15-05-2021-052358It-Ends-with-Us

We squeeze into the office and begin moving crates out one by one
and into a back room. I stand on the chair to make the piles taller so
we’ll have more room to move around.
“These are perfect for the window displays I have in mind.” She
hands me two more crates and walks away, and as I’m reaching on my
tiptoes to stack them at the very top, the pile begins to tumble. I try to
find something to grab hold of for balance, but the crates knock me
off the chair. When I land on the floor, I can feel my foot bend in the
wrong direction. It’s followed by a rush of pain straight up my leg and
down to my toes.
Allysa comes rushing back into the room and has to move two of
the crates from on top of me. “Lily!” she says. “Oh my God, are you
okay?”
I pull myself up to a sitting position, but don’t even try to put
weight on my ankle. I shake my head. “My ankle.”
She immediately removes my shoe and then pulls her phone out of
her pocket. She begins dialing a number and then looks up at me. “I
know this is a stupid question, but do you happen to have a
refrigerator here with ice in it?”
I shake my head.
“I figured,” she says. She puts the phone on speaker and sets it on
the floor as she begins to roll up my pant leg. I wince, but not so
much from the pain. I just can’t believe I did something so stupid. If I
broke it, I’m screwed. I just spent my entire inheritance on a building
that I won’t even be able to renovate for months.
“Heeey, Issa,” a voice croons through her phone. “Where you at?
The game’s over.”
Allysa picks up her phone and brings it closer to her mouth. “At
work. Listen, I need.. .”
The guy cuts her off and says, “At work? Babe, you don’t even have a
job.”
Allysa shakes her head and says, “Marshall, listen. It’s an
emergency. I think my boss broke her ankle. I need you to bring some
ice to.. .”
He cuts her off with a laugh. “Your boss? Babe, you don’t even have
a job,” he repeats.
Allysa rolls her eyes. “Marshall, are you drunk?”