TONIGHT WE'RE GOLD

TWENTY-EIGHT

'Congratulations to Frank on being two months sober,' Lina says as everyone claps, and he walks over to the podium.

'Thank you.' His voice breaks as he starts to talk, playing with the token in his hand. Two months sober. Why does it feel like an eternity? he thought. Lina hugs him and invites him to give a speech in front of everyone. 'I just – sometimes this doesn't seem real. Just thinking about where I was two months ago, and how bad it got that I wasn't planning on getting out of it, that I thought it was easier to give up completely. And it takes one person to believes in you to keep fighting.' He's crying now. 'My fiancé saved me, even when I disappointed him. And the way he believes in me and pushes me to keep going helps a lot. I never thought I'd have someone like that. But it's up to me to stay sober, and that is fucking hard!'

Lina stands next to him and hugs him. 'And we're proud of you for doing it.'

He gets back to his seat, and listens to the rest of their speeches. At the end of the session, Kaya sits with him to tell him her GED test will be the following week, and she already aced the practice test. 'Hell yeah!' he says, high fiving her. 'You got this!'

'Thanks for helping me, by the way,' she says. 'The other day.'

'Anytime.'

'I appreciate it.'

'I mean it! If you need to just take some time off, or if you wanna hang out, just call me. You can come and play with Lois.'

'You have the most perfect life, you know?' Frank nods. 'Hopefully one day I can have that too.'

'You will.'

They hug, and just then, Lina calls Frank. 'Can we talk?' He says goodbye to Kaya, and follows Lina to her office. 'First of all, let me tell you I'm so proud of you. Two months may seem a short period of time, but it's a big step. And you know just how hard it is.'

Frank nods. 'It's harder than the last time.'

'But you're doing great.'

'I've got Gerard. He's the reason I'm still going.'

'He seems a great guy.'

That makes Frank smile. 'He is.'

There's a moment of silence, before Lina continues. 'Now, the reason I called you to my office. I know you've still recovering yourself, and I understand if you think this is an awful idea. But I've been doing this for long enough to know when someone was born to do this. Not many of us are, we simply end up here one way or another. But you –'

Frank laughs. 'Gerard was just telling me that the other day, you know?'

'Well – you should trust him.'

'I do.' He doesn't say anything for a while, and seems to think about it.

'I'm just saying. It seems to come easy to you. I've seen the way Kaya looks up at you.'

'I just care about her too much, and she's too young to be going through that. I'm trying to help.'

'I know,' Lina responds. 'I'm just saying – I know you're struggling with finding your path after all of this. But you might have found it.'

He nods. And maybe they're right. Now that a music career is off limits, and he's just keeping that grocery store job to have something to do, this might be his new calling. Maybe by helping others like Kaya, he can help himself. 'Hypothetically – if I was interested in doing it, you know – what do I need?'

'Well – for one of these groups you need to be sober for at least six months, which I know you can do. I'm doing nothing special, I'm one of you.' She pauses. 'But you have a degree –'