Escape

Is that all there is to your tears?

Stevie slammed the front door behind her after coming home after a long and exhausting day of rehearsals. She ran a hand through her hair and sighed, utterly disappointed with herself. The house was quiet, she missed those days when Sara was a little girl and ran down to meet her mother every time she came home. Now Stevie was certain that her teenage daughter had locked herself in her room, being busy with wasting her life away on the Internet or some other teeangers' nonsense. Stevie entered the kitchen and made herself a cup of tea to help and relax herself. 

Before Sara, Stevie's beloved dog came to aknowledge her presence. She smiled at Sulamith, but she wasn't in the mood to baby talk and pet her dog. She kept thinking about what happened at the rehearsals earlier. Lindsey told her he was leaving his wife. For her. It felt amazing to be wrapped and safe in his arms, to be kissed by him. Of course she still loved the man with all her heart and she was truthful with him when she said that. Yet, when Lindsey asked about the person she went out with the other night, she lied. A friend, she simply stated. 

Stevie met Andrew through a mutual friend about a year ago. They kept in contact and eventually found themselves in a relationship. He was a nice man, a lawyer, she loved that because there was no room for competition between them. Andrew had been married previously and had two grown sons. In a short period of time she got really attached to him. They always had a great time together, there seemed to be endless things they could talk about or not talk at all an the silence wasn't uncomfortable. He cared about her a great deal and she would be lying if she said she felt differently about him. 

Why now? When Stevie finally had a relationship all of a sudden Lindsey decided he had to end his marriage. She had even forgotten to think about him lately. But today... He told her she was beautiful, he told her he loved her, he told her he wanted to be with her. She didn't even realize she had started crying. 

Stevie felt a hand on her shoulder. "Mom? Why are you upset?"

"I'm not, sweetheart." She attempted a smile, but Sara knew better. 

"What happened? Something with dad? Was he being an asshole on your first day?"

"Hey! That is no way to be talking about you father."

"Learnt from the best." Sara smiled trying to make her mother feel better and Stevie appreciated that. 

"I... I'd rather not talk about it. I'll be fine, just a very stressful emotional day."

"Promise I won't here you crying in your bedroom later tonight?"

"No, you won't. Really, Sara, I'll be ok."

"Well, if you say so."

"Any calls for me while I was gone?" Stevie wiped the tears away and changed the subject. 

"Your boyfriend called at least three times."

"Why can't you call him Andrew, my boyfriend just sounds too weird."

"It really does, mom, honestly. A fiance would sound so much better!"

"Oh stop it, it's not up to me."

Sara hugged Stevie from behind and kissed her cheek. "Only if you let him know you were intrested... Anyway, I'm going upstairs to finish whatever I was doing before I came down here."

"Hey, Sara? Would you be ok to be on your own in the house for some time? I... I need to go see Andrew."

Sara frowned. "You said things were fine."

"They are, we just need to talk."

"It's almost 10pm, can't it wait until morning?"

"If I said I need to see him, I need to see him." Stevie got off the chair and went to call a car. Sara might be sixteen, but she knew her mother and she knew things weren't fine. She sighed and went upstairs to her room. 

Stevie rang the doorbell and waited for a short moment. "Steph? What are you doing here so late?"

"May I come in?"

"Um... yeah, sure!" Andrew stepped aside and let her in. "I'd be lying if I said I'm not worried right now."

"I came to talk."

"Are we going to stand here or you can wait until we approach the couch in the living room?"

"I suppose." She smiled at him as he took her hand. 

They sat down and Andrew couldn't hide his excitement. "I'm really happy to see you, I only got to call you this past week, not that you answered every time..."

"I'm sorry, honey. This period of time is always so busy, a million things to do before the tour." 

"No, I get it. It's just me being inconsiderate."

She didn't say anything for a minute, just looked at him. "You're such a wonderful man, Andrew."

"I don't like where this is going." He tried to laugh, being worried inside.

"I'm such a lucky woman, you know."

"Do I?" She fell silent again. "Steph, is there something you'd like to tell me?"

"Yeah, I..." He squeezed her hand urging her to continue, but she only started crying again.

"Hey, hey now... What is this about?" Andrew pulled her in his arms and rubbed her back.

"Ignore me, today has been really hard, first day always is."

"Did something go wrong?"

"No, not really. It's tough being the only woman, the guys being their usual selfs, they can't help but tease me a little every now and then." 

"My poor baby." He soothed and she felt much better in his embrace. "Is that all there is to your tears?"

"Yeah. Yeah, everything besides that is good."

"You'll get through that, once you're on the road in front of all those thousands of people who love you, you'll be just fine."

"You're absolutely right." She smiled nodding. 

"Are you staying here tonight?"

"No, sadly I can't. Sara's all by herself." 

"Oh..." 

Stevie sat up straight. "But I have some time before I have to go."

"Is that so?" Andrew raised his eyebrow and touched the side of her face. He drew her closer and kissed her lips. "Mm... missed you."

"Missed you too." She replied, claiming his lips for another kiss. "Are we going to waste our precious time down here or are you taking me to bed?"

"Well, since you asked..."