Page 15 of The Weight Of It All
“Then just text him.”
“Why can’t I call him? We were together for eight years. Surely I can call him?”
“What if he doesn’t answer?” she asked gently. Then after a short silence, she added, “And what if he does?”
I sighed and plonked myself onto my couch. “Ow. Shit, goddammit. I keep forgetting I hurt all over.”
“I applaud your efforts for getting healthy,” Anika said. “But jeez, it sure sounds painful.”
“It is.”
“You sound miserable. Let me take you out for lunch.”
I might have wallowed in my own pain and misery for a moment. “Will it involve pasta?”
“Do you want it to involve pasta?”
“Does a one legged duck swim in a circle?”
“A simple fuck yes would have sufficed.”
“Then fuck yes.”
“Okay, we’ll pick you up in twenty minutes.”
“God bless your soul.”
She laughed and disconnected the call. Twenty minutes later, I was standing out the front of my apartment, trying to ease myself into the backseat of Anika’s car. Sean, Anika’s boyfriend, turned in his seat. “You okay?”
“Nope. I’m pretty sure I’m dying of some horrible disease that I Googled, but my personal trainer called it something more reasonable like sore muscles.”
Sean made a face that was half amused, half sympathetic. “Ouch.”
I liked Sean. He and Anika started dating a few years back, and he just slotted into our lives. He knew Anika and I were a package deal, there was rarely a day that went past that we didn’t speak, and Sean had no issue with that.
After Graham had dumped me, I called Anika and she and Sean came straight over. It was Sean who bought the wine for us, and the food, and he gave me a big hug and listened, right along with Anika, as I sat on the floor and sobbed my stupid heart out. Now ten days later, he didn’t look at me with the pity I would have expected. He just smiled warmly at me. “I hear pasta is on the agenda for today.” Then he looked at Anika. “I’ve heard good things about a new place on Norton Street. Wanna check it out?”
Norton Street was synonymous with Italian food. It wasn’t calledLittle Italyfor no reason. “Sounds perfect,” I said, even though he hadn’t technically asked me. Anika was already heading toward Leichhardt.
It was perfect and just what I needed. It felt good to talk about other things, and the change of scene and being sociable were already making me feel half human again. I even ordered the tomato-based sauce with vegetables instead of the creamy bacon sauce I usually chose, and I even turned down the garlic bread.
Anika and Sean both stared at me like I’d been possessed by some freakish dieting alien. “What?” I retorted. “Do you know how long you have to run on a treadmill to burn just twenty calories?”
“Oh Jesus Christ, Henry, you’re not gonna become one ofthosepeople are you?” Anika asked.
“What people?”
“The type of annoying healthy person that lectures on everything. Like a reformed smoker. You know the type: smoked like a chimney for years, they quit smoking then they change into some preacher of how disgusting it is.”
“I won’t change that much,” I replied. “Because believe me, when this pasta comes out, I’m gonna suck those carbs down like a blowjob.”
Sean choked on his drink, and Anika raised her glass to mine. “That’s my boy.”
We talkedabout Anika’s work, Sean’s family and how much they adored Anika. Then we talked about my sister, my new exercise program, and of course, my new personal trainer.
I should have known Anika would latch on to that topic. “What kind of surname is Henske?”
I was confused. “The six letter kind?”
