Page 95 of Side By Side
“Not like that. You’re human; of course, you get tired. I just meant that you always seem to have energy, even when no one else does. I didn’t know you have ADHD.”
“Yup. Tested and diagnosed when I was little. They tried the meds first, but that just made me a zombie. Then, they just let me be.” She shrugged a shoulder. “I also saw a therapist when I was a kid once skating became a thing that could turn into a career for me. I loved it, and I found it easier to focus when I was on the ice. The programs had a beginning, a middle, and an end. My training sessions had a beginning, a middle, and an end. That helps. My therapist taught me how to handle the need to bounce from thing to thing and sometimes not finish stuff. This morning, I started making the coffee for my dad three separate times before you showed up. I made him scrambled eggs because I’d messed up the over-easy I was trying make him and was hoping to hide it by just mixing them up in the pan.”
“How’d you mess them up?”
“I forgot to pay attention to the eggs while I started the toast. Then, I went back to the coffee, back to the toast, checked the text from you where you said you were on the way, noticed an email, checked that, and by the time I got back to the stove, I’d ruined the eggs. Sleep helps. A regular schedule helps. Skating helps. Hockey helps, too. Being a goalie kind of forces my brain to remain focused on the puck. When I’m extra stressed, though, or don’t have time to get on the ice, it’s harder to manage.”
“Can I help?” Chandler asked.
“How would you help?” Belle asked, looking over at her.
“With the stress. With the sleep thing. I know you’re waking up even earlier to help your dad and not going to sleep at a reasonable hour to take care of things at work and him. I can help.”
“You will. You’re going to drive the Zamboni today,” Belle said with a soft smile.
“I can help with more than that,” she replied.
“Weirdly, running the Ice Park is good for me. It’s kind of the perfect way to use my brain. I start by skating, getting myself woken up and focused. Then, I run around and turn on a bunch of stuff that I don’t have to worry about turning off until the end of the night.” Belle chuckled. “I get to set things up before someone else comes in to take over. I can go from thing to thing all day, and then, I skate again at the end of the night.”
“You didn’t get much skating time last night because I showed up. Did you skate yesterday morning?”
“No, I had to fix the light and salt the parking lot to be safe. We don’t need a lawsuit from someone slipping out there like my dad did.”
“Skate this morning.”
“What?”
“This morning. We can run the Zamboni after that, but skate, Belle. I’ll start on something else. What can I do? I don’t want to take away anything you enjoy doing or that helps you, so what’s something you don’t like doing at work?”
“Counting the cash for the drawers and putting them in the registers.”
“I can do that.”
“You want to count the money and put it into the registers for me?”
“I want to help,” Chandler said as the SUV pulled up to the Ice Park.
“Okay. Well, if you want to do that first, that would be a big help. I’ll show you where everything is and how to do it. Then, I’ll get everything ready to go and–”
“No. Then, you’ll go skate,” Chandler interrupted. “You skate. When you’re done, we’ll clean the ice together. After that, you can run around how you usually do, getting things ready, and I’ll do whatever else I can do to help.”
“I don’t have time to skate, Chandler. I need to get as much done as quickly as possible so I can go home and check on my dad before we get busy.”
“I can do that,” she said. “I’ll check on your dad, if you want, but he did say he’d be fine today. I’ll go, though. You have time, Belle. You need this. You and skating; you love it. It calms you, doesn’t it?”
“Yeah,” Belle replied.
They got out of the car, and she followed Belle to the side door, waiting for her to unlock it before she followed the woman inside.
“So, go get changed and into your skates.”
“I have to show you the money stuff first,” Belle said.
“Do you have it written down anywhere? I assume you’re not the only one who knows how to count the money out.”
“We have it written down for the employees, yes.”
“Okay. Show me where that is and get the money out of the safe or wherever it is, and I’ll be good.”