Strangers [COMPLETE]

Chapter 6: Desperate

Spencer woke up the next morning, immediately remembering that there was one more day until she saw her son and parents again. She smiled at the thought of her four-year-old son, Isaac, running into her arms. Three months without him was way too long. He'd call from his dad's phone occasionally, with permission from Mark of course. He'd tell her how his day was and what he did. Mark and his partner weren't exactly homebodies; they liked to go out and do productive things, unlike Spencer. So, Isaac had a lot to talk about.

"Good morning," she said, presumably to Toby. Her back was facing him, so she wasn't able to see his face. Spencer was completely obvious. He had been gone since around midnight, maybe even earlier. Spencer quickly assumed he was still sleeping, then turned around to see his gorgeous face.

But Toby was gone.

She shook it off, hoping he was in the living room. Much to her shock, he wasn't there. He wasn't in the kitchen, either. Spencer didn't want to jump to any conclusions. She took a deep breath. Maybe he's on a run, or maybe he's at the gym. She'll wait for two hours, then call him if he's still not back.

In the meantime, she decided to clean the house and prepare for tomorrow's visitors. With all the sweeping and dusting, the two hours passed more quickly than she expected. It was like time had purposely flew by to make Spencer more and more on edge.

Spencer checked her phone, and sighed when she found zero calls or texts from Toby. She dialed his number, one that she had quickly memorized, and waited. It went straight to voicemail. Spencer contemplated whether or not to leave one, then she soon decided for it. She needed to know if he was okay. She really cared about him. She didn't want to seem like a crazy, stalker girlfriend, but she couldn't help it. She had been hurt too many times before.

"Hey, Toby. You weren't here this morning, so I'm just wondering where you are. Totally not in a stalker-ish way, but I just want to be sure you're okay. I need to know if you're okay. Please call me." She said, hanging up the phone and setting it on the kitchen counter. When she hung up, she was overcome with a feeling of loneliness.

Her phone rang as she was making breakfast, and she practically leaped to it. She was a bit disappointed to find out that it wasn't Toby calling, but rather it was Mark, her ex-boyfriend and Isaac's father.

Spencer never really resented mark for dumping her. He had a perfectly good reason to, as he never really liked girls at all. He was a great father to Isaac, and so was his partner, Gabriel. Spencer worried constantly that Isaac never saw her as a mother figure, but just as a woman who took care of him. She constantly feared that he loved his dad more than her. His dad was all Isaac would talk about. Even when he lived with Spencer, it was always "where's daddy?" or "when is daddy coming to visit?" It made Spencer feel a little bit neglected by her own son.

"Hey," she said, hoping Mark wouldn't catch on to the worry in her voice. He had a great, yet annoying, ability to always sense when something was wrong.

"Hey," his deep, masculine voice said on the other line, "Isaac was begging to call you, even though you're seeing him tomorrow."

Spencer smiled. "Let me talk to him." She said. Her heart leaped at the thought of her son actually wanting to talk to her. Normally, things would be the other way around.

It was silent for a second, then she was welcomed by her son's voice. "Hi, mommy!" He greeted her on the other line.

"Hi, sweetie. I miss you so much." She said. It was true. Since the beginning of summer, when Isaac left to spend the time with his father, she missed him more than anything. She missed having to make him breakfast every morning and taking him to daycare. She missed her life with her little boy.

"I can't wait to see you tomorrow!" Isaac exclaimed. She missed the sound of his voice. Her son's young, high-pitched voice never failed to make her smile. She secretly hoped he would stay this age forever, just so she wouldn't have to see him grow up and mature. She didn't want to lose this.

"I can't wait to see you, too. And grandma and grandpa called, and they're coming to see us, too!" She said. Although she couldn't see her son's beautiful face, she could tell he was happy. The conversation between Spencer and her son lasted a short amount of time, as Spencer wanted to wait until tomorrow to hear her son's many stories from his summer vacation.

"So how are things with this new guy? Am I going to be meeting him tomorrow?" Mark's voice was calming to Spencer, and it always made the worst situations a little bit better. That's what she admired most about him.

Spencer rolled her eyes. Mark was always so protective over her. Spencer's father didn't care much for interrogating her boyfriends. So, Mark filled in. He would always tell her if he liked them or not. Most of the time, he didn't like them. She was reminded of a time when Mark was convinced that an ex-boyfriend of hers had been stealing her money. He was wrong, but it was a little reassuring to know that he cared.

"If you want, you can stay for dinner. His name is Toby, and he's a gentleman." Spencer said. She decided against burdening Mark with her boyfriend troubles.Their conversation soon ended, and Spencer hung up.

She looked at the clock and realized that an hour had passed. She decided to call Toby one more time.

"Hey, Toby. It's me again. I know the thought of meeting my family might scare you, and you're probably freaked out right now. But please, please don't quit on me. If you really want to keep this thing between us going, then be at my apartment tomorrow night."

She wanted to tell him that she loved him, but she didn't want to scare him even more.