Fifteen Years Wasted, Now I’m Done Chapter 08

Fifteen Years Wasted, Now I’m Done Chapter 08

Seven hours later. Touchdown at Heathrow.

I turned my phone back on.

Messages flooded in.

Ryan’s missed calls. From last night straight through to this morning. Every few minutes.

His texts had shifted from interrogation to begging.

Finally just one line. Over and over.

[Hailey, where are you?]

I swiped away the chat. Texted Tommy.

[Here.]

Tommy replied instantly. [Apartment’s ready. Driver’s on the way. Go home and rest.]

[Work starts Monday.]

[HR will reach out once everything’s processed.]

The corner of my mouth twitched.

Five years with Tommy. He was ruthless. Squeezed you dry.

But he never dropped the ball when it mattered.

Probably the single stroke of luck in this entire rotten stretch of my life.

Back at the company–arranged apartment. Thames view,

I showered. Collapsed into bed. Stared at the ceiling.

My thoughts drifted back. Years ago.

Following Ryan as a “digital nomad.” Sleeping in the car. Hitting food banks for canned goods and near–expired groceries. Parking lot overnights at Walmart.

Even those cheap motels everyone looked down on—we

didn’t make it into one until year two.

I’d dropped out of college. No degree.

My health wasn’t great.

A lot of jobs were off the table.

Ryan wouldn’t let me take the hard ones anyway. So he

carried the weight himself.

He chosed projects during the day Deliveres pazess Sleep come in scraps. Stolen mHTILES.

I stayed home. Made little craffis. Sold them on Etsy from pocket money.

Every week, we went to Denny’s.

Ordered a few things. Ate fries. Drank cheap coffice.

That was our treat.

Then we’d stumble home, Tipsy. Leaning on each other.

Maybe those days were just so brutal that even those finy moments tasted sweet. Felt worth holding onto.

Ryan and I both ended up believing we’d never feel happiness that deep again.

Once Ryan made money, the first thing he did was buy me a

big house.

Then two new cars.

One for him. One for me.

A few days later, Ryan drove home with a girl in the

Said her name was Hodley. The doughter of the man who saved his life.