This time Lindsey couldn't even be mad at Stevie. Once again, she had made him believe that there was still something between them. She let him stay the night. They talked and made love again. In the morning she kissed him and promised to see him soon. If not see, then she'd at least call.
Several days passed, then a week. Holiday season went by and the new year came. Nothing. Lindsey was hurt, but he wasn't surprised. He shouldn't have expected anything. And to think he had even thought about breaking up with Carol Ann to somehow prove to Stevie, he still held hope for them in his heart. She told him, she needed him time and time again that night. Clearly, he was just a fool, when he thought, she meant it.
Throwing himself into a new project was all Lindsey could do. He swore to himself that he wasn't going to write another set of songs about Stevie or for her. Yet, when he grabbed a notepad one night, several weeks after they'd last seen each other, he began writing his feelings down, which ultimately shaped into a song with Stevie in mind. He couldn't help it, but he hated the fact she was still a source of inspiration.
"Are you ever going to come out of here?" Carol Ann asked, leaning against the doorway of his studio.
"What for?" Lindsey didn't even look up as he scribbled something down.
"I miss you." She sashayed over to him and placed her hands on his shoulders, before they slid down to his chest. "Don't you miss me?"
"I'm busy." He leaned back, pushing her away.
"I thought, things were going to be different once you were done with the tour!" Carol Ann threw her arms up in the air in frustration. "The second you came home, you locked yourself in the studio again."
"Clearly, I haven't locked myself in here if you managed to get through the door." He was not in the mood to be dealing with his girlfriend right now. His needy, obnoxious, addicted to drugs girlfriend, whom he had no feelings for.
"Well, what am I supposed to do, when you practically live here by yourself?" She crossed her arms, her lips pursed, waiting for an answer. "Lindsey!"
"What?" He asked through gritted teeth. "I'm working, can't you see?"
"That's all you ever do!" She yelled. "When was the last time we did something together? When was the last time you told me, you loved me? When was the last time we had sex? At this point, we're just two friends, living under the same roof!"
"What do you want from me?" Lindsey dropped his pencil, sighing heavily as he turned around in his chair. "If you don't like it, you can leave. What's stopping you?"
"You! You are stopping me. You're my boyfriend." She emphasized, jabbing a finger into his chest.
"I don't think, I'm stopping you. Maybe my bank account is keeping you here. God knows, you wouldn't be able to support your drug addiction without it." The words just rolled off his tongue.
Carol Ann stared at him for a moment, mouth agape. "I can't believe you just said that." She headed for the door and stormed out.
Lindsey realized that he shouldn't have said that. He felt like a jerk, only slightly, but still. He stood up and went after Carol Ann. When he finally caught up with her, she was on her way to the liquor cabinet.
"Hey-"
"No, Lindsey. I don't want to talk to you." She held up her hand, indicating that he should stay away.
"You came to me!" The vein in his neck was about to burst any second. "Make up your fucking mind!"
He wanted to apologize. He wanted to do the right thing. Fuck that.
Lindsey went to the kitchen and opened the fridge for a cold bottle of beer. He uncapped it and leaned against one of the counters to finish it there and then. His eyes caught a stack of mail, which wasn't there before. He looked through it and found nothing interesting, until his hand stilled, hovering above a letter from Stevie. Different ideas went through his mind. She could tell him, she never wanted to see him again. She could tell him, she filed a restraining order against him, and he wouldn't be surprised. What else? She could tell him, they had finally had an accident and she got pregnant. That wouldn't shock him either, given how they weren't particularly careful. However, when Lindsey ripped the envelope open, the last thing he expected to find inside was a wedding invitation.
