Shattered

22. Broken and Shattered

Alec rang the doorbell of the apartment. The name plate read LUCY'S HAVEN.
Amused, he waited for the door to open. He could hear footsteps inside. Standing her pyjamas, Lucy opened the door. She looked tired and weary.  "Be- oh it's you. What do you want?" She snapped at him.

"Umm... I was looking for Beth."

"Oh you are looking for her? You finally realized you are supposed to look for her?"

"Excuse me?" Alec didn't understand what she meant.

"What do you want Alec?" She rolled her eyes. "Why are you here? Beth isn't here, if you are here for her." She tried to close the door but Alec stopped her. "Wait, where is she? I need to talk about something important."

"Why do you need her? She already left you." She was trying get him off her back.

"It's something important. I just need two minutes."

"Look I am busy-"

"I just need to talk her. It's something personal."

"Alec nothing in your life is personal anymore after that Christmas morning. And Beth isn't here. I already told you."

"Then where is she, it's urgent!" Alec was losing his cool now.

"Then tell me what it is, I will let her know. She will be late." She didn't let him enter. Her hand resting on the edge of the door, waiting to close it. 

"Okay.... Then tell her to meet my lawyer."

"Lawyer?" She enquired this time.

"The divorce papers need her signature." Alec said sullenely. He couldn't do it more politely. He just wanted to get it done as fast as he could and he leave.

"You are divorcing her?" Lucy looked visibly shocked. "Are you serious? And I thought you were here to apologize. I never thought you were this pathetic!"

"Excuse me? Is this how you treat people Lucy?"

"No, this is how I treat you! Your wife is missing since yesterday and all you care about is your bloody divorce!"

"Missing? What do you mean missing?" He couldn't mask his shock. "What do you mean Lucy?"

"You don't know? She has been missing since yesterday. Oh how will you, you wouldn't pick up the calls when we all tried to reach you! She had an anxiety attack in OT yesterday and she fainted. Grace gave her a week off. She told me she was returning home and when I got back, nobody was here. And since then no one knows where she is."

Alec gulped learning this news.
"And here you are, caring only about your divorce. You seriously want to divorce her? Beth? Why? Because she was involved in that accident. Because you feel she is responsible for your wife's death? Pathetic Alec! Beth was right, you are a pathetic human!" She accused him again.

"Yes! I feel she is responsible for Mel's death! Everybody I hate myself for knowing that my wife was involved in an accident that killed Melissa. If their car wouldn't have been there, Melissa would have been alive. I-"

"So would Noah and Beth's child! They would have been happy. She would have been happy. She also would have a family!" She sighed. "Look clearly you won't understand all this and right now I am busy looking for Beth, so if you will excuse me, I am busy!" She tried to close the door again but Alec blocked it with his hand.

"Look if I had known about her disappearance I would have helped too. I care about her too! I still want to help. I can find her." Alec offered.

"And do what then, leave her? Because that is what you want, don't you? That woman, whom you have been so careless towards, she loves you. And she cares about you but you.... You only care about yourself. You married her because it was benefiting you! Now you want a divorce but did you ever ask what she wanted? Did you ever think from her point of view? What she goes through every day? Or what she will when she gets to know the only reason you left her was because of that accident?"