What Doesn't Kill Me

Chapter 13 - The Decision

In the morning Cole saw the dark circles under my eyes and asked me if I had a nightmare. I told him I kind of had a bad dream but I was fine. Cole hugged me told me he loved me and went out of the bedroom.

My head was throbbing from not having any sleep at all, and my breathing felt heavy. But I took a deep breath and got up, ready to face the day with a determined decision that I had been thinking about all night.

At the Starlight Cafē, Joanna was in the changing room when I arrived. She greeted me with knotted eyebrows. I wasn't ready to see anyone so soon. My face must looked like a mess after spending the whole night with awful feelings.

"Are you okay?" was the first question she asked upon seeing my face.

"Yeah, I'm fine," I said, placing my belongings in the locker and taking my uniform out.

"Do you have another... Flu?" Joanna carefully asked.

I smiled, noticing that she realized I was never actually sick. "No, everything's good," I said.

Joanna nodded and before she left the room, I called her.

"Uh, Joanna, can I talk to you after I finish my shift?" I fidgeted my fingers.

Joanna turned and walked back inside the changing room.

"We can talk now if you want," she said, closing the door behind her.

I hesitated for a second and decided to talk anyway. The faster I got it out of my chest, the better.

"I, uh... Didn't have any flu," I confirmed.

Joanna raised her eyebrows, her eyes staring at me as if asking why I stated the obvious.

I explained to her everything that happened to me. Not in extreme detail, but enough to make her understand what was going on in my life that made me come to a decision I was about to tell her.

"I'm going to leave my husband," I said, clenching my fists.

Joanna kept a straight face, making it hard to guess what she thought about everything I just told her. The feeling that she might be judging me and my stupidity made me so ashamed of myself. I couldn't look her in the eyes, so I just stared at the floor, waiting for her to respond.

Joanna sighed. "Finally," she said, walking towards me and hugged me.

Her reaction got me flustered.

"I never liked your husband. He doesn't seem like a good guy," she released her hug and patted my shoulder.

"Yeah, turns out he's not," I said weakly.

"Okay, I support your decision, you can have a day off anytime you want to settle your matters with him," Joanna smiled.

"About that..." I took a deep breath. "I also have to quit my job here," I bit my lips.

Joanna's eyes widened. "What? Why?" Her sad eyes made me feel guilty.

"I need to move to another city. I can't stay here where Cole can easily find me. I want to stay away from him, as far as I can."

"Do you really have to do that?"

I nodded, "I don't want to let him near my son ever again."

Joanna stared at me like she was trying to figure something out. "Okay," she nodded, "You are the best waitress I have. To be honest, I don't want to lose you. But I also don't want to force you to stay if it would be troublesome for you and your son," she said.

"I'm so sorry, Joanna."

"Can you at least wait until I have someone to replace you? I'll try to find someone as soon as possible," she sighed.