How She Came Home

Chapter Seventy-Six

Coming home from work early the following Wednesday, wearied from a lack of sleep the night before and too many meetings that day, Becca was happy to be home as she walked inside. 

Things had felt marginally better since speaking about their own experiences with Freen's missing period, as if they understood each other better now, felt closer. 

Of course, that didn't mean Becca expected everything to be fine all of a sudden, but it still gave her pause to find Freen sitting at the kitchen table, staring blankly at the wall while a pot of potatoes bubbled over on the stove, hissing.

There was a blankness to her expression, that vacant look in her eyes, which Becca had come to associate with Freen's more difficult days. Briskly walking over to the stove, Becca turned it off and then warily crossed over to Freen, gently calling her name. 

She jumped and quickly stood up, blinking herself out of a daze before she plastered a smile on her face. If Becca hadn't just walked in and seen her elsewhere in her own mind, she might've assumed that she was fine.

"Is... everything okay?"

"Yeah, fine. I was just... thinking."

"Anything you need to talk about?" Becca asked, cupping her cheek, gently thumbing her cheekbone before kissing her.

There was a flicker of something there, but it was gone before Becca could figure out what hidden thoughts and emotions were concealed in her brown eyes. For her part, Freen let out a snort of laughter and waved a hand dismissively.

"No, no, it's- it was nothing. How was work? I wasn't expecting you home so early."

"Work was... okay," Becca hedged, setting her bag down on the counter.

Freen hummed distractedly and Becca waited for her to say something else, to move or look at her, and when she didn't, Becca loosed a sigh. Running her hands over her face, she swallowed and was speechless for a moment, at a loss.

"Pack a bag," she suddenly instructed Freen, fishing her phone out of her coat pocket.

"What?"

"Pack a bag - we're going away for a few days."

She was already dialling the private company that chartered her flights, pressing her phone to her ear as she quickly went through the process of arranging for her jet to be ready for takeoff as soon as possible. 

Hanging up, she raised her eyebrows at Freen, who was staring at her with wariness in her eyes. "Where are we going?"

"It's time for you to see where I grew up," Becca replied with a wry smile.

She went upstairs to pack a bag for herself then, Freen following her up and rifling through her own clothes taking up a small portion of the closet space, and they didn't speak as they folded things into their respective bags, Becca fetching their toothbrushes and toiletries, Freen packing a sweater for Becca in case she got cold, and in short order they were ready to go.

Calling her driver to pick them up, Becca made a few more calls; one to Mind, so she didn't worry, another to her mom, and two more to Irin and Alice, rescheduling meetings and apologetically reminding them of urgent matters that she couldn't handle over the phone. 

She was finished by the time the car pulled up outside, her driver fetching their bags and Athena's things while Becca locked up and they climbed into the car.

It was still light when they reached the private airstrip and by the time they were settled inside the plane, sunset was creeping in, the blue sky streaked with peach and lavender.