Storms

How Dare You

After Jenna had inexplicably spent a night or two at Stevie's house, she disappeared. Karen would be back in a couple days and Jenna dropped off the earth, it seemed. Lindsey was very much the same as Jenna, not returning any of Stevie's calls. She was getting frustrated, almost getting brave enough to go to his house. She huffed, sitting down in a large comfortable chair with her journal. She compulsively checked and rechecked her phone for a call she might have missed, or a voice mail. Nothing. She decided to write but every word she put to paper was obviously about Lindsey. She missed him, this was true and she did feel bad about kicking him out of her house after such mind blowing sex. Should she call again?

"No, Stevie, let him come to you." she tells herself aloud. Why should she have to chase him? She always has to chase him!

An hour passes and she gets up to grab herself a glass of wine. Maybe it will help her relax. She uncorks the bottle with a satisfying pop and she smiles, pouring herself a glass of fabulous red she was gifted from a friend. The doorbell rings and she takes her glass with her, taking a sip as she casually opens the door. She's surprised at who she sees before her.

"Hi" Stevie says, confusion and caution evident in her eyes.

"Hi? That's all you're going to say?," came the harsh reply.

"I--" Before she can speak another word, the woman slaps her hard across the face. Stevie clutches her cheek, a stinging sensation radiating through all of the muscles of her face.

"How dare you mess with something so sacred! You're getting too old to be a home wrecker!"

"Kristen..."

"Where's Lindsey? Is he upstairs in your bedroom, like always?"

"He's not here" Stevie tells her.

"Whatever." The younger blonde eyed the older one.

"How did you get my code?"

"Like it's hard to guess! I knew it had to have something to do with Lindsey. Now, where is he? Tell me the truth"

"I am. I don't know where he is. We haven't talked recently"

"By the look of the pictures, it doesn't seem like there is very much talking going on at all" A car pulls up in the drive and Stevie casts her eyes down to the floor. She's still clinging to her wine glass for dear life, half of it ending up on her white rug in the foyer. She takes a hearty sip, sensing the coming storm. The owner gets out of the showy sports car with a familiar (to Stevie) blonde, but automatically turns around to get back in the vehicle. "Not so fast, Lindsey!" Kristen shouts.

"Fuck" the curly haired man says under his breath.

"Who the fuck is that? Your new whore?" Kristen takes several steps toward him, getting in his face.

"Don't talk about her that way. You know nothing"

"Gee, I wonder why? It all makes sense now. You've been keeping secrets for years, Lindsey! Years! Who else have you fucked that I need to know about?"

Lindsey looks at Stevie in the doorway, noticing the red mark on her face. "Did you hit her?"

"What does it matter? Answer my question!"

"You can't just lay your hands on people, Kit! She could press charges for one, but for two, it's just plain wrong!"

"According to your little crazy ex girlfriend's book, you used to lay your hands on her all the time" Kristen was seething.

"Let's just all of us go inside the house and figure this out" he suggests carefully, as if deactivating a bomb. The proverbial timer was counting down and he had to act fast.

"I don't want to go inside that woman's house!"

"If you want to talk, scream, whatever, go inside anyway. I'm not doing this in the yard"

"Fine"

Jenna was small and shaking behind him and he grabbed her hand as they all filed into the house. Stevie shut the door and put her glass down momentarily, filling it up again. When she rejoined them, there was already yelling and ugly words being thrown around. She heard her name a few times, as well as a few things she knew were meant for her. If she weren't in complete shock, she would have been hurt and angry. She watched the fight occur, Jenna visibly upset by it all. Stevie couldn't stop looking at the young blonde with the now grey eyes. The longer she looked, the more curious she became. Lindsey behaved strangely around her. Protective, but not in the same way he was protective of her. Had she been a lover, he would have been hanging all over her. He's always done that as long as she'd known him. Every woman was a trophy, a symbol of victory, but not this time. Suddenly, there was silence and Lindsey grabbed Jenna's hand, pulling her gently toward the door. Kristen tried to grab for her in a blind rage and Lindsey threw himself in front of her. Kirsten's eyes widened.

"Don't you bother coming home!"

"Oh believe me, I won't be. Expect a visit from my lawyers!" he yelled.

"I've already made my submission. I just didn't know where to send them" she told him. "Where does she live, since you seem so cozy?"

"Knock it off!"

"I want this over, I want you out of my life. I married you knowing you only had eyes for Stevie! I thought I could live with that but now that I find out you never even stopped fucking her since we've been together...I'm done. He'll be the same to you, honey" Kristen says, turning her attention to Jenna.

"Don't talk to her!"

"What's her name?"

"None of your business"

"It is my business if you've been cheating with her too!"

"She's my--"

"Daughter" Stevie says suddenly, at the same time as Lindsey. His eyes dart from Kristen to Stevie. Their expressions differ greatly. Kristen is obviously still very angry, but shocked and Stevie looks devastated, tears falling down her cheeks. He turns his head to look back at Jenna but she's gone.