Straight Back

I need a break

After running away from facing the talk Stevie knew she needed to have with Kim, she couldn't wait any longer. She was already feeling as if she was completely failing Robin's wish to take care of Matthew. But the last few weeks she had been able to push all thoughts about this to the back of her mind.

She was working on her second solo record. And things went very well. She had enough to write about. As she had once said great art came from great tragedy. And with her best friend gone for little over four months, there was still so much pain that found its way into her lyrics. But there was another things as well that was influencing her writing to a great deal.

Lindsey and she were back together. Things went slow, they were still living in different houses, though spending as much time with each other as they could. They went out, actually going on dates. And this was something Stevie enjoyed immensely. When they had first really gotten together, they had been too caught up in their upcoming career. Later when they had moved to LA, things hadn't went as well, financially, as they had hoped, so dates were few and far in between. Now as they were already rich and famous, they could do whatever they wanted. And Lindsey used that to whisk her away at least once a week.

"Stevie?"

She heard Jimmy's voice through the headphones. Looking up from her lyrics, she saw that everybody was staring at her.

"I'm sorry guys." She apologized. "I just have... I was just thinking."

"Can we go on?" He asked.

"I need a break."

Without another explanation she put her headphones down and left the recording booth. Stevie knew that with her thoughts already circling around this messed up situation she had all of sudden found herself in, she knew she needed to do something about it.

At first she called Lindsey, telling him that she wouldn't be home as planned. They had wanted to meet at his place. Even though there hadn't been anything special been planned, she regretted that she needed to tell him she was going to be late. And from the way she was able to clearly hear his disappointment in his voice, she knew that he had looked forward to spending the evening cuddled up in the living room and watching movies just as much as she had. Telling him she loved him, she hung up.

Next Stevie dialed another number. Now it felt foreign how familiar it was. It wasn't only that Robin wasn't there anymore, wouldn't pick up the phone again. Mostly it was because she knew that had things gone differently, it would now be her home number.

"Hello?"

"Kim, hi." She took a deep breath, needing a moment to collect her thoughts. "It's me, Stevie."

"So you still remember me."

She could hear the resentment in his voice. She could understand some of it, but not all.

"Yeah. Look, I know that things didn't go as planned. And I'm sorry for leaving the way I did, but..." Stevie stopped herself from rambling. "I don't want to talk about this over the phone. I have this evening off. And if you don't mind I can come over and maybe we could talk."

"Now this is convenient for you? You have the evening off, so now you can come walzing back in and have a short look..."

He was still angry at her. It wasn't only that she had left him standing to wait for her to become his wife only to run away with Lindsey. Kim was angry that she had left Matthew and him, after Robin had passed.

"It's not about convenience." She hissed, interrupting him. "Please... I know you're angry with me. And I know that you have every right to be angry at me for just leaving... but Kim, please... us, living together, getting married, it would have been a really big mistake."

"What about Matt? You promised to take care of him." Kim reminded her.

"And I will. I just needed time to sort everything out. And as soon as we talked everything through I will look after Matt. But we need to handle this like adults."

She paused, slightly irritated about herself. When, during the last few years, had she ever been the voice of reason? Something wasn't right here. But whatever it was, Stevie didn't mind this new found clarity. She wouldn't question it. Especially not when she was going to take care of a baby now.

"So, can I come over tonight?"

"Sure."

"Okay. Thanks. I guess I'll be out of this studio at eight."

"You're recording?" He was shocked.

"What did you think I was doing?" Stevie asked. "So, I'll see you tonight."