Karen:I know you're not going to take my advice on this, but I just have to say this for the nth time—-you need to let your family know what you're going through.
Me:I know. But...no. I don't want to make my sister worry about anything. There's a huge correlation between stress and cancer, and I just don't want to risk it.
Karen:You're being overly cautious, but...*sigh* I get it.
Me:You got over it, didn't you?
Karen:Yeah. Took a while. But I did.
Me:Did you ever tell your husband about your fears? Your worries?
Karen:Uh...no. LOL
Me:Knew it. :P
Karen:But I knew I should have!
Me:If you can't walk the talk...
Karen::P
Me:Any other advice on how to become "normal" again?
Karen:I tried a lot of things, but honestly? You know what worked the most?
Me:Meds?
Karen:SEX.
Karen:There's honestly nothing like lots and lots and lots of sex to make you forget everything except what you're feeling.
****
NIK GLANCES AT ME WHENI accidentally drop my phone.
"Sorry." I bend down to pick my phone up like everything's normal, and a friend from my online cancer support group hasn't just advised me to distract myself with sex.
"Everything okay?"
"Just Andie being Andie," I lie without missing a beat as I straighten back in my seat. "She texted me something again about herDaddy."
This has my companion wincing as expected, and he doesn't ask any questions afterwards.
Sorry, Andie.
While I'm totally supportive of Andie crushing on her dad's best friend, I'm alsonotabove using the other girl's ongoing one-sided romance as a way to keep Nik from poking into my business.
Note to self: Let Andie know you owe her a favor.
But in the meantime—-
My gaze flicks back to my phone, and I quickly shut it off when I see the word SEX in all caps.
Seriously, Karen? Seriously?
Just as Nik's like my brother from another mother, Karen is like my...mother from another grandmother. I trust and look up to her is my point, but this is the first time her advice leaves me feeling rather iffy.
Karen used to work as VP in Finance for a Fortune 500 company. She was damn good at her job, too, but she had no qualms quitting when she learned about her husband's cancer diagnosis.