Enduring the Storm

Chapter 7 Map Plan

Brooke's POV

The two of us spent the entirety of the time at the store, gathering so many things for me that it ended up filling up his trunk. All of this is just for me to pack away to last me for a while after everything is said and done. I couldn't feel more prepared for my time that I will be spending all alone on this boat. Just that thought alone is creating within me a confidence that I never anticipated. I can't take the smile off of my face, even knowing the not so good news that gained me this amazing opportunity.. but believe me when I say that I won't squander it. This is exactly what I needed.

He takes me back to the marina as we notice that the sun is starting to go down with the shades of pinks, oranges, blues, and purples cascading across the open skies above us, while dancing across the rippling waters of the sea. "Well, thank you for everything.. are you sure you don't want any of my money? I swear you can have it." I try to offer this money for the tenth time since we left the store. I wasn't expecting him to pay for everything. I knew he would insist on giving me the ride back and forth, but to pay for me when he doesn't even know me is shocking.

"No, I liked helping you out today, and it gave me peace of mind as if I helped Rich out just by doing this. This weight I had hanging over me all day was now gone the moment I started helping you out, and I couldn't feel better about it." The tone he uses says that there is peace wrapped up with every single word, bringing peace of mind to not just him but me as well, I guess just by association. But it makes sense. Loving care seems to be contagious.. I remember that from when my mother was around.

I have this overwhelming urge within me to hug him after all he has done for me today. I don't like physical touch since I never had much of it given to me throughout my past, well really ever in my life, but I still can't help my body crashing into his, to give him a big hug without hesitation as he in return squeezes me even tighter. "If you need anything, just call." he suggests this as I nod, saying, a soft "Thank you for everything you have done for me. It means so much."

I let him go as I stepped back. He waves and leaves me to be alone in my new little place, and I couldn't be happier about it. I slowly figure out how to turn on the stove top as I cook some food for myself while I put everything away in its new rightful place. My clothes in the closet, my food in the fridge, the pans in the little cabinets, and so on. It takes a little while of multitasking, but nothing I can't handle. I keep putting the other things away in the bathroom, just trying to get everything done while still cooking. I am slowly figuring out where everything is at, since I still don't know that for sure yet.. so it took me looking around and exploring to do so.. Like the lawyer said, I will figure that out on my own as time goes on.

I take the food and plate it up once I am done cooking, before sitting down at the little table. With every bite I take, my eyes wander around the area. I get up, looking through drawers and things that I find lying around. I did find some maps and extra maintenance books in one drawer which will help. My father really wanted to take care of this boat any way he could, so that's good for me. There are even winterizing tips and notes of things to check up on monthly. I keep looking through his things as I open another drawer to find there is are a pile of pictures, the top of it being my mother. She was so young, and the man beside her looked familiar. I would assume that is my father.

It's nice to know that he never lost any love for her. It's sweet to see.. I wish she would have known about this. I think that would have changed her mind about him. Maybe not. Maybe she liked being the one that got away. I know if someone I loved left me, I would want them to feel bad about it too, showing how fine I would be without them.. I'm just hoping that they regretted ever leaving, and it seems like that is just what she did then got in return. Or maybe she knew after his betrayal to my mother and I, that she could never fully trust him again and didn't want to live that life.. no one will know her true thoughts and intentions, but I can always speculate.

I keep looking at the pile of pictures and even little love letters that they shared. They are short but sweet. He just wanted to keep whatever he could from her. I never saw anything of his that she might have kept, so maybe she didn't keep anything, or she was just good at hiding it. That makes me curious, wishing I knew how she felt about him as well. I glance through every personal item he left in here for me. I don't know if he ever planned on me seeing these but it's nice to see how they did feel about one another. It was sweet young love like what I have read about in books.

I keep eating my mediocre dinner because I'm not the best cook by any means, since I don't get much of a chance to practice.. with never really having a kitchen and all.. but it wasn't a bad meal.. still tolerable and edible.. so that is what really matters. I take one bite after the next before my phone starts to ring. I look down at my phone to see that it is my boss calling. "Hello? Michael?" I answer the call as he instantly starts yelling at me without me even knowing why. I'm confused about this reaction, since I haven't done anything to warrant this screaming, well that I can think of. "Michael?! What is going on? I can't understand what you're saying." I plead for some type of explanation.

