Chapter 31

"And this is the third and last bedroom."

Trish checked out the closet while Amy looked at the view from the windows. "Trish, this place is amazing! You have to take it!"

Trish nodded, Amy was right. The loft was amazing. It was in the Harbor District, downtown Toronto. It was a modern loft, with high ceilings, completely updated with a large kitchen, 3 bedrooms, an office, 3 bathrooms, and a huge porch/balcony with a gorgeous view that overlooked the harbor. It screamed single but sophisticated.

"I'll take it." Trish said excitedly to the real estate agent. She glanced at Amy and threw a vibrant smile.

"That's great Trish! I'll head back to the agency and start the paperwork. It should be yours in about a month or so."

Trish frowned. She forgot how long it takes to close on a house. "This is going to sound odd, but since this place is vacant is there any way that I can lease it until all the paperwork goes through?"

The real estate agent gave a wary look and started to shake her head. "We don't normally do this type of agreement…"

"It's just, my job will have me traveling for the next few months and I'm honestly not sure I'll be able to get back up here until late Spring. I'll be in town for a day or two and I really wanted to empty out my storage container."

The real estate agent flashed a smile at Trish. Being a celebrity had its payoffs. "Let me contact the owner. Maybe I can work out some type of deal with him. I'll give you a call as soon as I get word."

Trish gave her a hug, "Thank you so much! It really means a lot!"

"Holy shit! If we can move your stuff in tomorrow, I'll freak out! It's really true…money can buy almost anything!" Amy shook her head incredulously looking out the window of Trish's car.

Trish chuckled. "I just hope we can…I really don't want to try and figure out when I'm going to have more than a day to get all my shit moved in."

Amy nodded, "Especially with the Wrestlemania schedule moving into full swing this week. We are seriously less than one month out!"

Trish smiled, keeping her eyes concentrated on the road. "I know…all the endless months of training for one night…a mere thirty minutes."

"Well, I for one am excited to see your family! It's been way too long!"

"It has…you better watch out! Big John isn't going to be easy to win over. He missed his fourth daughter! I think he's pissed you haven't been around lately!"

Amy laughed, "Well, I'll have to be sure I kiss ass to get back on John's good side!"

Both girls laughed as they pulled up to Trish's parents' house. Instantly, both of their smiles faded. "What's he doing here?"

Trish ran her hand through her hair. "Fuck me! I don't know."

Trish parked the car and looked at Amy.

"You can do this…"

Trish inhaled deeply and opened the car door. "Hi Dad…"

She walked up and gave her dad a hug before turning and looking at the individual she couldn't believe was standing outside her parents' house. "Hi Ron."

"Hi Trish." The tension between them was so thick; a plastic knife could cut through it with little to no effort.

"What brings you to my parent's house?"

She looked at Ron and then at her father, who coincidentally was looking at the ground. "I went fishing with your father. We've been trying to get together once a month."

Trish's eyebrows rose as she looked at her father in disbelief. "Is that right? Once a month, Dad? Hmm…you failed to mention that last I talked to you."

"Who the hell fishes in the middle of the winter?"

Ron rolled his eyes, "Hello Amy…"

"Hi Ron…I'd be lying if I'd say it's nice to see you."

"The feeling is mutual Amy…and have you ever heard of ice fishing? It's a pretty popular past time here in Canada…"

Amy rolled her eyes, "Yes, how easily could I forget? If you all will excuse me, I'm going to go inside."

She gave Trish a reassuring smile as she walked toward the house. "What kind of host would I be if I didn't help you with your bags?" John said, quickly finding his way out of the awkward conversation. He followed hurriedly behind Amy.

Trish watched them walk into the house, an annoyed expression written on her face.

"Don't be mad at your Dad. Fishing was my idea…I…"

"Why? Why are you doing this? You wanted out, I gave you an out. You can't keep walking back into my life whenever you feel like it!" Trish was furious. He wanted the divorce! He let her go and now that she was trying to move on with her life, he thinks he can waltz back in?

"Trish, I told you I made a mistake!"

"I don't care Ron! You divorced me! That means you divorced my family as well!"

"Trish, you know he's the closet thing to a father that I have!"

"Yeah, well you should have thought about that before you asked for a divorce!"

Their fight was cut short as Alice interrupted them from the front porch. "Will you two get inside before a neighbor calls the cops? You're making a scene out here! You would think you were still fifteen years old! Act like adults!"

Trish threw a dirty look at him before stomping into the house with Ron following quickly in tow. Why were her parents being so nice to him? They were supposed to be on her side!

"How was fishing today boys? Did you catch anything?" Alice brought them both cups of coffee as they sat down in the living room. She tried to change the subject, in hopes to keep the fighting from breaking out again.

"No, nothing today…we barely even got a bite!" Ron said, both of them chuckling.

Trish sat irritated on the couch, watching the three of them make small talk. Amy sat next to her, obviously uncomfortable. It's not like Amy to say absolutely nothing, and yet there she sat, muted. But what could she say? Trish didn't even know what to say in this situation. The whole thing felt surreal…like she was in the twilight zone or something. It was as if nothing had changed and they were still married.

"Trish, how was the loft? Did you like it?"

Trish snapped out of her daze to answer her mother. "Yes, I was very impressed. I'm going to take the place."

"A loft? I didn't think that was your style." Ron said, somewhat surprised to hear her new choice in a home.

She looked at him blankly. "Well, with all the traveling, I needed someplace that doesn't require much upkeep. And with the media appearances I do for Stratusphere, it just made sense to live downtown."

