Gone

Reality

Leaving: Nikki

Nikki kisses her husband's sleeping face, he snores as if telling Nikki that he loved her one last time. Picking up her bag, Nikki tiptoes to Maisie's room and kisses her daughter goodbye. Moments later she's downstairs scribbling a note for Jordan to find in the morning. Nikki checks her bag one last time, making sure that she has her passport and enough money to support her for a few weeks. Almost noiselessly she shuts the door, stepping out into the crisp, windy night air.

The Note:Jordan

He woke in the morning to a cold bed, a screaming alarm clock, and a wailing baby. Smacking the alarm clock, Jordan reluctantly rolls out of bed and retreats to the bathroom. His daughter, Maisie, continues to wail. Jordan waits, surely Nikki hears their daughter too. He busies himself while he waits- brushing his teeth, taking a quick shower, getting dressed.

Maisie continues to wail. Yanking the door open, Jordan thunders down the hall toward the babies room. Upon reaching the crib, he gingerly lifts Maisie. Silently Jordan marvels at the miracle of her, taking her in- red round face, a river of tears and snot cascading down her face cheeks. Holding the rattled baby close, Jordan clomps down the stairs.

"I bet Mommy's making us breakfast," he tells the still sniffling baby.

Jordan walks hopefully into the kitchen, sniffing hard in attempts to pick up any signs of breakfast. Stopping abruptly, Jordan stares at the empty kitchen. A sheet of paper slips from the counter and glides to the floor. After settling Maisie into her highchair, he stoops to pick up the fallen paper. On the paper was Nikki's loopy scrawl.

"Look, Maisie," Jordan coos, "Mommy left us a note."

Taking a deep breath he began to read aloud:

"Jordan,

The five years that we have been married have been great, but somewhere along the way I lost myself trying to make sure that our marriage remained strong. I never thought that I wanted kids, but finding out that I was pregnant with Maisie was incredible. Now, I realize that I am not ready to settle down and be a mother. My absence is temporary, just long enough for me to rediscover myself. I've always known that you'd make a great dad and now is your chance to prove it. Make sure Maisie knows I love her. Wait for me.

-Nikki"

Jordan stands silently trying to fully understand what the letter means. Still in her high chair, Maisie begins wailing again.

A New Life: Nikki

Nikki stands outside of the airport, wind continually whipping her hair across her face. She spins around taking in her chilly surroundings one last time before heaving open the heavy airport door.

"I need one ticket," she tells the stubby man behind the ticket desk.

"Where to?"

"Somewhere warm and sunny," she musses, "somewhere good for an adventure."

"Ma'am, you have to tell me which flight you would like to be on, I can't pick for you."

"Well, why not? I told you I want an adventure, if you pick it's an even bigger adventure!"

The desk clerk rubs his face, clearly becoming frustrated. Surprising Nikki, the clerk says, "How about the Gulf Coast?"

"Have you ever been?" Asks Nikki.

"Nope," says the annoyed clerk, "but all of the flight attendants seem to love it."

"Alright," Nikki smiles, "one ticket to the Gulf Coast, please."

The clerk completes the transaction, hands Nikki her ticket and tells her to have a nice trip.

With a few hours to kill before her flight, Nikki busies herself looking through the gift shop and countless magazines.

Sick Day: Jordan

Jordan sits slumped on the couch staring blankly at Nikki's letter. Maisie happily rolls around on the floor sucking on her toes, the movement catches Jordan's eye and a wave of rage hits him. It was one thing that Nikki had left him, but to so heartlessly leave their six month old baby? And why had she left? To "rediscover herself"?! Unbelievable! How could she be so selfish?

The clock chimes indicating that it is now seven o'clock. Jordan grabs Maisie's tiny foot and pulls her across the wood floor toward him, in one swift motion he picks her up and heads upstairs. Once upstairs Jordan finds his phone on the bed side table, taking a deep breath he dials the number to his office. His boss answers on the third ring.

"Jordan my boy, how are you this fine morning?"

"Uh, I'm fine sir, but my daughter Maisie is sick. I know that I just came back from leave, but my wife already left for work and I can't get a hold of her. Is there any chance I could have another day or two?"

"Take all the time you need. Once you get back in the office you may have to work over time or pick up a few more cases to makeup for lost time though."

"That's fine, sir, thank you."

And with that Jordan hung up the phone, standing in his bedroom unsure of what to do next. The silence of the morning seeps from every corner of the house, seeming to scream to Jordan that he chased away his once doting wife. As if sensing her dad's thoughts, Maisie begins wailing from the floor, begging for attention. Jordan eases himself down to the floor and scoops up his teary eyed daughter.

"Mommy says she will be back soon," he tells Maisie, "but I don't know what to do until then."

The Ride: Nikki

Nikki boards the plane, excited at the idea of the adventure that lay ahead of her. Gliding to her window seat, she is forced to shimmy past the nervous teenage boy sitting in the aisle seat. As she settles into her seat her eyes wander the cabin, the whole experience of flying for the first time is thrilling and exotic, until Nikki lays eyes on the giggling baby across the isle. Tears fill her eyes as she remembers slinking out of the house in the middle of the night leaving her precious baby behind. 

"I was just doing what was right," Nikki whispers to herself, "I can't be a good mom until I've found myself. If I don't know who I am, how will I help my daughter find out who she is?"

"Are you nervous too?" The pale faced teen asks.

His words cause Nikki to really notice him for the first time, she's quiet for a moment as she takes him in: knuckles paper white from gripping the armrests, quivering Adam's apple, pinched lips, and saucer sized brown eyes searching her face for reassurance.

"I'm not nervous," she assures him, "I'm sad about who I had to leave behind, but I know that what's ahead of me could be even better."

The nervous teen nods and returns to staring at his shoes.

"Hey, it'll be alright," Nikki tries to reassure him and places a hand on his shoulder.

The nervous teen tries to smile, but is interrupted by the flight attendant announcing that the plane will be taking off in a minute and that everyone needs to fasten their seat belts.

The nervous teen whispers, "I think I'm going to be sick," and quickly glues his eyes back to his shoes

***

The flight slowly creeps by, filled with Nikki trying to reassure the nervous teen that nothing bad is going to happen. Eventually, the plane lands in a sunny Gulf Coast airport.

Thirty minutes later Nikki is standing outside of the airport basking in the soul warming sunshine.

"This trip is going to be great," Nikki announces to herself.

She hails a cab and sets off in high hopes of finding a cheap hotel with a vacancy.