Sacrifice

She's not you

It took Lindsey three days to move out of the house he had shared with Kristen and their kids. He had two full trucks of his things on the street, outside of the condo he had rented out until he found a new place for himself. The first night he stayed at his temporary home, Lindsey could hardly believe what he had done. There were probably better ways to break it to Kristen, talk to her first, then the kids, but, selfishly in a way, he didn't want to have to do it twice. It was tough as it was. Surprisingly, all three of his children were taking this a lot better than he thought they would. Will was the oldest, but it was the hardest for him to adjust. If Lindsey had known it would have gone like this, he would have done it years ago. 

Stevie didn't know that Lindsey had left his family, they hadn't talked once after they spent that night together, which of course made her question him. The tension had always surrounded the two, now they got that out of the way, sort of, and Lindsey would be happy for a little while and wouldn't need her again. That's what she honestly thought and she was already mad at him. He used her. For sex. She felt so cheap and so dirty, she swore not to talk to him again. 

Lindsey was going to surprise her by showing up unannounced. He was going to give her a big hug and a kiss, apologize for not calling and then tell her all about why he didn't do it and why it took him so long to come see her again. He was prepared for her to be distant and icy at first, but he would make it up for the lost time. 

Lindsey stopped the car not to be spotted by Stevie right away, but he could perfectly see the entrance to the house. What he saw crushed him, his mood turned gloomy and all his hopes shattered. There he saw Stevie, holding onto her husband, who she was about to divorce, kissing him as if he had just returned from some kind of long business trip that had separated them for months. Lindsey wanted to look away, turn the car around and leave, but his eyes were fixed on the couple. 

Stevie finally managed to pull herself away from Robert, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand animatedly. "What the hell is wrong with you!"

"Baby, please!"

"Don't you baby me, Robert, dear God! Just go back to where you came from!"

"I want to talk to you, that's all."

"I'm not about to be screaming out here." She said, crossing her arms. 

"Let me in? I'm not going to do anything, I swear."

Lindsey sighed heavily, seeing Stevie walking inside with Robert following. There was nothing left for him to do here as he turned the car sharply and sped off. 

"Talk." Stevie said, still with her arms folded, not inviting Robert anywhere further than the hallway. 

"Don't be like this, Steph, you're acting like you don't want me here."

"That's because I don't! I don't understand what it is you want from me? You made your bed, Robert. We agreed, it was a mutual decision, we signed the divorce papers. Why are you still chasing after me?"

"It's only now I realize what I lost. You've been the best thing that's ever happened to me and I fucked it up. I'm sorry, I can't tell you enough how sorry I am. We can take it back, nothing is truly over yet, we can make us work, baby, I know we can."

She had to take a moment to breath and count to ten so she wouldn't explode. She wondered if he was hearing himself. "No. What do I have to say to get it through your thick skull? I don't want anything to do with you. You so desperately wanted a family with a child not long ago. What happened? Why don't you go back to whatever her name is?"

"She's not you, I love you."

"I don't, Robert. I'm not saying I'm not upset by this whole situation, because I am and I broke down and I could hardly stop sobbing, but I got it out of my system and now I can see clearly, that it was the best decision we've made together in a long time." 

"You honestly don't love me anymore?"

"Not anymore."

"What do I have to do? Beg you? Because I will!" He dropped to his knees, wrapping himself around her lower body. 

"Get away from me, please! Robert, you're embarrassing yourself."

"I couldn't care less, I'll do anything for you, just let me come back." He kept talking, kissing her everywhere. "Life is not worth living without you, Stephanie. I might as well just kill myself!"

"Don't even joke about it." She told him sternly, trying to wiggle herself out of his grasp. "Just go back to her, you'll be happy again, I know you will be."

Robert shook his head. "I won't and technically... I am with her."

"Oh my God, you have no respect for me at all, do you?!" She pushed at his shoulders, making him fall on his elbows. "You're sharing a bed with that whore and here you are, on your knees, asking me to let you come back?"

"I don't lo..."

"Stop right there. I don't care one bit, I don't, not any longer, Robert. Get up and please go, I'm sick of you taunting me. I want us to be separated and then I expect not to ever see you again."

He got up on his feet, looking utterly defeated. "I hope you can forgive me someday and I do love you."

"Just go..." She repeated with a sigh. 

And he did, then as soon as Robert was gone, Stevie felt an overpowering need to see Lindsey, she forgot all her promises she had made to herself and went to call him. Naturally, she dialed the house number, because cellphones weren't her preference. 

"Hello?"

"Kristen, hi. It's Stevie. Is Lindsey around? I need to talk to him."

"He isn't around, no. He doesn't live here anymore."

The line went dead and Stevie held the receiver in her hand, staring at it. What did that even mean? She looked all over for her phone and found Lindsey on the contact list. She waited for the longest time, but he never picked up, not once out of at least seven times she had redialed.