Reconsider Me

Part 8

Lindsey felt like he had been the only one talking for the past hour or so. He barely received any response from Stevie and as if he could read her thoughts, he stopped mid-sentence and gave her hand a gentle squeeze to capture her attention.

"You should go, make that call." 

"Wha- no, it's fine." She assured, shifting in her seat as she turned more towards him. "I'm sorry, I haven't heard much of anything." She gave him an apologetic smile. 

"Stevie, go." Lindsey insisted. "I'll be alright for five minutes alone."

Looking at him a second longer, Stevie nodded her head and rose to her feet. "Okay, I'll be right back."

Leaning against the back of the couch, Lindsey sighed heavily. He didn't want to have to listen to the conversation, but there was really no escaping it. He could get up and wander around the house, but that could lead to possibly worse consequences if he stepped into somewhere, he wasn't meant to. 

Meanwhile, Stevie dialed the number of Kyle's parents house and waited for a long moment, too long, until someone finally picked up. "Hello?"

"Hi, Maria, it's Stevie." 

"Oh, hi, honey." Kyle's mother replied warmly. There were no ill feelings between the two women. "Why are you calling so late? Did something happen? Are you okay?"

"Nothing happened." Hopefully. "I'm just fine. I was wondering if Kyle and Aimee made it safely to yours?"

"Yes, of course." Maria assured. "Aimee is already asleep and we're sitting in the family room with Kyle and his father."

"Oh, good. Good." Stevie repeated herself through gritted teeth. "Could you put Kyle on the phone, please?"

Stevie leaned against the nearest wall and twirled the telephone cord around her finger, while she waited to hear someone's voice on the other end.

"Hey, Stevie." 

"What the hell, Kyle?" She asked right away. "You promised to call!"

"Oh, shit. I'm sorry. I forgot." His voice sounded so casual, it irritated her. "But everything's fine."

"Well, you know that, but I didn't!" She struggled to keep her voice down, the thought of Lindsey in the other room had completely escaped her mind. "You know, how I get. Have you any idea, how worried I was?"

"Look, I said, I'm sorry, okay?" Kyle didn't sound so calm anymore. "I forgot to call you, what a big deal!"

"Yes, it is!" Stevie yelled back. "It's a big deal, when you leave with my daughter in your car for a long trip! Things happen, accidents happen!"

"Would you calm down? Jeez." Kyle sighed. "And all of a sudden Aimee is your daughter? I'm her dad, Stevie, you could trust me a bit more, you know."

"I can't deal with you right now." She said, pinching the bridge of her nose. 

"Well, I don't really want to deal with your bitching either, so-"

She didn't let him finish as she hung up the phone. Taking a moment to collect herself, Stevie took a few deep breaths, running a hand through her hair. She was embarrassed, she wished, she hadn't invited Lindsey to come in.

"I'm sorry you had to hear all that." Stevie apologized as she re-entered the room eventually.

"I didn't mean to listen. It just, well, it was hard not to." Lindsey shrugged, following her with his eyes as she sat down beside him.

"I know, I shouldn't have yelled. But he just-" She stopped herself, biting her bottom lip. She shouldn't be telling him anything, she should keep it to herself. "He just does these stupid things all the time and it's exactly what keeps me from fully committing to him again." She opened up anyway. "And I get that those things are usually so insignificant, but it annoys the hell out of me. I mean, is it really that hard to pick up the goddamn phone and say, hey, we've made it, we're fine?" Breathing out heavily, Stevie shook her head. "I'm sorry, you don't want to listen to me complain."

"No no." Lindsey was quick to disagree. "I'm all ears. You can talk to me if you want."

Maybe he had a completely different idea about Stevie and Kyle's relationship after all.