"Stevie, are you there?"
It felt surreal. Stevie sat frozen, unable to move or open her mouth to speak. The only reason why Lindsey hadn't hung up yet was probably because he could hear her breathing.
"Stevie, I know that it's you." Lindsey wasn't about to cut the call short before he got a chance to talk to her.
"H-how did you get my number?" Stevie managed at last, feeling slightly lightheaded.
"How do you think?" Lindsey asked her back, then inhaled something sharply.
"Olivia gave you my number?" She asked, realizing, how dumb it sounded.
"Well, she didn't actually do that, but... let's say, yes, I got it from her." Lindsey replied, indicating that he managed to get it himself. "I- I can't believe I'm talking to you. I've missed you so much."
"Don't say that." Stevie scolded him. "You can get yourself in trouble."
"I won't." Lindsey sighed and inhaled again. "She's gone."
"She's what?" Stevie yelled out and received a questioning look from Amber. "What do you mean?"
"She's at her parents' now. She said, she needs some time apart." Lindsey explained and waited for Stevie to respond, but she remained quiet. "Which I guess, I agree with. When I saw Chris... when he told me that you're here and no longer married, I-"
"Lindsey, I'm going to stop you right there." Stevie cut him off. "I don't know what's going through your mind, but don't think about it. So much has changed. I have my own life and so do you."
"Yes, but-"
"Olivia is a nice girl." She swallowed uneasily and paused for a moment. "Fix things with her, Lindsey."
"But-"
"You deserve someone like her. She clearly adores you and finding out the truth about me has hurt her." Stevie continued, without giving Lindsey a chance to say more than two words. "If she finds out that you and I have talked, it's only going to get worse."
"She won't find out." Lindsey insisted and reminded her. "She's not here, Stevie. She ran. She just ran and this is not even that big of a deal. So what if she knows about you. It's not like I've told her that we're done and I want to get back together with you."
"She's allowed to feel the way she feels." Stevie replied, wishing to finish the conversation already. She didn't know for how much longer she could keep her emotions under control. "She loves you."
"I don't know if I love her." Lindsey managed to say before Stevie could interrupt him again. "What I do know is that I no longer plan on proposing to her."
"Don't say that." Stevie repeated herself. "Clearly, there's a reason why you're with her."
"Maybe there's a bigger reason why I'm no longer sure if I want to be with her." Lindsey argued. "Meet with me."
"Wha- I- no, Lindsey." Stevie didn't expect him to ask that. "No!"
"Why not? If you have moved on, what's the harm? Can't we just meet for a cup of coffee?" He added, when she didn't say anything. "As old friends?"
"I..." Stevie trailed off, chewing on her bottom lip. "I can't do this right now."
"Does this mean that I can call you and ask again?" He sounded hopeful.
"I can't do this right now." She repeated herself and hung up.
