Lindsey sat in silence... waiting. He felt like he had been waiting for hours, as he thought back on the events of the night before. He had gotten only two hours of sleep during the night before, the time spent with his mind racing over the events of the evening, until he had been too exhausted to fight the sleep anymore. His "wife" was now downtown, in Beverly Hills seeing a lawyer to begin proceedings for their divorce, and he had already contacted his own attorney to make sure things were rolling on his end.
It had been surprisingly amicable between them once Kristen had arrived back at the house. The only thing they had any disagreement on was the kids... both wanting to be with them as much as possible, but Lindsey had given in after almost an hour of intense discussion that they really did need their mother. They would have joint custody, and Lindsey would make sure that they were all three well taken care of, and he'd be able to see them as often as he wanted. He had even been shocked when she had stated that even with Stevie around, he'd always be able to see his children. It was almost as if Kristen knew where his mind had been headed... dreading asking the question himself. Her revelation that she had reconnected with Kyle was something he hadn't expected her to say, but it did a lot to explain the sudden calm that was between them. No longer were they at each other's throats. They would both be able to move forward with their lives, and finally be happy.
That had brought him to where he was now. Sitting, staring at the stairs, waiting for Stevie to descend. He had been in the same place for over forty-five minutes, thinking over how to say what he had been mulling over all night. He had fought the urge to go to her the night before, even after Kristen had left, wanting to get his thoughts in order, and not say anything rash, or hasty. Lindsey knew now that he never wanted another day of his life to go by without Stevie in it, and he was anxious to start that next chapter of his life.
He was beginning to get antsy as he sat, smiling at the memory of how her body still reacted to his touch the same as it always had. After mulling over the idea of waking her for a few minutes, he wasn't able to sit still any longer. Bolting up the stairs, he headed to her room, not even bothering to knock. Opening the door, he expected to find his sleeping beauty lost in her dreams as she always was until at least noon...
What he found instead was an empty room, almost completely void of any evidence she had been there at all. The only thing remaining was the scent of her perfume, still lingering on the sheets where she had slept only 24 hours before... and the small envelope lying on her pillow, with his name scrawled in what he knew instantly to be her handwriting.
Fingering the envelope with trembling hands, he knew almost before he opened it what he would find written on the linen pages within... He had once again forced her to run with his inability to be completely hers... to make up his mind and make the decision that he knew he should have made all along. Tearing open the envelope, he knew he had to read exactly what she said, before it ate him alive to think of him causing her such pain... and he knew he had to find her, and stop her from beginning the cycle all over again. It was time for her to stop running... and the time for him to stop her was now.
*********************
She had spent the better part of the night making plans. It really hadn't taken her long to decide where she wanted to go...the trouble had been in finding an available jet to take her there. She refused to fly a commercial airline for a long flight such as she had planned.
Paris. Stevie was going to Paris. It had been years, and even when she had been there before, she'd either been too busy, or too high, to actually notice any of the sights. So, she had only debated for a few moments, the spur of the moment decision to leave, and the sudden idea to go to France, fitting her mood perfectly. She really had no memories of being there with Lindsey, and that thought, in itself, was enough to make up her mind.
Leaning back into the backseat of her limo, Stevie looked out the window at the blur of the passing scenery. The rain making it almost impossible to see, she silently hoped that it would let up, at least a little. She wanted nothing...absolutely nothing, to interfere with what she had planned. She was due to take off in a little less than three hours, and she wanted no delays, because she did not want there to be any time for her to change her mind. She just couldn't stay...no matter how much she might want to...and be around Lindsey for another night. She could still feel his arms around her, the touch of his lips against hers...and she knew, without a doubt, that if she didn't separate herself from him, that she would soon be feeling more than just that. And that was something that she just could not allow to happen. She was on her way to her own house, to pick up a few things that she thought she might need, and then she would be on her way to the small airstrip, where the learjet she had finally managed to locate was waiting to take her across the ocean.
Waiting impatiently for the driver to come to a complete stop, Stevie stepped out of the car without waiting for him to open the door for her, telling him to come back in an hour. Running to the cover of the front porch, the sound of her boot-heels hitting the driveway could barely be heard over the pounding rain, and Stevie nearly jumped out of her skin when a loud clap of thunder boomed out before she could get the door open. "Oh, please let the rain stop," she muttered, raking her wet hair away from where it was plastered against her forehead. "Please don't let it storm..."
In a near panic, she found herself rushing around the house, and before she realized it, had completely stuffed three suitcases full of stuff to take with her. She had not made the plans for the return trip as of yet, as she did not know how long she would need to be away in order for her to be able to gather her thoughts and clear her head of the images that seemed to be burned there, of Lindsey.
