"It just seems to be a bit of spotting, nothing not too uncommon in pregnancies. The fetus seems to be doing just fine"
Lori's doctor says smiling at her.
"I was so worried. Thank you Dr. Wyatt"
He nods his head and makes his way out the room so Lori can change.
"How much were you bleeding?"
I ask her, still a bit shocked with the whole situation.
"Not too much, but enough to scare me. Anyways, now that baby is okay, we have something more important to address"
Shit.
"Whose shirt are you wearing"
I look down. Fuck, Lindsey's Black Rolling Stones t-shirt is still attached to my body.
"Mine"
"No it's not! It's huge on you and you sadly gave up band t-shirts In the early 80s"
"It's comfy"
We make our way out of the room and down the halls. Once we get into the car her interrogation begins again.
"Why weren't you home this morning?"
"I was getting some fresh air"
"At 8:30 in the morning? I find that hard to believe for a lady who wakes up at noon on a regular basis"
"Well believe it"
I end the conversation by turning up the radio. I hate lying to her... between her, Sharon and I, we don't really keep secrets and I hate that I'm breaking that unwritten rule.
-
Two days later when Ray arrives home from his trip I'm met with a bag full of clothes that smell like fish.
"This is so disgusting"
He pecks my cheek with his lips quickly
"Sorry, men will be men"
He says triumphantly.
He's so stupid sometimes and not in the cute way.
"I have a big ass cut on my leg, where's the first aid kit?"
"I'll get it."
I open the kit and poor hydrogen peroxide onto a big bandage
"How did you get this?"
"Beer and fish hooks don't mesh"
He chuckles.
No shit Einstein.
"Did you have fun?"
"Yeah, Christopher is a god send"
Alright...like I'm not standing here bandaging his nasty- infected wound or I didn't just throw all his smelly clothes into the washing machine with his favorite detergent. Call me the god send.
"What have you been up to, while I was gone? Just the usual sitting around?"
He laughs to himself. He makes me sound so lazy and useless.
"Is that all I do in your mind? Sit around?"
His body tenses and I stop cleaning his wound.
"Why are you acting like this? Did you miss me that much?"
I scoff and roll my eyes
"The world doesn't revolve around you Ray"
His voice raises.
"Well obviously. It revolves around the sun Stevie. Why are you in a bad mood, I just got back, are you on your period or some shit?"
I jam all the supplies back into the first aid kit.
"Sorry." I say without sincerity and I back down
He rubs short strokes across my back
"Apology accepted,"
He smiles at me innocently
"So what's for dinner?"
"Whatever you'd like honey"
It comes out as sweet as I'd like but on the inside I'm feeling a storm of emotions.
-
"Hey"
I whisper into the phone that's in the spare bedroom.
"I miss you... am I allowed to say that?"
"Yes, silly. I miss you too" I giggle.
I don't like the term affair so I won't say it. Lindsey and I are quickly catching feelings though. I remind myself at the end of the summer, we'll be done though.
"When can I see you again?"
"Well my roses might need a trimming on Wednesday" I half joke.
"That doesn't count as seeing you"
" I know,"
I sigh into the phone
"Let me take you somewhere tomorrow"
"But Ray-"
"Tell him you're going to lunch with Lori.
"Alright, I'll come to your house at 2 tomorrow"
"Perfect, I'll see you then"
And the phone goes dead.
It still freaks me out that another man can give me a stomach full of butterflies but not the one I'm married to.
-
At 2 Pm. The next day we leave Lindsey's house in his car to who knows where, since he won't tell. We pass by our neighborhood and I watch the familiar trees and take in the captivating Italy scenery. Lindsey and I have our hands locked while his other is on the steering wheel. His jawline sharp and his features are chiseled as he focuses on the road. When we stop at an intersection,waiting for the light to turn green I look over at the familiar car next to me. Why is this woman everywhere. I mean, what are the odds?! Lori is staring at me through the window of her blue pick up truck. Careful not to alarm Lindsey, i place my finger over my lips in a hushing motion
"Who are you with?"
She mouths back to me with frantic eyes
The light turns green and before I can make some stupid excuse Lindsey accelerates the gas, leaving Lori far behind. She's gonna leave me in a world of pain when I see her again. I know she won't tell anyone and I'm so thankful for that.
With Lori on the back burner of my mind we drive for another 45 minutes until The car stops by a big body of water and a dock.
"Where are we?"
"Just trust me. I think you'll like it. Love it even "
He runs around the car and opens the door for me.
"M'lady" he says in a deeper voice and small pearls of laughter escape my lips.
He takes my hand and walks me to the dock where there's a small rowing boat.
"Lindsey.... are we getting into that?"
I ask hesitantly
He senses my nerves
"Please" he looks at me with big blue puppy dog eyes
I smirk at him and let him help me get on the small boat. careful to get on it slowly and steadily so I don't fall into the water.
I thought I'd update in honor of Stevie's 70th!💛 this chapter would have been really long so I'm cutting it in to two
