The Face Behind The Mask

5

Skyden stood in front of the mirror, brushing her hair. She was dressed in a short, white satin robe over a lingerie set Cam had given her on Valentine's Day. It was challenging to engage in fulfilling sexual activity with a teen and a pre-teen in the house but they'd learned to manage.

She had to admit, that despite all the joking about her age, she looked remarkably good considering. Between the stress of work and practically being a single mother navigating the theatrics of teen drama, she looked younger than most of her contemporaries. If she were to pick a primary descriptor, it would be 'tired.' She looked and felt tired most of the time.

But the takeaway from her birthday self-reflection was that she had successfully become who she wanted to be. She was married to a man who she dearly loved and he loved her back. She was beyond proud of her incredible kids. She was on a career path that offered opportunities and multiple options. If being tired was the trade-off, it was a small price to pay.

"Sky?" she heard her husband on the other side of the door.

"Just be a minute," she said.

When she opened the door she found Cam reclined on the bed, aiming his iPhone at her. "Whoa!" He nearly choked on his exclamation.

She gave him a hard look. "Don't you dare."

"Don't you want to be famous?"

"Not for that." She swiped it out of his hand, got onto the bed, and then gave him a lusty kiss.

"Did you lock up downstairs?" she whispered in his ear.

"Nobody's crashing this party." He rolled her onto the bed beside him.

........

It was barely daylight when she opened her eyes to find Cam slipping into his suit jacket.

He leaned down and kissed her. "Good morning, birthday girl."

"Don't go." There was something sad in her soft voice. She squinted against the light spilling out from behind the bathroom door.

"I'll be back in plenty of time to take you to dinner."

"What time is it?"

"Early. I gotta flight to catch."

She grabbed her phone from the nightstand. "It's not even five."

"I wanted to make sure I'd be home in plenty of time to celebrate with my birthday girl so I booked the earliest flight I could get."

He kissed her again.

"You better take me someplace nice." She pulled the sheet up to her shoulders and burrowed into her pillow.

"To make up for that dinner I mangled last night. I know. I owe you."

"You used to be a pretty good cook. When you were here more often."

"You're saying I need more practice."

"I'm saying it would be nice to have someone to help me feed those teenagers."

"Brick's not a teen."

"He eats like one."

........

An hour later, Skyden and Brick sat at the table eating cereal.

"Where is your sister?"

He shrugged.

"Kelsey!"

She called from upstairs, "Pass on the breakfast."

"Come down here. I need to speak with you."

"This organic cereal tastes like hay," Brick said. "How come we never have any good cereal anymore?"

"Like you need more sugar."

Kelsey bounded down the stairs and then stood in the doorway. "What?"

"I want you guys to be really careful about locking the doors."

"Again? Seriously?"

"Yes, seriously. When you leave and when you come back in the house, make sure the door is locked behind you. Not just closed. Locked."

Kelsey sighed dramatically. "For the hundredth time."

"I'm very serious about this, Kelsey."

"You must be serious. You called me Kelsey." She bounded up the stairs.

Skyden raised her volume. "There've been some break-ins in the neighborhood."

"Told you we should get a dog," said Brick.

........

In a neighborhood coffee shop, a man sat in a dark corner, his laptop open. He found Skyden's Facebook profile and clicked through her photo gallery.

Photos of Skyden with her family. Little kids with an old dog. Birthday parties. Kids dressed in Halloween costumes.

He stopped on Kelsey's class picture. He clicked through a few more photos. Kelsey with the cross-country team. Kelsey hoisting a trophy. A group shot of the tennis team with Kelsey in the foreground.

He zoomed in on the photo onto the team jersey. He found what he was looking for. Higbee High School, Pittsburgh, PA.