Michael
25 days. It's been 25 days, 10 shows, 39 phone/face time calls, and over 500 text messages since I've seen her, and I can't wait. By the time I land in DC, it will be 26 days.
As soon as we finish our show in Manila, I leave the venue immediately after showering. It takes awhile with traffic, but I manage to sneak away mostly unseen and go straight to the airport. There are very few fans, because most of them are still at the venue since the guys agreed to be a decoy by going out to meet fans. The ones I did see, I politely asked that they not post anything until after the rest of the guys make it to the airport.
Once I'm safely inside the VIP lounge, I text Grace to let her know. I'm trying to surprise Sarah, which is harder than it seems. Nearly 20 hours without contact would make her suspicious if I don't have help. I text Sarah, letting her know how our show went, then tell her the guys and I are going out to celebrate. That normally means I don't wake up until at least 2pm, which would midnight in DC, so that's covered. The last obstacle is from when she wakes up until I get there, so I tell her we have a 6pm flight to LA (which would be 4am there), so that covers her not hearing from me!
Grace made arrangements for herself, Mason and Casey to be out of the house by the time I get there so I really hope I can pull this off.
Sarah
God I hate time zones! I'm not going to get to talk to Mikey until he lands in LA. He has to do a weeks worth of recording before he can come out here for the kids' spring break the following week. It's been hard being a single working mom. I've never done it before, but it's kept me really busy and made the time go by really quick. And now that soccer practices have started back up, it takes a lot more coordinating. It's been extra hard on Casey without his dad coaching his team. This last month has been really stressful.
After I take a hot bubble bath, I get the kids off to all their friends. It's not unusual for Grace and Mason to be at friends' houses at the same time, but this time Casey's going over to Zach's house, too, so I have a quiet house to myself. It makes me really wish Mikey was here.
So what does a single working mom do when she has a night alone to herself? I call up a friend of mine and we meet up down the street at a small dive bar. The clientele is generally my age and older, so it's quite laid back. I haven't had a chance to really sit and talk with her since Rob died, so she doesn't know anything that's going on.
"So what's have you been up to? I haven't seen you in ages! How ARE you?" she asks when she sees me.
"It's been really different, being a single working mom. I got a job doing legal work, which I really like. It's just tiring."
"I'm sure. But how are YOU Sarah?" she asks. I know what she's getting at, and I guess this is a good test to see peoples reactions.
"I'm good. I've kind of been seeing someone," I tell her.
"Ooooo yes!! Tell me! What do you mean kind of?"
"He travels a lot for work. A LOT. I haven't seen him in three weeks. One more week to go."
"That's rough I'm sure, but it's good for you guys. For you and the kids. Become your own person, bond with your kids. What do they think of him?" Oh boy. Here we go!
"They really like him. It was really hard at first because of his age, and it being so soon, but they've grown to accept it I think."
"His age? How old is he?" I knew she'd catch that!
"Uh, 20?"
"Twenty? He's not even a old enough to have a beer with you?! Sarah! I hope he's good in bed to make up for it!" Somehow every conversation with her always turns to sex. It's part of why we get along so well! That and she's got a heart of gold, and her son and Grace have been friends since they were 8.
"You have no idea!" I laugh.
"I bet you could teach him quite a few things! So how the hell does a twenty year old have a job that allows him to travel so much?" Shit. I wanted to keep this out of it. Her daughter loves 5sos, but doesn't know how to keep her mouth shut.
"Uh, he's in a band." It's going to come out eventually. It'd be better if I can control it. We've been lucky so far. Josh was able to get that picture taken down, but something tells me it's not going to last long. Call it a gut feeling, intuition, whatever.
"Oh nice! What band? Do I know them?" Here goes nothing!
"You cannot tell Tori, please. We're not ready for it to get out yet!" She nods. "5sos."
"Oh my god girl! Holy hell! You got yourself a hot guy then! Which one? Tori will hate you if it's Luke!" I giggle at her, "No. Michael." She doesn't know much about them other than Tori's rants about Luke. "The one that dyes his hair all the time?" Now she knows.
"How the hell did you manage that?" So I tell her the story, the list included since she knew of the list before anyway.
"Do you think it's too soon?" I ask her. This is the part that worries me about peoples reactions.
"If it's not too soon for you, then it's not. The only thing that matters is that you're okay with it."
"I am. I'm happy Sherry. Happier than I've been in a long ass time."
"Then that's all that matters! Now tell me more about this hottie!" I laugh at her and then proceed to tell her everything that's happened, to some degree.
Before I know it, we're closing out the bar and I head home. As soon as I get home, I crash into bed and fall asleep. Hopefully I can actually sleep tonight. I haven't slept well since we left LA.
The next morning, I wake up feeling revived. I didn't drink much last night, I didn't even get buzzed. I had just enough to relax me, allowing me to finally sleep the whole night through.
After my morning coffee, I straighten up the house and then I hear my neighbors outside. I haven't talked to them in a couple weeks because it's been too cold, but it's actual a semi warm day today.
Michael
It feels good to be back in DC and I can't wait to see Sarah. I grab the first taxi I can find and give the driver Sarah's address. The driver tries to make small talk, which I politely engage in, but as minimal as possible. I can't wait to see the look on her face. And I'd be lying if I said I wasn't thinking about her "ripping my clothes off and fucking me into next week"!
After what feels like an eternity, we pull up in front of the house and Sarah's outside talking to the neighbors. Even with all the time I spent here, I never met any of her neighbors.
Sarah
"Someone just pulled up to your house," Alex says. It's probably Karen dropping off Grace. But as I turn around to look, a familiar face that I haven't seen in nearly a month looks back at me with a smile.
"MIKEY!" I yell, running to him and jumping into his open arms. I connect my lips to his immediately and I'm about to burst with happiness.
"I thought you weren't going to be here til next week!" I tell him. He's still carrying me as we walk over to my smiling neighbor.
"I wanted to surprise you!"
"Well you definitely did!" When we reach Alex, Michael sets me down and I introduce the two guys to each other. I know I'm not being judged by Alex. He lives his life by the motto of "Let he who is without sin cast the first stone." He tells me repetitively that the day he judges me, my house, my life, is the day that his house, his wife and son, his life is perfect.
After a few minutes, I say goodbye to Alex and drag Mikey inside.
