Fix it

I can't find her

When they got to the hotel, Stevie tried calling Don, but now he wouldn't pick up. At least that was what Stevie told Lindsey...

He woke up the following morning, on his front, stretching out his arm over to her side, but she wasn't there and the sheets were cold. Lindsey frowned, rolling out of bed to check the bathroom and the living area, but she was still nowhere to be found. Then he checked the time and he was shocked it was almost 12 pm, maybe she was with someone from the band? Right, that had to be the case. 

Lindsey, in no rush, took a shower, shaved and put on a clean set of clothes, before walking downstairs, to the restaurant to eat something, in hope to also find Stevie there. Again, no such luck. Now he began to worry. He visited Mick, Christine and even John, getting the same negative answer that no, they hadn't yet seen Stevie.

"Karen." He muttered to himself, she had to be the first one he checked with.

He anxiously knocked on Stevie's assistant's door, barging in the second Karen opened it. "Well, good day to you too, Lindsey."

"Where's Stevie? I can't find her anywhere!"

Karen tried to avoid eye contact, immediately giving it away that she was aware of her boss' whereabouts. "She, um... don't get mad, okay?"

"Yeah, it's kind of too late."

"Stevie didn't mean to upset you, honestly, by not informing you, she knew that if she had told you, you wouldn't have let her go."

"Karen, what in the world-"

"She's on her way back to the States."

"SHE IS WHAT?!"

"After she spoke to Don, she came to see me, asking me to get her a ticket this morning. I don't know what exactly, but something happened and apparently there was no way she could solve it from here. She asked me to tell you and she's sorry."

"My wife gets on a freaking plane all the way back to Los Angeles, when we got to Sydney last night, to meet with her ex lover and I find out about it from her assistant! This is just fucking great!"

"Lindsey, calm down. She knew you would react badly and she couldn't have left then and she needed to, it's something important."

"Oh, I just bet it is! She probably decided she shouldn't have ended that affair so soon!"

"What affair?"

Lindsey frowned, stopping himself from opening the door. "You didn't know?"

"I've no idea what you're talking about."

"Stevie and Don? They were seeing each other behind my back."

"That... that can't be true!"

"She told me herself. I for sure thought you were covering up for her."

"I swear, I didn't know anything about it, Lindsey. I'm shocked to be hearing this."

"Yeah, well... If you do speak to her, tell her I'm pissed off and she better gets back to me soon."

Meanwhile at the LA airport, Stevie was looking for Don, who said would come pick her up, didn't matter the time of the day. She was not used to travelling by herself, so she was a little frantic, hoping he was there already. 

"Stephanie!"

She heard, obviously her given name being used not to attract unnecessary attention. "Oh, here you are." She sighed in relief. 

"Come, let's get somewhere private."

They decided on Stevie's condo. The whole drive was spent in silence, because Don refused to speak until they were in the safety of her home. Stevie sensed what this was about and she was terrified if her thoughts were true.

As if doing something illegal, Don looked around before following Stevie into the building, hurrying to the elevators, hitting the button of her floor as soon as they stepped into one. Once she unlocked the door, Don exploded.

"What the fuck, Stevie?!"

"Explain to me, what's going on? Why did I have to come all the way here from Australia?"

"Don't play dumb, you know perfectly well why I needed you here."

"Well, I do... but how did you find out?" She asked him to take a seat, the pacing around the room was driving her crazy.

"I know a guy, who works for one very famous magazine. He called me, saying they had something juicy on the two of us, a warning."

"I'm so sorry, Don. Lindsey and I were seeing a therapist and well, she was kind of a bitch, first I had an argument with her, then Lindsey and something she said, offended him and he let your name slip."

"Why would you even discuss it?! Jesus!"

"We had to! We were trying to save our marriage. We talked about everything, but I never said your name, not once, but when Lindsey gets mad, he doesn't even realize what he's saying."

"And that's your excuse?"

"It's not an excuse, I'm trying to explain what happened."

"Is he that big of an idiot? Doesn't he realize I have a family?"

"I freaked out just as badly as you are doing so right now, I said the same thing. But he really didn't mean to..."

"He really didn't mean to. Right, is there joined couples counselling? If this gets out, I'm pretty sure all four of us will need it! I was risking it all while seeing you, I knew it could all blow up in my face, but we ended it, I thought it was behind me. Now some freaking therapist decided to cash in on it! You're special to me, Stevie, but not even you are worth what I have."

She closed her eyes, fighting back the tears. She didn't know what came over her, but... "You spoke so differently when we were together."

"What?" He faced her, frowning. 

"You said nobody made you feel the way I do, that you feel things you can't experience with anyone else, that you're so glad even after all these years and what we've been through, that I still allow you in. You were this close to saying you loved me, Don... what changed?"

"You can't be serious. You have your beloved Lindsey, you ended things between us! It hurt you know, I was begging to bury those feelings again for you, now here you are, asking me why I'm saying I can't sacrifice my family, not even for you."

"It hurts me too! You were lying this whole time to me, just to keep me in your bed, weren't you?"

"Why do you even care! You wanted to go back to him, to save your marriage! Why does it bother you so much the things I'm telling you now?"

"I wish I knew..."

"When I asked you, you said you didn't love me."

"It's not about love. I hate feeling as if I was used, as if I was just fed lies for those months. I thought you still wanted me because of me, my aging body and all... Now I know you weren't being truthful and it's painful."

"I fed you lies?" Don asked, very calmly, awaiting her answer.

"Tell me you weren't." Stevie looked at him, a slightly challenging tone of voice. 

Before she realized what was happening, she felt his lips press firmly against her own...