A New Vista

Chapter 30

After hearing about Paul and Essie, I decided it truly was time for me to head home. I stood outside with Paul, holding my suitcase in one hand and my purse slung  around my other arm.

We stood in front of each other while standing on the pathway to his house. The front door shown in the distance between us.

"I don't have any money to get home." I admitted to him. "I used it all to come and see you."

He looked down and rubbed the back of his neck, then licked a pebble on the ground.

"Well? What will I do?" I asked with risen eyebrows.

"Maybe you can st..." Paul looked over at the house to the living room window. Peeking through the blinds was Essie. Then he looked to me. "It would be a death wish for you to stay here."

"I break out in hives whenever I'm near her." I rolled my eyes.

"That's my fiancé you're speaking about." Paul defensively answered. He had a point, but this was probably the saddest thing Paul could ever defend.

"I'm not trying to recruit you back to my team. But all I have to ask is why. And most of all, how?" I asked with a risen brow.

Paul stuffed his hands into his pockets. He suddenly was filled with sorrow, but I secretly hoped he'd remember what we had. His shoulders rose as the breeze blew around us. It was chilly despite it being May. The sun was already setting.

"When I came to New York, I didn't know anyone. I got this little house, my dad co-signed on the mortgage and then I was left to my own devices." Paul explained. "Things got tight, but there was no way I was heading back to Ohio. No way the locals would see me in that sports shop ringing up golf clubs and hockey sticks."

"A job is a job, Paul." I answered softly. He huffed as he looked up at the sky and shifted his weight on his feet.

"I always made a big point I'd be something. It would've killed me to go back there and look those people in the eye." Paul shook his head. He looked off to the side as his jaw clenched. "Bills piled up, the cost of living is rising as you know. The things I was doing just to get a dime were devastating."

"Like what?" I asked him, my eyes squinted. He looked to me and then his eyes looked down.

"Some things no man should have to do." He answered ambiguously. "I called back home once I finally scraped together the coins for a long distance call. I begged my dad to send some money, I felt he needed to hear my voice to know how dire this situation was."

"Did he?" I asked quietly. Paul finally looked me in the eyes and shook his head no.

"My father always knew I'd be nothing." Paul mumbled.

"You are something, the world just doesn't know it yet..." I reassured him. He gave me an annoyed look.

"Well, my father has a big mouth. Went around town chatting about how my brother, Arthur, was the star son." Paul said tensely. "And of course, Estelle heard about it."

"And that's when she decided to come down to pay you a visit." I filled in the blank. Paul didn't verbally answer yes, but he didn't dispute it. "And because you needed the cash you magically let her into your arms and into your bed."

"It's not like that! Essie really does care about me in a way you wouldn't understand!" Paul defensively answered.

"I always cared! I would've helped you! If you wrote me I would've dropped out of school right then and there to go to work and be by your side!" I told him passionately.