, then went to sit on the piece of slab outside our back door. The sun glistened off the water, and it warmed me as I enjoyed my bowl of cereal. Today felt like my first real day of summer. Today I would be able to go do something a seventeen-year-old would do.
    “What are you eating?” Jessica asked as she walked out the door—or more like waddled out the door.
    “Peanut Butter Crunch cereal,” I replied, and took another bite.
    She sank down in the lawn chair beside me and sighed. “Do you love me?”
    I rolled my eyes, knowing what words would be next. “Yes,” I replied, and took another bite.
    “Then will you have pity on me and my enormous stomach and go fix me a bowl when you’re done?”
    This was an old game. She thought it cute to ask if I loved her before she asked me to go get her something. I ate the rest of my cereal and drank all my milk before I stood up.
    “Going to get your cereal,” I said as I walked back in the door.
    “Thanks, honey,” she replied, not opening her eyes.
    I fixed her a large bowl so I wouldn’t have to fix her a second one, and took it to her. I needed to tell her about Marcus before he got here. I gave her the bowl, and she sat back up from her reclined position in a chair