"Brooke! You are fired!" Those are the only words I can clearly make out from this call. "What? Why?" I ask him with so much confusion in my tone as he scoffs louder than I imagined. "You know why! You never showed up to your double shift!" He yells out as I sang right back. " I went in and talked with Zach.. He said that I could go to this meeting with this lawyer about my father, who passed away." he huffs out at my explanation. "He said you would only be gone a little bit and that you would still work during both shifts.. he said you told him that." He states as I feel the guilt hitting me because I did say that.. But I never knew how long this would take.. and is that really my fault?

"I did say that.. but the thing is, that I said it just because I didn't think this would last all day. I swear! I didn't know.. and I just finished up everything." I try to explain the gist of my day, but he is not having any of it. "You said you would be here, and you never showed up. At least not into the establishment because I saw you, with my own eyes, wandering around the front of the building with your car and some other guy, but you never came in.. It is so disrespectful and appalling that you would think I am that dumb, that I would believe it has all ended now. That is not the type of worker we need here. We need people we can depend on when they say they are going to be there. And not just ditching because you want the night off with some man." He spats as I get even madder at that thought.

"I wasn't ditching the night to be with this man, persay.. He was just helping me out in this hard situation.. and besides, it's a strip club.. you're telling me that you're this concerned about a worker's integrity? At a place like this?" I feel so much anger and confusion.. I can see why he would get the wrong idea and be mad, but to fire me over this, is doing too much.. But I guess that's just me. Because he obviously feels that this result is just fitting for the action.

"See, this is the type of negativity we don't need at our establishment.. goodbye Brooke.. good luck." he snaps this with anger inside every word, making me feel as if I am the worst employee when I know I have been one of the best over the years.. but isn't that what everyone says when they get fired from a place and they don't think they deserve that treatment? This does suck but I know I will get another job elsewhere, and hopefully, it will be a better one.. maybe I can sell my car to get extra money, since it's not working right now.. I don't know, but what I do know is that I will take the time to mull this over and figure out my next steps.

Once I finish my food, I quickly clean off the plate before shutting all the curtains over all of the windows around this little place. I lock the doors and then change into some pajamas. I lay down in this new bed of mine, feeling the sigh of relief leaving my lips as I instantly started to relax in this feathery cloud of comfort that I had never felt before. Without even realizing it, I have pushed something into my chest, I find myself clinging to the picture of my parents as I stare at all the details, then stop just to hold it tight so I don't feel so alone.

It doesn't exactly work, but it works enough to help lull me to sleep for the night, letting the darkness and exhaustion of emotions get to me. It's been a long and unexpected day, but maybe all of these events could be for the best. The twists and turns are scary but intriguing, to say the least, and I can't wait to see where these next weeks lead.

4 months later....

Things have been harder than I had imagined for myself in the last months, but nothing I can not handle. I am stronger than anyone in this world thinks I am and eventually I will be able to prove it to myself. The questioning in the back of my mind, wondering if they are right is making me feel worse and I know something good is going to bring my confidence back. I have been frustrated about how things have played out so far, but that doesn't mean that things can't get figured out. There are just some big bumps in the road, but that doesn't mean I stop driving altogether.

The first issue that came to mind was the fact that I wasn't able to get a new job. When you have the strip club as your job reference, it gives you a bad look that no one wants to give a chance, because it might stain their reputations. I understand it, but it's not like I was the one doing the stripping, so I don't know why they can't see past it.. but something I was able to do was sell my car. It was hard for me to do because of my personal attachment to it, but that action was able to give me a good amount of money to help me out while I figured out my next moves.

The next big deciding factor in my life is that I don't have long at all before I either have to pay for the yearly spot to keep the boat here, or I would have to move it.. but if I did move it, where would I take it? Maybe this would be my chance to start somewhere new, where no one will judge my past. But where?

I sat eating breakfast and looking through my father's maps. He has some trips mapped out. I don't know if that is because he wanted to do it or if he already has done them.. but there are some things that seemed to be marked in purple and some in blue. Those may be his favorite colors, or they may have had sentimental value to them as well. Like maybe the purple is where my mother wanted to go, and the blue is where he wanted to go.. but there is no way to know this for sure. But it makes me curious.

Since it's been months later, I have by this point, read every single book on how to work this boat and have even taken the boat out multiple times to fish and just see the area. It is fun and I have to say the water is amazing and I love to call it my home. I honestly think that I could do this every single day until my last. I would just need to figure out how to survive on my own and, if I could do that, then I would leave all this behind. I have been alone most of my life, so why not? It's not like it would make that big of a difference to me or anyone else.. I'm sure no one would really notice my absence.. So maybe it's time to make that sort of leap.