“Come see me as soon as you can,” he said as he wrote down his home address, phone number, and even his e-mail address for me.
“I’m sure we will find time to see each other. I’m not too worried about it. But I want you to take time and take care of yourself. You call me any time you are having a rough night or you just need a friend,” I said as I wrote down my information for him.
It felt like we were saying goodbye forever. Nothing about the moment felt like I was going to see this guy again. But that was still all right with me. I didn’t regret any of it. I grew because I knew Erik, and I hoped by meeting me that Erik felt like he was a better person, as well.
“Let’s go, Cassidy,” Officer Pinter said from the other side of the door.
“I’ll talk to you later,” I said to Erik as I leaned down and kissed him. “Take care of yourself. No matter what else is going on in your life, always take care of yourself.”
We kissed one last time before I walked off the unit with Officer Pinter. I didn’t look back at Erik’s room, but I felt like he watched me as I left the unit. I wasn’t sure what was going to happen to me, but I could only guess that I was being fired.
Officer Pinter walked me to the front of the building and held his hand out for my badge.
“I don’t have it,” I said.
But then I thought they would get angry with Kaitlin so I had to make up a story. There was no way I was going to let Kaitlin get in trouble for letting me onto the unit.
“I lost it last week. If I find it, I’ll mail it back to you guys.”
“Fine, but if you don’t find it, make sure and call me so I can get the codes changed. I don’t want some random stranger having access to our units.”
“Because people are trying to break into our treatment center all the time?” I laughed.
“Oh, you know what I mean.”
“So, I’m fired?” I questioned, just to make sure I knew what was happening.
“Technically, I can’t fire you. But Mr. March will call you in the morning and do it or he might ask you to come in. You know if you fight it and say you two were just talking, he’ll take your word and let you off with a warning.”
Officer Pinter was a nice guy, and I appreciated him giving me an out if I wanted to keep my job. But there was no way I was going to stay if I had to lie and there was no way Mr. March could keep me on staff if he knew what I had done with Erik. This was my final moment in the treatment center. There was no way around it.
“Thanks, and I’m sorry for giving you so much trouble tonight.”
“It’s okay. Take care of yourself, Cassidy. Let us know where you land when the dust settles.”
“Will do,” I said as I turned to leave.
I had no idea what I was going to do or how I would explain things to my family, but I didn’t feel all that badly about losing my job. Maybe this was exactly what I needed to push myself into finally going to college.
Life happened in mysterious ways, and I was just going with the flow until I could figure out what was next for me.
After I walked into my house, I went straight to bed. It was nearly three o’clock in the morning. But I felt a little relief that I was going to get to sleep in for once in my life. My parents weren’t going to be happy about it, but I was pretty damn excited about not having to run off to work in the morning.
I had planned to sleep all morning long, but my mother woke me up when she realized I had missed the start of my shift.
“I don’t work there anymore,” I said through a yawn.
“Why not?”
“I got fired for sleeping with Erik,” I said without hesitation.
I was over lying to people and trying to trick people. The truth was the truth, and I’m sure my parents weren’t going to like it, but at least they could respect me and the fact that I wasn’t going to lie right to their faces.
“What?” she yelled.
Her loud scream brought my father to the doorway of my room, and they both stood there staring at me.
“I slept with Erik at work. He’s leaving today for California. It was my decision and my mistake. I know it’s not anything you two would approve of, and I’m sorry. Now can we please talk about this later? Because I want to sleep all day long.”