Nothing Ever Changes

Part 21

"What do you do all day by yourself?" Stevie wondered aloud, looking around the backyard of Lindsey's house. "You live here alone, you don't even have your Karen. I'd go mad."

Lindsey laughed lightly, shrugging his shoulders. "I wouldn't want a Karen around me 24/7, thank you very much." 

"You're too alike, that's why you hate each other. Honestly, I wouldn't survive one day without her." 

He let the comparison slide. "Well, I mostly spend my time in the studio. I had to get all of the equipment moved back from... from the other house. Occasionally, I jump in the pool. I read."

"Oh? What are you reading at the moment?" Stevie asked, hoping to get a good recommendation. 

"Your letters." Lindsey replied honestly and she was a little taken aback. 

"Yeah? Are they any good?" She smiled shyly, shifting her gaze away from him.

"I don't think that you've been as honest with me in a very long time as you have been in those letters. It means a lot to me, Stevie." He told her sincerely, mindlessly reaching for her hand as they sat side by side. "I hope you won't get offended, but I played around with some of your poems."

Raising an eyebrow, she looked over at him again. "What does that mean exactly?"

"Well, I've combined a couple, I changed up some words and I think, I've pulled together a song." Their hands still clasped, hanging low in between them. "Maybe, when it's polished and perfect, I'll let you listen to it."

"Are you being serious right now?" Stevie genuinely didn't know. 

"Absolutely." Lindsey nodded. "If you're up to it, we could always do some beautiful two part harmonies." She stared at him for a long moment. He thought, she'd be delighted, but it was one of those rare occasions, when he couldn't read her expression. "Are you mad?"

"Why would I be mad?" She questioned, laying a hand over her heart. "Lindsey, I've never thought anything of them. Just silly things I wrote in the middle of the night. Mostly." She added. "To know that you looked at them and like them, that you took them seriously..."

"Of course, I did. Music has always been the most honest, the clearest form of communication between us. I always know, what you're trying to say, when you write." Lindsey added jokingly, he wasn't trying to steer them into another emotional conversation. "I get jealous and angry, when you write about someone else other than me, but..." 

Stevie chuckled, giving his hand a squeeze. "I can't wait to hear it." 

"You'll be the first one to-" Lindsey stopped midsentence. "The hell..." He muttered under his breath.

"Are you expecting someone?" Stevie asked, watching him get up from his seat. 

"No." He shook his head. "I'll be right back." He said and went to open the door.

With each step, Lindsey's heartrate increased. Nobody really knew, where he lived, except... "Hi."

"Kristen?" Lindsey frowned, he wasn't pleasantly surprised. "What are you doing here?"

"I was out, running some errands and..." She shrugged, biting into her bottom lip. "I don't know, I just ended up here. You look good." She smiled. "Are you on your way out?"

"I'm not." He answered and swallowed uneasily. "Listen, now's not a great time."

"Oh? You've got company?" Kristen asked, beginning to feel like a fool for coming. 

"No. Yes." Lindsey sighed. "I wasn't expecting to see you."

To make matters worse, Lily made her way back inside the house and up to Lindsey, the dog's black beady eyes fixed on the unknown female. 

"Did you get a do-" Kristen's eyes grew wide, realization hit her like a ton of bricks. "You can't be serious! Oh my God, she's here! I can't believe-"

"Okay, you have to calm down." Lindsey interrupted, still talking to his wife over the doorstep. "Why do you even care?"

"I care because the second I leave, she comes crawling back! Oh, I bet she told you, how sorry she was and you were stupid enough to believe her." Kristen spat the words out angrily, wanting to push past Lindsey and give Stevie a piece of her mind.

"If you want to talk about something, please, give me a call and we can see each other, but right now, you're being crazy and you need to leave." Lindsey explained calmly, he then looked back over his shoulder.

"It's fine, I'll  go." Stevie appeared, keeping her eyes down.

"You should!" Kristen yelled and Lindsey's attention returned back to her.

"No. Stevie's my guest. She's not the one screaming at the top of her lungs right now, acting like a mad woman." He said, knowing  that was possibly going to anger her even more. "Stevie, you don't have to go. Kristen's leaving."

"I-" Stevie was at a loss. Her gaze shifted from Kristen's narrowed eyes over to Lindsey's warm and pleading ones.

"So, you're choosing her over me?" Kristen scoffed. "Again?"

"We can talk, when you've calmed down." Lindsey repeated himself, then closed the door, when Kristen stepped away and headed to her car.