A Happy Accident

That bad?

Like Lindsey said, before they knew it, the two of them were to meet at the airport to board a plane, which would take them to New York. Stevie arrived with Robert, finding Lindsey already there and alone. They were leaving for quite some time, you'd think his wife would have spent the last minutes together with her husband... She shrugged it off and bid a more personal goodbye to Robert, giving him a nice long kiss for everyone to see, as they remained embraced for a moment afterwards. 

"Call me when you get there, okay?" He asked, tucking a strand of hair out her face. "I love you."

"Love you, too." She rose on her tip toes and pecked him once more, before saying goodbye. 

When Robert left, Stevie turned around and headed to Lindsey, smiling widely, as he pulled her into a hug. "I thought you forgot about me over there."

"Excuse me! I would never!" Stevie placed a hand on her chest, acting offended. "Where's Kristen?"

"At home." He shrugged and dropped it. "Come on, we have a flight to catch."

It was strange flying without their usual entourage, but they agreed everyone else would meet the two in New York before the first show, which was two days away. The time up in the air passed rather quickly, as they chattered away about the tour. Both Stevie and Lindsey at some point during their journey realized that the problem wasn't them, it was the people around them. When it was just two of them, things were absolutely fine, but once others joined in and started expressing their opinions, then it all went to hell, causing them to argue and avoid each other. If only they had learnt how not to listen...

Several hours later, they were escorted to a car and on their way to the hotel, where they had rooms booked already. Neither had that much luggage, as most of their belongings would be coming along with their assistants. Lindsey, being a gentleman, took care of both of their suitcases and having taken their keys, he accompanied Stevie to her suite as she thanked him. 

"How about we meet for drinks later?" She asked before he left.

"Sure. Although, what is later for you? Like 2 in the morning?" 

Stevie rolled her eyes, shaking her head. "I'll see you at 9 pm downstairs?"

"See you then." Lindsey gave a small nod and went in search for his own room.

It was a very rare occasion when Lindsey noticed Stevie approaching him only four minutes after their agreed time. He also couldn't stop his eyes from wandering over her. He didn't think she looked much different, the only thing from earlier was that her hair was down, but still, she was gorgeous in his eyes, even if after so many years.

"What are we having tonight then?" He asked, once she took a seat next to him. 

"Something strong."

"Oh?"

"It's been a while." Stevie shrugged, placing one hand over the other, letting Lindsey order.

"Settled in?" He asked, while waiting for their drinks.

"Yeah. It's weird though, I needed something and was this close to saying, Karen where is it? I'm so used to always having her around."

"You never travel by yourself?"

"Not really. If not with Karen, then I'm with Robert." 

"Right. How's that going by the way?" He nodded his thank you at the barman, when the man set two glasses in front of them. "Didn't you mention spring wedding?"

"I did. And it's... It's going good." She trailed off, weighing the next thing she wanted to say. "I mean... I do love him and I want to marry him, but the thought terrifies me. It's like... We've been living together now for a good while, so what difference does it make if I have a wedding ring on? I know it sounds stupid, but it's still so hard for me to give up my independence completely."

"Well, marriage doesn't mean that exactly. Just that now you can still leave and once you're married... Of course you can do it too, but it's not as easy then."

"And what's worse, I sense him pressuring me into getting serious about the wedding plans. We kind of agreed on a date, but I can't bring myself to start calling people for everything, to think of the venue, to search for a dress, to pick out the flowers and so on..."

"Let me ask you, Stevie. Do you want to get married at all?"

"I do and I don't." She sighed, taking a generous gulp of whiskey. "Sometimes I think that it would be wonderful to finally walk down that aisle, but then I change my mind, that things are perfect the way they are. Robert is amazing, he's... no man, not even you has ever treated me the way he does."

"But are you in love with him?"

"I love him."

"Are you in love with him?" Lindsey repeated his question, seeing her hesitate.

"I think so."

"I don't think you do, because that's a very easy question. You feel it, you know it. Even at our lowest lows, when someone asked me, well, but are you still in love with Stevie?, I always said I was." He told her honestly. "Am I in love with Kristen? No. She was a mistake that I continue to pay for. I do love her as my partner for years and a mother of my children, but that's that."

Stevie could hardly believe what she was hearing, as she showed for the barman for a refill. "And you're just casually telling me this?"

"Tell me you didn't know it already."

"I've... well, I've guessed..." She admitted, turning the subject away from her own relationship to his. "What's going on between you and her, Linds? Are things okay back home?"

"As okay as they've always been." He shrugged with a sad smile. "We're together, we're a family. Do we have things in common? No. Do we care about each other's work? No. Do we do things together? No..."

"You don't seem too happy."

"I'm not, honestly... I haven't filed for divorce yet just because of my kids."

"That bad?" 

He nodded, swirling whiskey in his glass. "I feel like I'm wasting my life. However much of it I have left anyway..."

"Aw, Linds." She looked at him sadly, she didn't think the image he and Kristen had created, was so far from being reality. 

As the night went on and they kept pouring their hearts out to each other, they had downed more than enough scotch. Their conversation became more sincere and open, despite their language being slurry. They stayed until they were the very last ones at the bar and they were kindly asked to leave. 

From that moment on, neither remembered much of what followed. When Lindsey woke up the next morning with a horrible headache and hungover, his memory was blank from the minute they stepped into the elevator. 

He winced at the pounding of his head, as he yawned and lazily opened his eyes. He turned onto his other side and then stilled, frowning. "...Stevie?"