Scenes From a Soap Opera

The Death of the Detective

Chelsea Lawson sat in Crimson Lights worried about Detective Rey Rosales. He was supposed to be taking her and Connor to Chicago for a hockey game. He was thoughtful enough to agree to go, since her son's father couldn't be bothered. It shouldn't matter that she sprung this on him at the last minute, his son should have come first. He probably didn't even have work to do, he probably had plans with his slut of a girlfriend, Chelsea bitterly thought. The fact that Adam had moved on so quickly burned, especially since it was with Sally Spectra. The woman who was trying to steal her life and acted just like her. How Adam couldn't see it was beyond her.

She could feel Sharon's eyes on her from across the room. Sharon had to be a saint or stupid to let her husband spend time with Chelsea. She was surprised that Sharon was so accepting of Rey going with them. She explained the situation to them both and how Adam was neglecting his son. Sharon defended him, of course, Sharon defended Adam, she would always defend Adam. Rey didn't believe that Adam was being neglectful either, giving him far more compassion than Chelsea felt he deserved.

Even Chloe thought she was being ridiculous when she had confided in her earlier that day. It pained Chloe to do so, but she pointed out that Adam might honestly have a lot of work to do, especially since Victoria went AWOL. Chelsea ignored this, wanting to continue to believe the worst about her son's father. Her friend sighed in frustration at the designer's stubbornness before begging her to focus on work.

These thoughts bounced around her head as she waited for Rey to arrive. He had left them at the house and had to run back to get them. Chance had since come in and was keeping Connor company. She genuinely appreciated that Connor had so many people looking out for him. Chance got a phone call about a bad car accident and had to rush out. But before he did, he shared a brief, but significant look with Sharon.

Sharon Rosales knew that something was wrong. Rey was never the type of person to ignore text messages and phone calls. Rey was a good man, a good man that she had put through so much hell. Hell over Adam, why that man continued to have a hold on her; she could never fully explain. Maybe it's because she knew deep down under all that bravado was a lonely, lost soul just wanting to be loved. She would be forever grateful that Rey forgave her, gave her... them a second chance. That's why she didn't fight when Rey said that he would go to the game with Chelsea and Connor. Though Sharon didn't understand why Chelsea couldn't take her son by herself.

Sharon tried to distract herself throughout the day as she didn't hear from Rey. In the pit of her stomach, dread started to grow, the look on Chance's face when he ran out confirmed it. She waited for someone to come find her, to tell her that life as she knew it was over again. She looked up when she heard footsteps and saw a stunned Nick wander in. She could tell by the look on his face that the news was bad, she could read him better than anyone even after all these years. As Nick started to talk, she interrupted him, "Stop. I know what you are going to say. Please just give me a moment before my life falls apart." her voice broke on that last sentence.

Nick raced over to her, to comfort her. He felt Sharon fall apart in his arms, not for the first time. Memories of Cassie came flooding back to him, to Sharon too, he was sure. A car accident just like Cassie, hell it was even around the same time of year. He knew Sharon would get through this; she could survive anything. He would be there to help her put her life back together.

Sharon suddenly shot up, "The kids. I have to get the kids together. They should hear the news from me. I'm going to call Faith and Mariah." Sharon started making plans, she had to keep herself busy. "Could you call Noah for me, tell him to get to the house? Thanks Nick." Sharon asked as she walked behind the counter to grab her phone.

Nick just nodded as he watched her in amazement. Sharon was distracting herself, she always had to be strong for everyone. He knew her just as well as she knew him. He really hoped that she would allow herself some time to grieve, he was afraid of what would happen if she didn't. Sighing, he pulled his phone out of his pocket to call Noah. He would gladly do anything he could for Sharon. If only he could take away all the pain he knew she was feeling.