"Downtown? I thought you hated downtown?"

She shrugged, "Well, what can I say? People change." Her response was cold, oozing with attitude.

"How long do you think it'll take before you close on it? Was it the one in the Harbor District?" John asked, taking another sip of his coffee.

"Yeah, it's the one in the Harbor District. You should see the view from the balcony! It'll probably take somewhere around a month or so to close, but I'm trying to work out a deal where I could lease it now until all the paperwork goes through. If that works out for me, we could move my stuff in tomorrow."

Ron nodded slowly. "That's really great Trish." He sounded dejected, with an almost regretful tone.

She looked at him, hearing the hurt in his voice and her tone softened. "Thanks…it's a huge change, but a good one I think." She swallowed hard. It was a massive change. She knew that, but this was what she needed and what she wanted. If she was going to try and start her life again, it needed to be different from the previous life. Anything that she ever wished she could do, she was going to do…starting with her place of residence.

When she was younger, she always dreamt about living in the city. Let's face it; she was constantly in motion, hardly ever at rest…just like the city. It would be the perfect match for her. But when you're in a serious relationship, you don't want to stray from that individual. Ron hated the city…to this day, he still did. And because he hated the city, she stayed away from it. She stayed in the normal suburbs and tried to live a normal life. But that was part of the problem…she wasn't normal.

Nothing about her job was normal. Therefore, she would never have the normal life that most people dream of…you grow up, find a job, get married, have children. She had completed three of the four checks. And now, she was back down to two because she failed to realize that she didn't qualify as 'most people'. She didn't have the 9 to 5 job that most people had. She had the 310 days a year job that doesn't easily allow for the marriage and children check boxes.

"Ron, what are you doing for dinner tonight? Chris and Missy are coming over. Would you like to join us? There's going to be more than enough food."

Trish looked at her mother and sighed. Why were they continuing to torture her?

Ron glanced at Trish with an uncertain, yet heart breaking look on his face. "Oh, thanks Alice, but I don't want to be a bother."

Trish's lips formed a thin line and her heart started to pound uncontrollably in her chest. "No, you should come. It's no bother at all." She could have said no, pouted, and been a complete and utter bitch. But she didn't. She wanted to get over Ron. She wanted to get to the point where she could coexist in the same room with him without wanting to throw an object at his head. There was no reason they couldn't be friends. If her family was able to get past the divorce, well then she could too. Well, she could at least try to.

"Uh, ok then. I'll see you all later tonight? I need to get over to the office now to wrap up some work I fell behind on." He said, standing and heading towards the door. After giving Alice and John hugs, he left.

"I can't believe you invited him to dinner Mom!"

Amy chuckled, "Yeah, well I can't believe you backed her on that!"

Trish looked at Amy wide eyed, "What was I supposed to do? No one really gave me an option in this whole thing!"

"Oh now Trish, stop being so rude! He seems to be apologetic for the whole divorce. I don't see why we can't move past this."

"Mom, just because he's apologetic doesn't mean we should be welcoming him back into our lives! Besides, I'm the one who needs to make that decision…not any of you! And for the record, there's no way that is happening!"

"Trisha, I…"

Alice was interrupted as Trish's cell started to ring. The interruption couldn't have come at a better time…her mother only calls her 'Trisha' when she's about to get an earful. "Hello?"

'Hi Trish, I talked to the owner of the loft and I was able to work out a deal for you to lease the loft until the sale is final. We are drawing up the contract now and I'll need you to come to the office to sign and to give you the keys. The monthly lease price will be approximately the cost of one month's mortgage payment. And of course, the money you pay until the loft is officially yours will come off the total price of the loft.'

Trish smiled into the phone and gave Amy a thumbs up. "Thank you so much! I am on my way over right now!"

She hung up the phone and jumped up and down. "The loft is mine! They are going to let me lease it until all the paperwork is final! I have to go sign the contract now!"

She grabbed her purse and her keys quickly. "We'll finish this discussion later" looking at her parents with a disapproving look. "Come on Ames!"

Amy leaned against the SUV after throwing another box in the back. She watched Trish speed pack as many boxes as she could and knew she was trying to keep busy so that she wouldn't be bothered by the Ron situation from earlier.

"So why the change of heart?"

"I'm surprised it took you that long to ask." She looked at Amy, continuing to speed pack.

"Yeah well I thought you might need to calm down a little before I brought it up again."

Trish rolled her eyes, "I can't believe he's been visiting my parents. What nerve!"

Amy nodded, picking up another box. "Do you think they want you to get back together?"

Trish sighed, "I don't know…you think they wouldn't after they saw how bad he hurt me."

Amy smirked, "You're avoiding my first question…why did you tell him to come to dinner?"

Trish shrugged and dropped her shoulders in a defeated fashion. "He sounded so hurt, so sad, when he heard I was moving on…" She twisted her hands together nervously, all the while staring at them. "I guess I want to be able to be social with him. I want to get over him to the point where I'm not disgusted being in the same room with him."

Amy hesitated. "And it has nothing to do with missing him? Or any feelings that might still be hanging around for him?"

"I mean, a part of me will always love him. And I still care about him, but I'm not in love with him anymore.

Amy stared at her for a few minutes, looking for any uncertainty in her answer. "Are you sure?"

Trish looked at Amy long and firm. She swallowed hard and lowered her head, staring at the ground. She glanced up seconds later with tears in her eyes. "No…"