Change Happens Chapter Eleven: Finding Robin.

Finally, putting the memory of Jeff out of her life for good, Robin seeks to find herself.

Lacey had brought a lot of me out. While Fran and I were good friends, Fran didn’t hold anything back verbally. She was still restrained by things she didn’t want to do or people’s thoughts.

Lacey was like a hurricane. She did what she wanted when she wanted and didn’t care about how people felt about her or what she did. Lacey always said it was their problem to deal with and not hers.

The way Lacey approached life made me think twice about mine. I had always done things for other people: my brothers, family, friends, and husband.

When Lacey came to my house, it was like she had met Jeff, which had never happened. There was nothing in the house that screamed or even voiced my thoughts.

“What are you doing?” Ray asked as I had called for a large dumpster to come to the house.

“What does it look like?” I said as I started throwing things into it.

“Jeff’s stuff?” Ray said as he saw me throwing away most of the things that belonged to Jeff.

“Yup,” I said.

“Hi,” Lacey said as she was helping me throw things away.

“Hi,” Ray said.

“Down girl,” I said as I saw Lacey’s eyes as Ray appeared. “I will get the cold-water bucket, if I have to,” I threatened.

“That could be fun,” Lacey said as she stood close to Ray. “Wet T shirt, big boobs, a little imagination or a lot, whatever piques your interest.”

“You must be Lacey,” Ray said.

“Guilty,” Lacey flirted.

“I will help you, but not in that way,” Ray said as he looked at Lacey.

“Too bad,” Lacey shrugged.

We tore through the house like a tornado. When we finished, it felt like there was not much left. But I finally felt the house was mine and only mine.

When everyone left, I packed the items Jeff’s mum had wanted me to send her. It felt odd talking to her, but it was strange Debra knew about her son’s actions toward the end. She even knew how he died. Through all that, she kept her calm.

I didn’t ask how Debra found out about everything, and she didn’t ask me why I didn’t come to the funeral. It was better that way. I didn’t want to say how I felt about him at the end.

Debra told me about Doug’s accident. They found his truck at the bottom of a mountain. The going theory was that he had drunk too much at the bar and lost control and went over, but I knew better, and the way Debra spoke, I knew she knew also.

We ended our conversation on a good note. Debra wished me well and hoped I had a good life moving forward. I told her I was sorry, but Debra didn’t accept my apology. Her words rang through my head throughout the day.

“Jeff died because of his actions, not yours. Jeff had always run with the bad crowd, and we told him one day it would get him killed; he didn’t listen to us then and sure didn’t pay attention when he had to, and that’s not no one’s fault but his own,” Debra told me.

I never met Jude, Jeff’s father, but Debra said he had tried to keep Jeff out of trouble. She said it was like trying to hold water in your hand. Jeff was going to do what Jeff wanted to do.

After that conversation, I felt better about moving on from Jeff.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

“So, great news,” Hank said as I was called to his office a few weeks later.

I sat down and smiled, waiting for the good news.

“Oliver has given his three-month report, and it speaks volumes about what you have done for him,” Hank said. “I have to admit, when you were hired, I had doubts about you. Not coming from a credited source and not having any experience.”

“I felt the same way,” I admitted more to myself than to him. “But I feel at home here, if I can say that?”

“Definitely, so I have to ask, can you take on another client?” Hank asked.

Managing Oliver had been a full-time task, but I knew if I wanted to be taken seriously, I had to be able to do more. Some of the others had four or five clients.

“Sure,” I grinned.

“Good,” Hank said as he handed me over the information.

I put all the work on my table in my small cubicle-like office.

Susan, a college student graduating this year, wanted to be an Olympic swimmer. The only problem was that she had suffered a severe injury that limited her in some movements. Other facilities had turned her away, but we were determined to make it work.

“Huh?” As I looked over all the information, I said something was wrong.

I needed more information, so I went to our resource room and looked up all the things I could and couldn’t do with Susan due to her injury and what I could do to help her recover.

“Hey,” a voice said behind me as I looked through some books.

“Hey,” I replied, not looking up.

“Charles,” a hand came into view.

I tried not to sigh, but I knew what was coming.

“Robin,” I said, looking up at a tall man.

“So, you’re the new trainer,” Charles said.

“Yeah,” I replied.

“Look if you ever need….” Charles started to say.

“I think I got this, but if I ever do, then I am sure I can lean on many of the resources,” I said as I looked around at the extensive library of books and the fourteen workstations.

Hank had warned me about many of the male trainers. He was right about the last two I had met. While they were professional with their clients, they were too assertive with the female trainers.

Charles nodded as he took the hint.

The meeting with Susan went well. She was everything I thought she would be: an absolute firecracker ready to prove people wrong. She agreed with everything I had planned for her and was dead set on getting started immediately.