Start Again

Part 14

Hearing that question from Stevie sobered Lindsey up pretty good. He paused for a moment, chewing on the inside of his cheek, staring at her, while Stevie stared right back at him.

"How do you know?"

Stevie showed the card she had in hand as if Lindsey hadn't noticed it yet. "Unless he's your divorce lawyer-"

"He's not." Lindsey shook his head. "Jack or whatever his name is, he showed up just before I had to go see Kristen." The name left a bitter taste in his mouth. "He spoke to me as if we've been friends, asking to see you. He didn't even explain to me who he actually was, except saying that you two had a thing."

Breathing out heavily, Stevie slumped down on the bed, dropping Lindsey's jeans back on the floor. "I never thought I'd hear from him again."

"Who is this man, Steph?" Lindsey asked, his tone of voice now softer. He knew otherwise she wasn't going to tell him.

"Doesn't matter." She said, shaking her head. She quickly wiped under her eyes and forced a smile. "It's all in the past."

"What's in the past? Who is Jack? Why have I never heard of him?" Lindsey moved to sit next to Stevie, who hung her head low, her hair hiding her face. "Obviously he meant something to you." Pushing a strand of hair away, Lindsey saw tears welled up in her eyes.

"I... I don't want to talk about it, Lindsey. At least not now. Besides, you need some rest." Stevie said and got up and away from Lindsey.

"Are you going to call him?" Lindsey asked just before Stevie could step out of his room.

Without looking back, Stevie shrugged her shoulders weakly and walked out.

Well, that certainly raised more questions rather than answered any.

One thing Lindsey wasn't going to do after that was rest. His mind was busy, trying to figure out why Stevie was hiding the truth from him. So what if Stevie and Jack were seeing each other? Clearly, something happened and they went their separate ways. However, there had to be more than that for Stevie to get so emotional just by the mere mention of Jack's name. If they had been serious, surely Lindsey would have known of the man. On the other hand, maybe if they were serious, Stevie was keeping it a secret for that reason exactly.

Entering her bedroom, Stevie locked the door behind her as she then leaned up against it. Taking a few deep breaths, she tried to calm herself down. She was sure Jack was a part of her past. When he told her, they might see each other again someday, she didn't believe him. She smiled at him sadly and said, okay. But she never believed those words to be true. Why now? When Lindsey was (possibly) finally coming back to her? When they were given yet another chance at last? She loved Lindsey, she wanted to be with him. But... but she wanted to see Jack again. Just... just to talk. That was all. She wanted to see him, to catch up, to know how life was going for him. Nothing more.

Before making any decision, Stevie lay down and drifted off to sleep in no time. When she woke up again, it was dark outside. She would have slept till morning probably, but she heard Lindsey's footsteps. She didn't know what he was doing, seemingly, just walking up and down the hallway.

Switching the lock, she opened the bedroom door and nearly bumped into Lindsey. "Sorry."

"Did I wake you?" Lindsey asked, noting her messed up hair and the fact she was trying to stifle a yawn.

"No. Yeah, kinda." Stevie half smiled at him, folding her arms over her chest.

They just stood, staring at each other for a minute, until Lindsey spoke up again. "So..."

"I'm not talking about Jack." Stevie shook her head and turned to head downstairs, her puppy trailing behind her.

Entering the kitchen, Stevie went to make herself a cup of tea. She had hoped Lindsey wouldn't follow after her, but he did. Of course, he did. "Just tell me, Stevie. Were the two of you a couple?"

"How will that knowledge help you?"

"I want to know, that's all."

Sighing, Stevie placed her hands down on the kitchen counter, turning her head to look over her shoulder. "Yes, Jack and I were seeing each other."

"So, you two obviously broke up? What does he want from you now?"

"I don't know!" Stevie exclaimed, clearly annoyed. "I don't know." She repeated herself, leaving no room for further discussion.

A few minutes later, with the cup of tea in hand, Stevie walked back upstairs and straight to her room, shutting the door loudly. What did Jack want from her?

Locating Jack's card, Stevie dialed his number.