Heavy Heart

Chapter 7

Jackie and I got together at my house on Saturday. I could tell she was exhausted. As I poured her a cup of coffee, I asked her, "How's it going?" She forced a hard laugh, "I had to miss three days of work this week because my mom kept having accidents in bed. She would freak out and then hit me because she was embarrassed and upset. It was terrible."

I sighed and passed the mug to her. I walked around behind her and pulled her into a hug. Jackie leaned back into my arms and sighed, "I don't have any more sick time that I can take so I had to take unpaid time off. My boss is understanding about it, but she can't pay me for my missed days." I tightened my grip around her shoulders and nodded silently, I was trying to offer her comfort and it seemed to be working.

"I'm really scared, Layla. I don't know what else to do, I think I'm losing my grip." she whispered. I nodded silently and held her as tears started to stream down her face. Jackie let the light tears turn into deep sobs. She let go of all the hard emotions she had been holding on to for a while. She was completely overwhelmed, trying to hold everything together for her mom. I stood behind her, holding on to her while she cried for almost an hour.

After a while I let her go and went to my cupboard where I keep my cheque books. I found the one for my Mexico account and I took it out. As I sat back down at the table next to Jackie, I said, "Listen, I know you don't want it but I'm giving you some money. You need the help, and having a cushion is going to make a difference. Especially if you have to miss work."

I filled out the cheque for five thousand dollars, which was almost the entire amount in that account. When I passed it to Jackie, her eyes went wide when she saw the amount, "Layla, I can't accept this. It's too much." I shook my head and pushed it into her hand, "No, you need it more than I do. This is my extra fun account, so I don't care about it. Take the money and hire some help. When it runs out let me know and I will give you more."

Jackie took the cheque and held it in her hands, "How can I accept more? You help me out so much already." I smiled, "Because you and I are like family. Family takes care of each other. You need my help and that is what family does, we help each other out." She took my hand and squeezed it tight, "Thank you, I don't know what else to say."

I shook my head, "Nothing else to say. Just take it. Tell me when you need more and I'll help you out." She sighed, "I think my mom is convinced that it's time to move in with me. She doesn't want to live alone anymore so that will help a lot. Once she moves in with me I can sell her house and that will open up a lot of money for extra care." I smiled and nodded.

"When do you think that move would happen?" I asked her. Jackie bit her lower lip, thinking for a moment, "Probably in about a month. I'll need to clean the house out, she won't be able to do much of the heavy stuff." I chuckled, "I think I can get some extra hands to help out. Lisa and Hannah would help for sure and I know a couple of guys with trucks."

Jackie nodded, she wasn't really listening to me. There was so much on her mind, I couldn't blame her. We spend the majority of the day making food and discussing her future plans for her mom. It wasn't easy for her, trying to plan out what to do when the roles between a parent and a child get reversed. She wanted her mom to maintain her autonomy as much as possible. It was important to her, therefore it was important to me.

Lisa texted me late in the afternoon asking if I wanted to join her and Sarah at the bar that evening. I agreed to go, I asked Jackie if she was interested in coming too. She shook her head, "I can't really go out. Thanks for asking though." I felt a bit guilty, because all her time was spent with her mom. Jackie never had any time for herself, and when she did it was doing meal preparations or working. I hoped once they had some homecare help she would be able to do a few more things just for herself.

I agreed to meet the girls around 9pm at the bar. Jackie left just before supper time. I warmed up some leftovers and watched a movie. At 7pm my phone went off, it was Hannah. She said that Zack asked her for my number and she wanted to know if it was alright to give it to him. I agreed reluctantly but I figured it wouldn't do any harm. A few minutes after I responded to her text I got a phone call from a number I didn't recognize. I knew it was him.

"Hello?" I asked as I answered the phone. Zack cleared his throat before he spoke, "Hey Layla, I got your number from Hannah. I hope you don't mind." I sighed, "So, what's up Zack? What do you want?"

He went quiet for a moment before he cleared his throat again, something I noticed he did when he was nervous, "I was just wondering what you were up to tonight?" I frowned and told him, "Well if you would like a play by play I am currently eating leftovers and watching a movie. I'm going out with my friends later."

"That's cool, what movie?" he asked. I sighed, "Face Off." Zack chuckled, "That's an old one, wow. Is it on VHS?" I snickered, "No, I have it on DVD. I like Nicolas Cage alright."

I could hear the smile in Zack's voice as he said, "He's pretty good. I liked him in Ghost Rider. Also National Treasure. Good movies." I rolled my eyes and sighed impatiently, "So did you call me just to get the play by play of my evening or did you actually have a reason for this silliness?"

Zack sucked in a deep breath before he spoke, "I was wondering if it would be alright if I joined you girls at the bar tonight?" I let the phone line go silent. I was sure Hannah had mentioned to him that we were going out when he asked for my number. I thought about it for a moment, he was asking to join with my friends, he wasn't asking me out directly. We would be in a group so it was just like the work lunches, I whispered, "Ok, sure."

"Cool, I'll see you there, Layla." he whispered, I could hear the smile in his voice. I hung up quickly before I could say anything else. I was suddenly very nervous. Zack Trulley was making me nervous. I stood up and walked around my living room, my stomach was in knots and my palms were sweating. I didn't like feeling so nervous. How could a silly thing like Zack calling me make me so nervous, I disliked that he was getting under my skin. I forced myself to take several deep breaths. It wasn't like he was the first guy to show any interest in me, and I refused to allow the small amount of attention he gave me to cloud my mind. I was stronger than that.

I looked at my reflection in my bathroom mirror. I muttered to myself, "Layla, come on, you are better than this. All he's after is sex so don't let it get to you. Once he gets what he wants, he'll be gone so get your head in the game." Zack may seem interested, but I reminded myself that guys like him were not what they seemed. There was always an ulterior motive, and I was not going to fall for it.