Just Breathe

Chapter Ten

Lin wasn't quite sure what he believed in. He had grown up Catholic, intermittently going to Mass here and there. Although parts of his upbringing had lended itself to his writing, his thoughts shifted to a more cynical route over the years. Regardless of what he did or didn't believe, he was absolutely positive that karma was biting him in the ass.

He had been at the airport since four that afternoon and the weather, in typical New York fashion, took a turn for the worst. The six o' clock flight he had been scheduled to take turned to seven which turned to ten and was now delayed until at least midnight, which he expected an alert from his phone any second that it was delayed yet again. He was bored out of his mind, constantly switching between pacing around the private waiting room to trying to sit and get some work done.Despite the hectic schedule he had been fostering, he knew the true reason for his restlessness: Vanessa.

She hadn't responded to any of his texts or calls since she had hung up on him that afternoon. He didn't blame her one bit. She was absolutely right; he had fucked up.

He ran his hand over his face as he slumped back into the hard airport chair. He took his phone out of his pocket, willing for an unread text or missed call to be on his lock screen, but it was to no avail. The only thing staring back at him was a candid photo of Vanessa and Stella he had taken one morning while they had been in England. It was nothing extraordinary. Vanessa was drinking coffee as Stella read her 'The Rainbow Fish', which mostly just consisted of Stel describing all the colors. Even at six the morning, after Stella had had a rough night which led to an early morning, Vanessa looked so effortlessly beautiful. Lin still had no clue how he managed to end up with somebody so out of his league. She was the greatest thing to happen to him, and he was also terrified that his selfishness could lead to everything falling apart.

Lin let out a deep sigh and scrolled through his phone trying to find something to distract him as the night grew late. It wasn't lost on him that he had more than a few people he could strike up a conversation with on Twitter, but in moments like these he needed a disconnect from his fame. As grateful as he was for his success, he was equally as grateful for the frequent flier miles he had accumulated and the privacy of the room to give him a bit of a break from his 'other reality.'

He thought about calling Lia, but didn't want it to seem like he was checking up on her on her first night flying solo. Besides things being a bit out of sync between them lately, what teenager wanted to spend their first night of freedom on the phone with their dad? He laughed a bit to himself at the thought. He knew he could call a friend to catch up ( he had always been awful at remembering that) or find someone who needed an answer from him about something; but he knew the real person he wanted to talk to.

He immediately sat up straighter in his chair where he got the notification he had been waiting for: a text from V. He felt like a college freshman gearing himself up to face the music of his girlfriend rather than a near forty year old wanting to hear from his wife. The anxiety felt the same. When he opened the message, it wasn't what he had been expecting.  It was a simple picture message, with no caption, of the flowers he had sent to their hotel. He studied the photo more intensely than he'd ever admit. Was she trying to say something to him? Was this his way back into her good graces? He'd usually had to listen to Lia nitpick every character and emoji of a text message between her and Ayden... when did he turn into his daughter?

Lin shook his head knowing he was being ridiculous. This was his wife and the mother of his kids; he could just pick up a phone and call her.  Without giving it another thought, he pressed the call button on her contact and instantly heard the dial tone. The pit in his stomach, similar to his eighteen year old self, when Vanessa answered.

"Flowers are a huge cliche," She said in a dry tone. It wasn't surprising, but also not the best indication he had a shot of getting on her good side. Before he could think of the first apologetic words he was going to spew out, Vanessa beat him to the punch.