The Trials of Loving Her

Facing your Fears Chapter 12

"That's quite a story you have there," Frank told me. "It seems like a fairy tale kind of love."

"It is, was," I answered. "For me, at least."

"Before my wife passed, I was married for over forty years. I've learned that only you can make you happy. It's not dependent on the other person. I know Jason, that you believe that your happiness lies with her but it's not. From what you've told me, you were happy riding your bike long before she came back into your life."

"I don't think I'll ever ride again," I said, getting up from my bed. "I don't think I'm brave enough to go through that all over again. There are so many risks, I just wanna live."

"It's never stopped you from living your life before and it shouldn't now," he advised. "As long as you have air in your lungs and all four limbs are still attached, let nothing stop you from living the life that you've earned the right to live. Face your fears, Jason. Only when you conquer them you'll find yourself again."

"You're not completely terrible as I thought you'd be, Frank," I confessed.

"And you're not as unfixable as I thought you'd be," he replied with a smirk.

"That's all the time we have for today," he said, getting up. "You should keep a journal and start writing down your problems in one page. Use the other page to find solutions on how you plan to fix them. It works, trust me." He then got up and walked out the door. I followed him down the stairs and through the hall with Lucy approaching us.

"Is everything alright?" she asked as she saw us.

"Your brother made great progress today," the old man responded. "He just needs to find his passion again, and maybe get laid."

"You're very funny, Frank," I told him as Lucy found herself laughing.

"That wasn't a joke," he said, "but that hair of yours is. No wonder you're so pissed off all the time."

"I'll see you tomorrow, Frank."

"Tomorrow it is," he muttered, heading to his white SUV.

"The old man is right," Lucy said, holding back her laughter. "You need to get back out into the real world. It's about time we got you a trim, some new clothes and a new ride."

"You're gonna buy me things?" I asked as she left me standing there, heading towards the door.

"Come along Barbie," she said aloud as I followed behind. As we entered her car, she pulled out a credit card from inside her purse and handed it over with a smile. "Since my mom became your guardian, she was put in charge of everything that you owned. You are millions richer since you had turned twenty five. Since the years passed, it's well over seven million."

"I don't know if I deserve that," I said, staring at her.

"Our father wanted you to be financially stable, it's the least he could've done after abandoning you and your sister for me. It's yours, take it."

"What should I do now?" I asked.

"Pay for a haircut," she suggested with a laugh.

First we went shopping, buying so many brand name clothes and shoes until the trunk had no room left. We went into my sister's favourite hair salon. She booked a last minute appointment, which meant more money. After the hairstylist washed my hair and dried it carefully, she asked me what I wanted to do with it. Lucy suggested that I shaved it all off, but the homeless look had grown on me. It just needed a bit of tweaking. The hair dresser began cutting my hair, taking her time with each clip. She then stopped when the tip of my hair had reached upon my shoulders. My beard was trimmed low and marked. My brows were neatened. I looked way different from before and much better. She then dyed it to my natural brown with Lucy looking on impressed with how improved I looked. After some hours had passed, she took me to the nail salon and afterwards to a massage parlour. I know it's more of a woman thing with everything we've done together, but it sure felt good. The last thing we did was drive to Bike world. I started looking at all the bikes on display while trying to ignore everything that had happened before.