A Deceiving Passion

Ocean Blues

Lindsey had done what was asked of him; he was ready at early enough that they could make their five a.m. flight. He had gotten a haircut, he had shaved his beard and he had gotten himself prepared to see his wife; he was even dressed well---wearing a black, long sleeve button-down shirt underneath a black blazer, straight leg jeans that were dark wash and some simple black shoes.

That Friday morning, he certainly earned a lot of praise because he looked so much better with the exception of his sunken in under eyes, his overall slightly undernourished self couldn't be filled back out in just a couple of days.

There was a part of Lindsey that couldn't be bothered with what was going on because he almost didn't believe it, a part that worried for what was to come and then there was his inner self that was thrilled to no extent, but no matter how excited he was on the inside to possibly see his wife, he couldn't project more than a few words to anybody.

Lori and Christopher sat in the row behind Sharon and Lindsey and due to the order of it all, Lindsey ended up with a window seat and all he could do was stare out the window; imagining what everything was going to be like, imagining the crash that initially got them into their issue and then of course he roamed the possibility of their being a mistake.

Since the day she had gone missing, all he had done was pray that she would make her way back to him and the kids, and in the midst of all of his pain, he really was hoping that his prayers were being answered.

He pulled the crescent moon necklace out of the inner pocket of his blazer, allowing the broken chain to wrap around his fingers as he stroked the 24 karat gold piece.

Even though it didn't really seem like it at all, he was trying ever so hard to keep an open mind about things.

Sharon glanced over from her book just to see what Lindsey had in his hands considering he hadn't bothered for anything and he was motionless, he barely moved or even shifted like she assumed he would out of nerves. She then curled her lips sympathetically, knowing Stevie was not going to be everything he had hoped for and she felt bad.

...

When the group of four arrived to their hotel, Lori and Sharon settled in one room and Lindsey and Christopher in another that was just across the way.

As soon as the girls were alone, Lori decided to give Stevie a call at her house considering she had her number after all the crazy events that took place just earlier on in the week.

"Hello?" a boy answered.

"Hi, is St-- Samantha there?" Lori hesitated right off the bat even though she knew better; asking for Stevie was just habit.

Sharon gave her a nudge, unable to believe she could forget something so quickly.

"Sorry," she mouthed.

"Who's calling?" the boy then wondered.

"Um, this is Samantha's friend, Lori... Is she there? Who is this?"

"Well, I'm Roman and yeah, she's here," the 14 year old replied. "Mom!"

From the other end of the phone, Lori could hear Stevie telling the teenager to quiet down since his sister was sleeping.

There was a little bit of a shift and then the blonde had a hold of the phone.

"Hello?" she answered, much more chipper than the teen.

"Hey, it's Lori... and Sharon," she replied.

"I'm so glad to hear from you. Are you guys back in town?"

Lori couldn't help but grin only because she could hear the woman's genuine smile that she held on the other end. "Yeah, we just checked into our hotel. We have the boys and all. Just wanted to let you know that we arrived safely."