Secrets // SFR&TM Sequel

Chapter Nine - Robert

Listen to Somewhere in My Car by Keith Urban. Probably my favorite Keith song, by far. Well other than Making Memories of Us.

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"Baby, please come home." He left a message on her phone, hoping she would call back. Or maybe answer the next time he called.

He set his phone down on the counter and grabbed a beer from the fridge and sat down in front of the tv, Stanley jumping up on the couch next to him.
"You still love me don't you?" The dog rested his head on the hockey player's legs, looking up at him. "Wanna go for a walk?" Stanley's head perked up and his tail started to thump against the couch. "Of course you do. Come on."

Robert grabbed a jacket and Stanley's leash from the closet before heading out into the brisk autumn air. Scarlett loves the cold. "It reminds me of winter in the mountains." She would always tell him.

Robert hated the fact that Scarlett always needed the window open, even in the winter. But now he couldn't sleep with it closed.

He got back from the walk to see Beau's car parked behind his in the driveway. He walked up the stairs and wandered to the kitchen to find his teammate raiding the fridge.

"Dude. What are you doing?" Robert leaned down to unhook the leash from Stanley's collar. Beau grabbed a handful of grapes and popped a few in his mouth.

"You weren't answering your phone and I was a little worried, you know. And you said you'd go to Geno's party tonight."

"Right. Okay, when does it start?" Robert scratched the back of his neck. He wasn't in the mood to go hang around a bunch of people who were happy. He wanted to sit in his house and be with his dog.

"An hour ago. So by the time we get there, everyone else will have shown up. You can start drinking in the car." Beau reached in the freezer to grab a bottle of liquor and pulled out the almost empty bottle of Smirnoff. "I have more, but you get to start off drinking your own booze."

Robert went along with it, changing into jeans and a pullover, drinking while he got dressed. By the time they arrived, Evgeni's house was packed. Beau was drinking away his own problems, trying to forget that his fiancée also wouldn't answer his calls.

They split up once they got there, Bennett found Sid and started crying to him. Poor Sid, Robert thought, he always has to deal with drunken teammates that ramble on about how they hate their situations.

Bortuzzo grabbed a full bottle of rum and walked around, hoping that no one would ask him how he's doing. It felt weird going to a party without Scarlett but he was going to have to get used to it. He started talking to his teammates, wishing the alcohol would start doing its job a little faster.

Sid started asking about the dog when Robert caught a glimpse of his wife dancing, alone, in Geno's front room. She was wearing a tank top that said "Back to back world war champs" with an American flag on it. This made Robert laugh. She loved that tank, even if she wasn't American.

As the night went on, Robert kept a close eye on Scarlett. She kept her distance from pretty much everyone and none of the guys dared to do anything than talk to her. They knew he would find out and possibly beat them.

She was completely gone, but she seemed to be having fun. She was a little loud when talking to others, but she was always that way.

"How's it going?" Jayson placed a hand on Rob's shoulder, startling him.

"It's alright. Not the best." Robert glanced at his teammate before going back to watching his wife.

"Why don't you go talk to her?"

"I don't want to ruin her night." He stated. There was nothing more he wanted than to talk to her, but he didn't know how she would react. Especially not when she was drunk.

"So it'll be fine if I go talk to her?"

"Go for it. I'm sure she'll love to see you." Robert turned and walked away from his teammate. He wanted to go home but couldn't find Beau. He was probably off somewhere crying in a corrner. Not that he can judge. He did that a lot when Scarlett left. He still did every once in a while.

He started wandering around again, drinking out of a new bottle of rum. He started talking to whoever stopped him.

"Are you here with Scarlett?" They would ask.

"Does it look like I'm here with my wife?" He would answer, then say, "I'm sorry, that was rude." And walk off. If it were up to him, the two of them would be back at their house doing something else. Not necessarily that, but he missed their lazy nights together.

Jay came back to find Robert and ask him what to do about Scarlett.

"Take her to the house. Stanley is inside so let him out for a few minutes and then he can go upstairs with Scar." Robert instructed.

"But she said she doesn't want to go home, there's too many memories of you in there."

"Okay. Uhh, can you take her to your place? Just for the night. She'll sober up and you can bring her to Beau's in the morning to get the truck."

"Yeah. I can take the couch for the night."

"Thanks man."

And with that, Robert was on his way back to his house with Beau. Drew had taken over the house and every time Beau showed up, she wasn't happy. He learned to stop going around unless Drew needed help with something. The only time she called him was when she needed to talk about the situation and how it would affect their son.

Robert crawled into bed, Stanley jumping up with him. The dog took up most of the bed so it was exactly like his wife was there with him.

But then he was back at the party. Someone would tap his shoulder and he would turn around to see his wife a few feet away, smiling and leaving. Scarlett did that for a while until she finally walked outside, Robert following her. She climbed into the back of her truck and Robert followed suite. Their lips connected and his hands were wandering up her tank top and traveling down her legs.

"Scarlett, I-"

And that's when Stanley jumped on his back to wake him up.

"Damnit Stan. What do you want?" Apparently he just needed to get off the bed and Robert was in his way.

Robert reached for his phone, realizing he had missed a call and had a couple texts from his wife. They simply said:

I miss you

and

I'm sorry

He sent a text back to her, knowing she would read it in the morning and ignore it. Just like she did with every other text and call he had sent.

I know this is late tonight, but another reason I love you is the way you always know when to just hug me without saying anything.

Since their stay in Mexico, he had told her something he loved about her every night. Even though they weren't talking, he didn't plan on breaking that any time soon.

He set his phone back down on the night stand and got up to get a glass of water. He wouldn't be able to sleep after that. His mind was thinking about the time he and his wife were driving back from somewhere this summer and it was raining. She made him pull over on some old road and got out of the car. It didn't take long for her white v-neck to become see through as she waited for him to get over to her side of the car.

It was one of his favorite memories of the summer. The fogged windows, the soaked clothes. The way they couldn't keep their hands off of each other. He just wanted his wife back.

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So... Comments? Please :)