Invisible String

Chapter Three - Ain't It Just So Pretty To Think

Most days, Stefani's so busy that she doesn't have time to consider anything else but the immediate matter at hand. Decision after decision has to be made and there are photo shoots, recording sessions, interviews, training sessions, voice lessons, appearances...it was what she signed up for and she'd been doing it for so long now that her body knew the motions, had even adjusted to lack of proper sleep over the years.

And still, she finds that when it all catches up with her, all the heaviness, all that pressure, she crashes hard.

It takes her three days to process the Starbucks "incident," as she'd unofficially dubbed it. On the contrary, she realized, about point five seconds after looking at him, that the poor, sweet soul who had dumped an entire Venti latte all over the floor was an actor.

"The guy from The Hangover."

It was the first thing that came to mind and she had to laugh at herself afterwards. Not only did he have an extensive body of film work, he was someone whose art she really admired.

She doesn't really have the opportunity to question any of the why's of the whole matter because life, as it always tended to do, became chaotic and fast paced and there were things to do before David came back so that she could spend the subsequent few days of his return with him.

The night before he's set to return, she makes sure that she's entirely focused on him, drawing everything else to the peripheral. There's been a strange disconnect between them lately and there isn't a doubt in her mind it's due both to the physical distance and the dream playing in her mind on a consistent basis.

If it's meant to be, if he's the person she's destined to share a life with, she has to know. Everything feels shaken up to its core and if she wasn't the type of person to hold stock in dreams, she could easily ignore the whole thing, write it off as not something to be concerned about, especially since they were getting married. They hadn't set a date in stone yet and she used to be able to justify it; they were both busy, their respective careers were insanely time consuming, they'd just gotten engaged a few months ago.

David was charming and well read, intelligent. His ability to carry a conversation was one of the reasons she'd fallen for him so quickly. Irony at its finest, given their schedules conflicted so much that she's unable to recall the last time they said more than a few sentences to each other.

"Hey, Stef."

It's almost startling to hear him call rather than text as it's his preferred means of communication this past month, but she's happy nonetheless to hear it, the warm familiarity of his tone making her smile.

"Hey, you. What are you up to?"

He sighs and immediately, she knows; he doesn't have to say another word.

"You aren't coming home tomorrow, are you?"

David sighs again, a deep exhale that she can hear the frustration in.

"Wish I could. The merger's not completely finished."

She swallows the disappointment, stretching her legs out in the chaise lounge she's lying on. Her knuckles go white as they grasp the arms.

"How long?"

"Could be another week, could be two. I'm really sorry, honey. It's out of my hands."

"You're the CEO, David. How out of your hands can it be?"

She doesn't mean to sound so irritated and it's definitely more due to the situation at hand than David himself, but he'd already been gone for so long already and anymore time spent away seemed like an answer to an unspoken question.