Unexpected Encounters [B.H.M.]

20

Today is the five month anniversary of this story... crazy how time flies. I'm proud to see that I've managed to update pretty much every week, and I'm even happier about how well this story has been received. I'm so glad you're enjoying this so much and I hope I can continue writing chapters you will enjoy. Please don't be shy to share your opinion, that always means a lot. I still have big plans for this, so I'll be working on this at least for another five months. I hope that sounds good 😄 Now.. enjoy this chapter, it's a good one. Thank you all for your continuous support! 💚

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"I have," she confirmed, not taking her eyes off him. "She seems nice."

Brian didn't say anything for a moment before he hummed. "Uhm, well, the kids haven't had dinner yet, but we had lunch a little late because we got carried away drawing, but I've got everything packed up, Louisa is just getting her doll," he said, not so elegantly changing the topic.

"That's okay. I parked on the street so maybe you could give me a hand," she said, taking their youngest daughter from him.

"Of course," Brian quickly agreed so I stepped back a little to let them handle their things the way they normally did.

"I'll wait in the living room, okay?" I told him, not wanting to awkwardly intrude on their ... well, family life.

"That's okay," he assured me with a small smile.

"Remember what I said," Chrissy just told me before she walked to the car.

Brian gave me a surprised look, but before he could say something I had already walked off. I figured I'd just have a seat in the living room to wait for him. This had already gone quite different from what I had expected, so I was a little curious what else the evening would bring. Who knew which state Brian would be in after his children were gone, and maybe wine wouldn't be particularly helpful with that. But we would see.

I took a deep breath and leaned back on his couch, crossing my legs.

It took a few moments before Brian finally joined me. He didn't say much, he just sighed heavily and rubbed his face. "I hate watching them leave," he admitted. "And this time I'm not going to see them again until the weekend after I come back from Switzerland.."

"Oh... how long is it until then?" I asked, turning to face him.

"Two weeks," he sighed. "Two long weeks. I already miss them if I don't get to see them during the week normally."

"How did you do it when you were touring? They weren't always there with you, were they?"

"No," he said, sounding a little surprised. "That's a good point... I guess it's just so different with them not actually waiting for me here when I come back. You know? I've had this a few times already and it's always so sad. Sometimes Chrissy lets them come to the airport, but not always and... I miss them. I love them, you know?"

"I know," I told him. It wasn't hard to miss that. "And I'm sure so do they."

"I-I dont know, I just..." He closed his eyes and took a deep breath before he shook his head. "I'm sorry..."

"You don't have to be sorry, your feelings are valid, Brian. It's good to talk about them, it's not good to bottle everything up because that ju-" I paused when I heard him sniff beside me and turned my head just in time to see him wiping his eyes. "Brian..." How could you not feel bad for him? I placed my hand on his arm, rubbing it gently. "Are you crying?" I asked astonished.

He nodded weakly before he shrugged.

"Do you want me to get you a tissue?" I asked, not entirely sure what to make of this situation.