“Anyway, the boys called around today. I think it was an intervention.”
This time Bailey’s eyes widened as his eyebrows rose, the surprise evident on his face. “What the hell do you need an intervention for?”
“It’s not what you think.” Tom relaxed into his seat, sipping on his beer as he began to explain how he’d been so reluctant to ask for help, although he wasn’t sure he was up to telling Bailey all the reasons why. “Doing up the cafe is something I’ve always felt the need to do myself. But everything takes time and money, of course. I spend so many hours working that the last thing I feel like doing after the cafe closes is physical labour, and extra dollars haven’t exactly been piling up in the bank account. I’ve been doing a little bit at a time, like removing the plaster from the main wall. Thanks for your help with that by the way, it was awesome, and for coming with me to the hardware store.”
“My pleasure. You know I’m always happy to give you a hand. So what exactly was the intervention about?”
“Remember what we spoke about at the hardware store?” He waited for Bailey’s nod. “The guys want me to accept more of their help. For example, Phil can get me mates’ rates on appliances and materials for the reno, and the others want to pitch in with manual labour.”
“And that’s bad, I’m assuming, right?” Bailey looked confused and Tom didn’t blame him. He was sort of confused himself. Although he wanted to accept help, it still felt like cheating, as if he was getting ahead when he didn’t deserve to do so unless it was on his own merit—his heart and head still couldn’t get on the same page about it.
“Yeah. It’s hard to explain.”
“Thus the rain check from last time? How about you try? I’d like to understand.”
He sighed and launched straight in. “Short story is I fucked up at my old job. Some people got hurt because I was blind to what was going on. They lost money and….” He allowed the words to taper off, not wanting to put a total downer on the evening by mentioning Walter Downs. He cleared his throat. “But I got lucky and ended up on my feet with a second chance. I had a fallback option, a Plan B. Others weren’t so fortunate, and I feel it’s up to me to make something of myself, not to rely on other people.”
“I’m not sure exactly what happened, but whatever the circumstances, I’m sure that refusing help isn’t the answer.” Bailey put his bottle on the table and rested his hand on Tom’s, halting his movements. Tom dropped the coaster he’d been systematically tearing into little shreds. “As I’ve said before, everyone fucks up now and then, or people get themselves in bad situations through no fault of their own, and it’s not shameful to ask for or accept help.”
Tom nodded. “I know. I’m starting to realise that.”
“And punishing yourself won’t achieve anything. What’s done is done.” Tom was surprised by how easily Bailey had hit the nail on the head. Hewaspunishing himself.
“I know that too,” he agreed.
“Good. So hopefully you’ll let your friends help you out where they can.”
“I will.” Tom picked up his drink and took a long swallow. He hadn’t wanted to put a dampener on their evening by raising his own concerns about Bailey, but now that their conversation had taken a more serious turn, he wanted to find out what was upsetting him and now was as good a time as any.In for a penny, in for a pound.“Hey, Bailey, since we’re on the subject of accepting help, I know something’s been bothering you these past few days. Is it something I’ve done, or something I can help with? If I’ve fucked up—”
“No. It’s not that.”
Tom noticed that Bailey hadn’t denied anything was wrong. “Then what?”
“I….” Bailey took a deep breath and looked at his lap as if he had trouble meeting Tom’s eyes.
Instantly Tom regretted pushing. “I’m sorry. If you don’t want to talk about it….” He let the words taper off but hoped Bailey wouldn’t drop the subject.
“It’s okay. I’ve just had a bit on my mind lately. But it’s not you. Honestly.” Bailey smiled, this time the smile making it all the way to his eyes. “I think you’ve actually been keeping me sane.”
“I have?”
“Yep. You’ve helped by solving my parking problem, which has gone a long way to helping financially and taking away a huge source of stress. And then I’ve been able to look forward to seeing you and it’s been great hanging out. It’s taken my mind off the crapfest that is my life at the moment.”
Tom’s heart plummeted, the beer sitting uncomfortably in his stomach. “It’s that bad?”
“Maybe.” Bailey shrugged. “I’m not sure. It could be fine. I’m just not 100 percent certain at the moment. I’ve lost my job. They retrenched the whole team.”
“Oh fuck!”
“You can say that again.” Bailey chuckled but Tom could see his pain. “They’ve given us a couple of months’ notice. So I’m looking for a new job. I’ll feel a lot better once I’ve got something lined up. It’s just a bit daunting, the uncertainty. But I’m sure everything will be fine.”
Tom admired Bailey’s positive words, but it was no wonder he’d been so stressed. “Losing your job sucks. But maybe this is the chance to do what you really want to do with your life. Perhaps look into more study, or at least do a job you enjoy.”
“Is that why you started the cafe?”
“Exactly. Take Two wasmytake two, my second chance. I knew the last thing I wanted to do was go back into the finance world. Admittedly I didn’t want to return to the scene of the crime, so to speak. But I also realised it was a world of fake people with too much focus on money. I wanted a job where I could be my own boss and be face-to-face with real people. I had an inheritance that became my deposit for Take Two.”
“And that’s what you mean about having the fallback option?”
