Page 39 - It Ends with Us

We squeez e int o the offic e and beg in moving crates out one by one

and int o a back room. I stand on the cha ir to make the piles taller so
we’l l ha ve more room to move around .
“Thes e are per fec t for the wind ow displays I ha ve in mind .” She
ha nd s me two more crates and walks away, and as I’m rea chi ng on my
tiptoes to stack them at the ver y top, the pile beg ins to tumble. I try to
find somet hi ng to grab ho ld of for balanc e, but the crates kno ck me

off the cha ir. When I land on the floor, I can feel my foot bend in the
wrong direc tion. It’s followed by a rush of pain straight up my leg and
down to my toes .
Allysa comes rushi ng back into the room and ha s to move two of
the crates from on top of me. “Lily!” she says. “Oh my God, are you
okay?”
I pull mysel f up to a sitting position, but don’t ev en try to put

wei ght on my ank le. I sha ke my hea d. “My ank le. ”
She immed iately remo ves my sho e and then pulls her pho ne out of
her pocket . She beg ins dialing a nu mber and then looks up at me. “I
kno w thi s is a stupid ques tion, but do you ha ppen to ha ve a
ref rigera tor here with ice in it?”
I sha ke my hea d.

“I fig ured,” she says. She puts the pho ne on spea ker and set s it on
the floor as she beg ins to roll up my pant leg . I winc e, but no t so
much from the pain. I just can’t bel iev e I did somet hi ng so stupid. If I
broke it, I’m screw ed . I just spent my ent ire inheri tanc e on a building
tha t I won’t ev en be able to reno vate for mont hs .
“Heeey, Issa,” a voice croons thro ugh her pho ne. “Where you at?
The game’s over.”

Allysa picks up her pho ne and bring s it closer to her mouth. “At
work. Listen, I need . . .”
The guy cuts her off and says, “At work? Babe, you don’t ev en ha ve a
job.”
Allysa sha kes her hea d and says, “Marsha ll, listen. It’s an
em erg enc y. I thi nk my boss broke her ank le. I need you to bring some

ice to . . .”
He cuts her off with a laugh. “Your boss? Babe, you don’t ev en ha ve
a job,” he rep ea ts.
Allysa rolls her ey es . “Marsha ll, are you drunk ?”