Episode 1143: Second Wind

Thankfully the bench out front sat empty allowing him a moment of rest and relief. Avalon has suggested that as happy as it was for him to be more mobile, he should be careful not to get carried away and overdo things. At the time, he’d wanted nothing more than to be of help at the bookstore, aid in whatever way he could to put it back the way it used to be. It had irritated him to be told to go home and rest. It had irritated him to feel as though she thought he was too fragile to be told his dad was behaving like a know-it-all and being a pain. It irritated him that he was seen as too fragile to be the partner he wanted to be, someone Ava could lean on so she wouldn’t feel a need to lean on anyone else.

But she’d been right about him not overdoing things. He really wasn’t ready for the level of manual labor the bookstore required for restoration right now.

He could do something else though even if he did need to take this brief time out before getting the job done. He smiled. This would be good, to finally do something for his wife after all the time and energy she’d devoted to him since the accident. He could be the one to put this right, to arrange it so the store and their relationship got the fresh start he so desperately wanted for them.

His father would not stand in the way of this. Surely. Phillip Marques was notoriously bullheaded though. And clearly his father’s refusal to restore the bookstore meant that bullhead of his was stuck on the notion that his business plan was the only business plan for the store. It would be a tall order to convince his dad otherwise, probably require him making more of an effort at that tenuous father-son bond.

“Sebastian, what a nice surprise, and you’re out of the chair, even better,” his dad said upon walking out of Marques Enterprises and spotting his son. “I was just headed to lunch, why don’t you join me, we’ll consider it a celebration.”

Episode 1144: The Answer To Our Life