Without her
He watched her car move away from the hotel as he lay on the floor of the grand hallway. He couldn't believe what had just happened. She had left him – again.
Lindsey had no idea how long he had sat there on the cold tiling but when a waitress of the early shift patted his shoulder and asked if anything was okay, he knew it had been for a long time.
He got back into his room, he felt empty.
He couldn't lie in their bed – it smelled like her. So he sat down on the couch, his head exploding, his stomach turning, his hands shaking and his eyes still crying. The physical pain her leaving had caused overwhelmed him. Loving Stevie hurt.
He couldn't sleep, he couldn't eat or drink. So he picked up the phone and dialed their number in Phoenix, he wanted her to see that he had been trying to call her, even though he knew she couldn't be home, yet. Home. Their home... That word hurt.
He booked the first flight back to Arizona. He needed to see her, needed to talk to her. Maybe there was still hope. Maybe she was just fragile and insecure and needed him as badly as he did her.
Without him
24 hours later she opened the door to her house in Phoenix. She was alone. Sara was at Lori's and didn't expect her mother's return before Friday. She hadn't called anybody – she didn't know what to say, anyway. It all felt like a nightmare!
How was it possible to be so happy and all of a sudden it all falls apart and you're left with the biggest heartache of your life?! - That was it what she had feared the minute Lindsey had walked back into her life.
She took down her sunglasses and looked into the mirror. Hey eyes were red from crying, dark circles covered her pale skin, she hadn't slept in nearly two days. Every time, she had closed her eyes to get some sleep she had seen him breaking down in the hallway, she just couldn't get that picture out of her head, it was haunting her!
She looked over to her answering machine. A red light was flashing. 15 missed calls!
She pushed the button with shaking hands.
“Steph?! Steph, call me! We have to talk! Steph, please....”
She screamed as she heard his voice, picked up the answering machine and threw it against the wall of the kitchen. She couldn't take it, couldn't bear it, it was too much!
The machine lay broken on the floor, no red light was flashing anymore. It was better that she was never going to hear his messages – but it hurt!
She made her way into the living-room. Barbara had piled up her post and she went through it.
A big envelope got her attention. She openend it.
Inside there was a bill from the remodeling company that had renovated the music studio down in the basement of her house – Lindsey's music studio. Her Christmas present for him.
Slowly, she walked back in the hallway, turned on the lights and went down the steps to the basement.
There it was. It looked perfect. All his guitars had already been delivered and she saw that Barbara had hung them up on the walls.
She looked around. This was so him. He was everywhere. His guitars, two of his jackets and his boxes filled with his stuff and hand-written notes on them... The pain in her stomach overwhelmed her and she couldn't fight back her tears any longer. She broke down on the floor and buried her face in her hands. This pain was killing her!