Not the One

Part 28

"It's so good to hear your voice, Steph." Stevie listened to Lindsey talk on the other end of the line. He told her, how much he'd missed her, how happy he was that she called and how badly he wanted to see her. "I wasn't sure if you were going to call me. Was it Kristen's letter?"

"Yeah, I guess, you can say that she made me dial the number." Stevie replied, out of Dave's earshot. 

"Well, whatever it was, I'm so happy you did. When can I see you?"

"Today? Soon?"

Her urgency made Lindsey smile, she missed him too. "Okay. I assume, you'll be the one coming over?"

"Or maybe we could meet somewhere for lunch?" Stevie suggested and a short pause followed.

"Steph, I want to see you without any onlookers. We've been away from each other for months. I want to feel free to hold you, kiss you, tell you all of the things I wasn't able to for all this time."

With some hesitation, Stevie agreed to come to Lindsey. He said, he was going to wait for her, so a specific time didn't matter. He told her, he loved her and hung up the phone.

Stevie was ready to leave, before she even called Lindsey. Fidgeting with her pendant, hanging from her neck, Stevie approached Dave. He dropped whatever he was doing to cradle her face in his hands and give her a lingering kiss.

"Are you going somewhere?"

"Yeah, I have some... errands to run." Stevie nodded and Dave looked at her funny. 

"You? Running errands?" She smiled weakly and shrugged her shoulders.

"With the help from Karen."

"Okay, don't take too long." He kissed her again, letting her go without any suspicion.

Sat in the passenger's seat, with Karen on her left behind the wheel, Stevie looked out the window, getting increasingly more anxious. She'd missed Lindsey, of course, but she was also nervous about seeing him. Unknowing of how their meeting was going to go, Stevie just hoped they were going to be able to avoid a massive argument. You could never know with them.

"Should I hang around or...?" Karen wondered aloud, but Stevie wasn't sure, what to say.

"It's probably for the best if you wait. I don't think, I'll take too long." Stevie turned to her assistant briefly, then opened the car door and got out.

Stevie was still a couple of steps away from Lindsey's front door, when he pulled it open, a wide grin on his face. He opened his arms and she, somewhat tentative, stepped into his embrace. It felt good, it felt wonderful to be held by him, but Stevie reminded herself of the reason for her being there and she pulled back. Lindsey didn't think anything of it, but when she turned away, when he tried to kiss her, he frowned.

"What's wrong, Stevie?" Lindsey asked, he had hoped for a different kind of reunion, he had hoped to still be holding her in his arms.

"We need to talk." She said, unable to look him in the eyes.

"I know. Of course, we do. A lot has happened, but I just... I need you near me, Steph." Lindsey admitted and reached out for her, but Stevie spun out of his embrace. "You're making me worried."

"Lindsey, I'm so sorry." Stevie cast her eyes down. The two hadn't even moved away too far from the entrance to Lindsey's home, but she didn't want to make it any more painful than it had to be. "I-" She cocked her head back and closed her eyes. Stevie had rehearsed her speech numerous times, but now that she was close to him, it became a lot harder than she had imagined. "I'm here to tell you that I'm trying to move on. What we had for that short period of time, it made me believe that things could be different, but I'm not so sure anymore. When you told me about Kristen's pregnancy, it hurt me. No, it tore my heart apart, Lindsey."

"But it's not my b-"

"I know, I do." Stevie interrupted. "I'm back with Dave. He forgave me for everything I've done and things are going well for us. I've realized that I should have stayed with him, stayed faithful to him, instead of chasing something I once had."

"Wh-what are you sayng here, Stevie?" Lindsey asked, his heart beating out of his chest. "Is this a... a goodbye?"

Taking a moment to compose herself, Stevie caught a tear, escaping from her eye. "We both need to move on, Lindsey. We tried and we failed again. We have to understand that something or someone will always stand in the way of our happiness and I just... I can't take much more. My heart's been broken one too many times, Lindsey. I love you, I'll always love you, but..." She glanced at him, seeing his eyes had glazed over with tears. "I'm trying to move on." Stevie repeated herself. "You should try to do so too."

Lindsey could only stand there, staring back at Stevie, wishing to wake up from the nightmare he was obviously having. He didn't know what to say, he wanted to touch her, hold her and prevent her from leaving, but if she pulled away from him, it would only sting more.

"I will love you forever, Lindsey." Stevie spoke up again, when words failed him. 

Closing the distance between them, Stevie brought her hand up to touch the side of Lindsey's face, he stood frozen. She slowly leaned in and pressed her lips softly to his for just a second.

"This is not a goodbye. This is not the end." Lindsey promised her as she pulled back.