Decades

Improperly Functioning Exes

"Lindsey! Stop!" Stevie shouted. Lindsey charged toward Mick and Stevie. She saw him coming, but Mick's back was to him. When he turned his head to see what was happening, Lindsey had already rammed him from behind with his shoulder. Lindsey had tripped over the big slippers Mick had given him, making it unclear whether he'd purposefully run into him or if it was an accident.

Mick held onto Stevie, and both were left standing as Lindsey fell to the floor clumsily. "Don't fall for anything he says, Stevie. We'd still be together if it weren't for this lanky bastard." Lindsey shouted insults at Mick, railed at him for his affair with Stevie, and even blamed him for encouraging her to dump him in the seventies. He was unglued.

Continuing his rant, he pled with her not to let Mick influence her decisions, explaining how she couldn't trust Mick.

She shouted back at Lindsey, "You're one to talk about who I should be able to trust, asshole!"

Despite all the ranting, Mick leaned forward to help Lindsey up. He still had no idea what had transpired between the two of them. John and Christine looked on in horror at the whole scene. But, when Lindsey refused Mick's hand, John stepped forward and helped him. Lindsey then staggered into Stevie's bedroom, kicking off the borrowed slippers on the way.

Stevie chased him, "Where do you think you're going, Lindsey? Stay the fuck out of my bedroom!" she yelled. "That's the last place you're ever going to be welcome, ever again!"

This warning didn't stop Lindsey's determined march. John followed closely.

Christine held Mick back, knowing that the tall drummer's very presence could cause things to get even more out of control. Lindsey was looking for someone to blame tonight other than himself, and Mick appeared to be the best target.

"Stevie, sit down and talk to me, please," he begged. "I'm so sorry, Stevie. You know that I love you. Please give me a chance to talk to you. You owe me that!"

"I owe you nothing," Stevie fired back.

"You're right, baby. You don't owe me anything. You don't. I didn't mean to say that," he desperately took back what he'd said when he realized the impact. "I'm sorry." He sat down on her bed, pushing himself into the middle of the kingsized bed, hoping he was in a place that would make it difficult to remove him, like a kid playing a game with his parents to avoid going to his own room at bedtime.

"I'm sorry I said it like that. But, please, don't make me leave."

John gave Stevie a look that asked whether he needed to try and remove Lindsey from her room. Stevie shrugged and shook her head but asked, "Will you stay here, John?" John nodded reassuringly and sank into the chair in the corner of the room.

Then, turning to Lindsey, she said, "I'm not the one you need to talk to anymore, Lindsey," she wanted to strangle him in that moment, "The person you need to work things out with is the mother of your child."

John looked at Lindsey, dismayed by Stevie's revelation.

"I don't want to talk to her. I don't care about her. I only did that because you were going out with that guy. That was all an accident, a terrible mistake. I only ever wanted you. Please don't leave me over this."

"Lindsey, it isn't even that you slept with her. Though that hurts, you couldn't give me one night to think things through before you were in bed with her. How could I ever trust you?"

"I will make it up to you. I didn't mean to. It was a big mistake. Baby, we weren't even exclusive then."

"Lindsey, how can you say you didn't mean to have sex with another woman? You meant it. You just wish it hadn't caught up to you. And so what if we weren't exclusive? You were spending all of your time promising me that I was the only person for you and that you loved me. Love isn't fucking another woman the second you get mad at me. You're just sorry because there are consequences to your actions."