Miss Fantasy

Chapter 24: The Unraveling

June 26, 2013, Des Moines, IA

A month went by, and Stevie accidentally still hadn't ended things with Lindsey. There were so many times when she started the conversation, only to quickly pivot to a different topic or kiss him instead to distract them both. There were so many moments when they had quiet conversations in the middle of the night that would have been the perfect time, but she couldn't bear the thought of setting it all on fire when it felt so good. Now, with one week left until their summer break, she knew it was almost time.

"Steph, your coffee is getting cold," he called from the other room and she could've cried at the domesticity of it all.

"Coming," she called, slipping her robe around her body as she crawled out of bed sleepily.

He laughed as she entered the kitchen of her sun-drenched hotel suite, her hair going a million different directions from the way she was sleeping on it. She frowned at him, "What?"

"You just look very cute, that's all," he teased.

"Don't start with me, I slept terribly."

He snaked his arms around her from behind, placing a kiss on top of her head, "You were snoring like a log half the night."

"Well it wasn't long enough," she whined.

"Come here," he growled, grabbing her face and leaning it up to kiss her lips, "I love it when you're all grumpy."

She rolled her eyes, "Of course you do."

"Oh, you're very grumpy then," he laughed, kissing her again, "What's wrong?"

She pulled away with a sigh, "Nothing," she paused, taking a sip of her coffee. After a few seconds of silence, she started again, "You know, we have less than a week until we go home for break, we should probably stop with all the sleepovers and stuff," she stood up walking towards the window to casually look out.

Finally, he realized why she was starting to get grumpier than usual in the mornings. Soon, they wouldn't be waking up together. Soon, he wouldn't be making her coffee and kissing her as he held her in bed. Soon, they'd be apart for two whole months and neither one of them quite knew what that meant. And if there was one thing Stevie was going to do, it was push him away before things had a chance to go south on their own.

"Steph," he sighed, "Hey, come here."

"Lindsey, please."

"We can see each other over break, you know. We don't live that far apart."

She gave him a look that made his stomach instantly drop. "Lindsey...."

"I'm serious."

"Lindsey, I'm not looking for something where we spend the rest of our lives sneaking around behind your wife's back. I'm 65 years old, I'm a little old for that, don't you think?"

"Steph, look...I know we haven't talked about it much but there's something you should know. My marriage isn't exactly....great. It's not like...look, I love my family, I really do. But, things with Kristen aren't really..."

"Don't you dare," she cut him off, holding her hand in the air, "I am not going to sit here while you complain about your wife to me to try to gain some sympathy."

"That's not what I was trying to do!"

"I don't care how things are with her. I don't care if you despise her. That doesn't change the fact that I'm the other woman here."

"I'm sorry."

She shook her head, a tear escaping the corner of her eye, "I've planned on saying this all since the night before my birthday. I decided then that....that I would end things between us. But then you gave me that ring and it was so beautiful and that night was so magical and I couldn't....it fucking hurt me too bad to even think about ending this."