Alyssa hurriedly ran up the stairs after greeting Mama Sonya, Papa Dell, the twins & Boba. Steph would arrive home from practice any minute now & they would be straight to the airport for her flight to Bali. She had just come from a meeting with Makeup Geek, discussing her first palette that she was working on. She was too excited about the project that she had forgotten to let Stephen know it was already in the works.
"Hey ma, hey pops!" Stephen said, walking into the house. He gave his parents a warm welcome before showering his baby girls with some love.
"How was practice?" Papa Dell asked, bouncing around with Micah in his arms.
"Cool, same old, same old. Where's Alyssa?"
"She's upstairs packing." Steph chuckled at his mom's response.
"Packing right before she leaves, huh? Women."
"Excuse me?" His mom said, gaining laughs from both Dell & Steph. "Boy, if you don't get your behind up there and help your fiancé out." She yelled out as he dropped his duffle bag and ran up the stairs. He walked into the room, hearing her curse herself for packing the rest of her things last minute.
"God dammit, Alyssa! You never learn do you?" He hears her say as he walks closer to the closet. He leans against the doorway in entertainment, crossing his arms. He clears his throat, making Alyssa quickly turn her head. "When did you get here?"
"Maybe a couple of seconds ago. Real question is, how long have you been talking to yourself?"
"Quit." She throws a piece of her clothing at him before continuing to pack the rest of her belongings.
"Why didn't you do this last night?"
"I got lazy."
"You had all day."
"Not really, I had a meeting remember?"
"Oh yeah, how was that?"
"My palette is in the works!" She said excitedly as she folded the rest of her clothes. Steph's eyes widened in awe. Being with the girl has definitely taught him the ins & outs of makeup and the beauty world, so she didn't have to say much.
"Wow, that's great baby! When is it coming out? Can I get some?" She laughed.
"Sure, if you really want some. But I'm not sure yet, we don't have a set date and everything. I just worked on the formation of the eyeshadow colors."
"That's exciting. Well yeah I'd want one, even if I'll have no use for it. It's just for keeps and to show off, you know? Show 'em the thangs my big booty beauty is up to." He winked, making her laugh as she stands up to fix her luggage.
"Damn, I'm really going to miss you." She swung his arms around his neck and puckered her lips. He looked down at her as he rubbed her sides with his hands, gently placing a kiss on her lips.
"I will too, baby girl. They couldn't send you anywhere in the States?" He pouted. Alyssa already accepted the fact that these next few days wouldn't be easy. Although it wasn't long, she still wouldn't be able to talk to her man. Or ask about the twins. Being international meant the calls/texts had to be kept at an all-time minimum or else those bills wouldn't be so nice.
"Guess not." She chuckled.
"Come on, we gotta get you to the airport soon before I end up keeping you here so you don't go." She playfully hit him as she walked away to fix herself up one last time in the bathroom. He grabbed her luggage and made his way down the steps to put her things into the car. Alyssa soon followed behind him, taking the time to say her goodbyes to Sonya, Dell & the twins. Tears were forming in her eyes as she parted from the twins & Boba, making it even harder for her to go on this quick trip.
She continued to cry in the car, making Steph give her a reassuring squeeze on her thigh. He didn't say much on the way to the airport, being that he didn't want to make her even more upset. He wanted her to have fun and enjoy the trip, especially being that she was excited to get back into her career. But in all honesty, a big part of him didn't want to be away from her.
He took a quick glance at her, her gaze still fixed outside the window. He knew she was avoiding eye contact or else she'd start crying again, so he let her be. He turned into the airport's parking lot, grabbed her hand and placed a kiss on the top of it. He gently rubbed the top of her hand as he turned into a parking spot with his free hand.
"You ready, beautiful?"
"I guess so." She softly smiled at him. He grabbed her luggage from the back of the car and held her hand as they made their way to the International section of the airport. Steph watched her check in her luggage and get her ticket. She had the biggest smile on her face, examining the ticket's destination: Bali, Indonesia.
"Well, this is where I drop you off, baby girl." Steph sighs, gripping onto her hand tighter as he looked at the security gates.
"Stop it, Stephen." She said, noticing the sadness popping through his hazel-green eyes.
"I can't help it. I'm gonna miss you." He pulled her into a tight hug, taking in her scent. He rubbed her sides as he pulled away to look at her, and caressed her cheek. "But I want you to enjoy this trip, alright? I don't want to hear anything negative about it." She chuckled.
"Steph." She pouted. "I'll be back sooner or later."
"Alright, alright. Have fun, my queen. You deserve this. I'll be looking forward to your stories when you get back."
"Okay." She simply said, trying to hold back her tears. He kissed her passionately on the lips before placing another kiss on her forehead.
"I love you."
"I love you too." She slowly let go of his hand as she walked toward the security gates. She hated going through this process, but it was better safe than sorry. As she finally got through security, she turned back to see Steph standing there, his head hanging to the side. He gave her a toothless smile and blew her a kiss before walking away. When his figure disappeared in the crowd, she immediately felt homesick.
And she hadn't even left yet.
She took a deep breath as she sat in the waiting area, going through her social media to get her mind off of things. She tried to push more optimistic thoughts into her head so she could at least have a good start to the trip.
But it seemed impossible when Christian texted her.
C: Have a fun trip to Bali. It's a great thing to see you doing big things, Alyssa. The twins are getting pretty big, aren't they?
She shook her head, finally understanding why Steph made the issue such a big deal before. Christian was keeping too many tabs on her and it was starting to freak her out. Of course, it could be the fact that she puts a lot of things out there being a Beauty Guru, but a lot of it consists of her interactions within the beauty world. Barely any of it has to do with her personal life. And even if she did mention anything personal, you'd really have to follow her through thick and thin to find things out about her life.
& On top of that, the twins haven't made their appearance on social media yet.
She was done with it. She couldn't be nice to him anymore. She just didn't have the greatest feeling about it.
A: Thanks, Christian. But to be honest, I don't think you should be texting me nor keeping contact with me. Stephen and I have a family that we're taking care of and our lives are just at two different points. I'm happy with where I'm at, and you just need to let that be. Whatever happened to us in the past, should stay there. I'm trying to move forward and I want to move past all that. And I want to keep you where you belong, which is in the past. Please understand that. I'm sorry.
Christian received the text, his blood boiling as he read every word she texted him. He looked out the passenger window of his car, seeing Stephen's parents and the twins enjoying themselves as they looked out at the stars outside of the house. He clenched his jaw and sped off, knowing that he had to take care of the issue one way or another.
When she sent the text to Christian, she immediately blocked his number so she couldn't get a response from him. She felt a big weight lifted off of her shoulder, knowing there wouldn't be any issues with her past anymore.
Or so she thought.
C: If you want to handle things like that, then so be it.