The moment she had heard the phone ring last week she knew that her husband hadn't called her over just because. Something had happened. He had said he wanted to talk to her. And when she saw him now, not really knowing what to say, how to begin, Kristen knew what was going on only too well.
"It's over, isn't it?" She looked straight into his eyes, knowing the answer.
Lindsey didn't answer immediately. He looked away, trying to avoid looking at her.
"I'm..."
"Sorry, yes." She finish for him.
She had heard that sentence so many times, that she would have already lost count of how often Lindsey had told her this years ago, if she had counted to begin with. It had actually lost its meaning completely.
"It's because of her." Kristen didn't need an answer to this.
The way Lindsey was still looking anywhere but her spoke volumes.
"Kris."
"No. You love her, I know it. I always knew it. To be honest I'm not surprised we're having this talk."
She had seen him lost for words on many occasions. But right now it seemed as if he was shocked into silence.
"I knew it would come. Ever since the day you called me and told me that John had cancer. I thought we'd already have this talk a year ago."
"Why would you think so?" Lindsey had found his voice again.
This wasn't how he had thought this conversation would go. He had thought about screaming and crying, but seeing Kristen sitting here, knowing what was happening before he had a chance to say a word wasn't what he had expected. But what irritated him the most was to see her so calm.
"Because it stroke home. It made you all realize that you're not invincible. The moment you told me what had happened was the moment I thought you'd tell me that we were done. If all I'm surprised that we lasted through this last year."
"I don't know what to say."
"How about the truth? I think I deserve as much." Kristen demanded. "Are you already with her?"
"She doesn't know we're talking right now."
"That's not what I wanted to know."
"I'm not seeing her."
"Then why now?"
Lindsey really didn't have an answer for that. At least none he wanted to tell his wife. How could he possibly tell her that the thought of Stevie being with somebody else than him had caused him to freak and scream at her?
"I don't know." He answered instead.
"Oh come on. You don't just wake up one day and decide that you don't love me anymore. At least not that much anymore as that you can still manage to stay. Everybody knows you love her more than me. But why isn't that enough anymore?"
"You really don't want an answer to that." He muttered.
"Maybe I won't like the answer, but you owe me an explanation of why our family isn't enough anymore."
"She had someone over."
"I don't believe that." Kristen had absolutely no idea if she should scream at him now, or if she should just break down laughing. "You tell me that we're through cause Stevie has a relationship..."
Lindsey looked down on the floor with an expression she couldn't read. All she knew was that he knew it wasn't a relationship Stevie was having.
"She was just having someone over to... casually have sex with, and you freak out?" Now she was screaming, and from the slightly guilty expression on his face she knew she had been right. "God I must have been blind all the time. Did you ever love me... at all?"
"I did." Lindsey nodded, meeting her eyes for the first time in a while.
"Just not enough to not still get possessive over your ex as soon as she looks somewhere else."
The high pitch in her voice made him flinch. But then she was quiet, head in hands she sat motionless on the sofa. This wasn't what she had expected. There wasn't anything she could, or would do about this. There was no use to it. It was why she slowly began to talk to him about how they would handle things from now on.
As promised, here's the next part. Have fun reading. Xoxo, Dani
