Outer Space | Spruceworth 6.3

Chapter 20: No Steps Forward

Chapter 20: No Steps Forward

~Grant~

       I was really proud of myself for getting back into playing the violin. Almost every free moment I had at home, I was playing some of my favourite songs on the violin. I really missed it and playing it always made me feel calm and happy.

       Which I definitely needed right now.

       Ollie hadn't heard back from Jaime yet so we had no idea if he was able to convince Winnie to let Ollie get married or if he even talked to her yet. 

       I could already tell how stressed out Ollie was because of it and I had no idea what I could do to help him destress, especially when it wasn't like I could force Winnie to let her son get married.

       Normally while I was playing the violin, I didn't stop until I finished the song but once my cell phone rang, I glanced down at my cell phone on the coffee table. Since Shaw was the one calling, I stopped playing and gently placed my violin down before picking up my cell phone and answering it. "Hello?"

       "Hey, is Ollie still at home?" Shaw asked. "He never showed up to the support group."

       I furrowed my eyebrows. "No, he left a while ago to go to the support group. He never showed up?"

       Shaw sighed. "No. I thought he just stayed at home or something and I wanted to make sure. Did he tell you that he was going to the support group or did he just leave the house?"

       "He told me he was going to the support group," I said, now feeling extremely worried. What if something happened to him while he was on his way there? What if he couldn't call for help and he was just waiting for it to happen?

       The front door suddenly opened and Ollie walked inside, a wave of relief washing over me.

       Well, until I realized that he didn't just walk inside. He stumbled.

       "Well, the good news is I found Ollie," I said to Shaw. "And the bad news is I also found out the reason why he didn't go to the support group meeting."

       Shaw sighed. "He's drunk, isn't he?"

       "Yeah."

       "Do you need me to come over?"

       "No, I think I can handle it. I will call you if I need help, though."

       After Shaw and I hung up, I placed my cell phone in my pocket as Ollie carefully closed the door behind him. "Hey!" Ollie said cheerfully. "There's the most amazing person in the world!"

       As soon as Ollie began talking, I knew him being drunk right now in this moment was the worst it had ever been. Normally, he only drank enough to get a bit tipsy and when he did, he was the emotional drunk kind of person.

       Now that he was the complete opposite, he must have drank a lot more than he normally did.

       "So... What happened to going to the support group?" I asked.

       "Yeah, the thing is I was going to but I decided not to," Ollie said. "Instead, I went to... Hold on, let me think of something... The beach. Yeah, I went to the beach."

       I sighed. "I know you're drunk, Ollie. How did you even get access to alcohol?"

       "I know a guy," Ollie said. "And he knows a guy. Who is brothers with... No, wait, cousins with a... No, that's not it. Let's just say I know a guy who knows people."