I had dinner and considered calling April to see if there was anything else that I could do to help Cyrus. But I didn’t want her to get the wrong idea about me and Cyrus so I changed my mind.
The next day was a regular day at work, except of course, Cyrus didn’t come in. But later that evening, he called again, and I couldn’t help but smile that he was reaching out to me. Maybe there would be no more benefits, but we were friends.
“How are you, Cyrus?”
“Hanging in there.” He sounded tired.
“And your mom?”
He gave a scoffing laugh. “She’s stronger than me, that’s for sure. She keeps trying to support me through this when she’s the
one with the fucking cancer.”
“She’s a mom. That’s what they do.” I’d reached my apartment and again, took a seat on the couch eager to talk to my friend.
“It’s my job to support her now,” he said.
“Maybe being a mom…supporting her son is what she needs.”
“What do you mean?” he asked.
“Maybe it helps her to mother you. Makes her feel normal. Or she’s worried and wants to make sure you’re okay too. I don’t think that mothering instinct goes away just because she’s sick.”
He let out a long sigh. “She says she’s worried about me if things don’t go well. I’ve told her not to. She even tried to…well…she’s worried I’ll be alone.”
“What did she try to do?” I asked. I was curious about what he decided he didn’t want me to know.
“It’s nothing.”
“It can’t be nothing. If it was nothing you’d say it. So it must be something that you’re not saying,” I said, feeling like maybe I was being obnoxious. The poor guy’s mother was sick, why was I browbeating him into telling me something he didn’t want to share?
“You’re doing that witchy thing again.”
I snorted. “What witchy thing?”
“Where your words are confusing me.”
“If it’s none of my business, just tell me.”
He sighed. “She’s run into my ex a few times and has gotten it into her head that she and I should get back together.”
I wasn’t a person to hate other people, but I had a flash of murderous intent where his ex was concerned. Of course, that was stupid because he and I were friends.
“I’ve told her I have a life and a business. She doesn’t need to worry about me.”
I wanted to ask him if it was possible that he’d get back with his ex, but I didn’t want to know the answer. Instead, I decided to remind him there were people in Bismarck who were there for him. “There are people here who care for you, Cy.”
“I know. And I tell her that, but she doesn’t know any of you so I think she’s fixated on what she does know.”
“Have you seen her?” What the hell was wrong with me?
“Who? Lora?”
“Your ex.”
“We ran into her at the clinic.” He didn’t elaborate and I couldn’t think of a question to ask without sounding like I was jealous.
I heard a voice in the background and Cy responded, “It’s a friend from Bismarck.” Then into the phone he said, “I have to go.”