Love On The Cliff - Chapter 4

I didn’t go to the hospital. Instead, I took a Lyft back home.

Ben and I rented a small one–bedroom. There was a bookshelf by the door, filled with books. I made him sign up for a bachelor’s program. My mom was right, he didn’t have an education. He said he just had an associate’s when I met him.

We were both young. He was smart, he had so much time to climb. Even if he decided to raise pigs, someone with a bachelor’s got paid more.

I worked all day, then helped him with the books at night. Every morning, while we brushed our teeth, I made him go over the flashcards. I’d studied those old tests with him over and over.

We managed to pass those exams in just a few weeks. To celebrate, we looked up coupons to eat some ramen. Now, I was reading what Tiffany had dug up, it was crazy.

[His name is not Ben, I can’t say his real name.] [You asked about college? He went to Harvard. He’s young.]

I leaned on the couch, pressing my hands on my forehead. My stomach was in knots. The door opened, I looked up. Ben, fresh from the hospital, had come home.

He had a bunch of missed calls, he was breathing hard. He came to me, looked at my face, like I was in a mirror.

“Where’d you fall?” He smiled, looking at my hands. “I’ll put some cream on you so the cuts don’t get infected.”

I realized he didn’t know what I was thinking. I took my hands back and looked away. I realized he was always calm, like he’d never lost his mind over something.

I thought that came from his past, the struggle he’d gone through, but I knew now, it came from having power. I got up and put on my shoes.

He grabbed my wrist, “Where are you going?”

“Work.” I smiled, “I feel a little better, need to go get ready. Don’t be late. Taking a sick day means losing $80.”

“Jane, don’t be crazy…”

“Go to work too.” I pushed him. “No sick days.”

He went to talk to the doctor. I could see how respectful the doctor was with him. I was starting to see all of it. Like the soup he brought, the homemade wine a coworker had given us, the treats we never saw outside.