Too Late Week 35 Challenge
Ranger leaned his head back in airplane seat in First Class closing his eyes thinking back to that night over six months ago. Stephanie and Morelli were finally over. He got caught by Stephanie and one of his other sideline women was pregnant. He expected it to be Terry Gilman but it wasn't. It was a library assistant he had met at bar in Trenton. The 'Burg' was in a state of shock. Morelli tried to deny it, but she provided details right down to scar on his thigh. Stephanie's mother finally saw Joe for the womanizer that he was. And he, Ricardo Carlos Manoso, was a coward. He couldn't step up to plate. He had told Stephanie if her bed was empty for a length of time, he would be in it. It was and he wasn't.
He remembered the words he told her, "What I can give you now won't be enough for the future. One day you will want the 'Burg' ideal. Babies, picket fence. I don't fit the mold and I never will, Babe."
Through her tears, "All I wanted was to love you and you love me! I guess that is too much for you, Ranger!" She ran out of his apartment and escaped into the silence of the elevator. Sticking a metal garbage can from the garage between the doors, it prevented the doors from closing so the elevator couldn't come back up. She drove out of Rangeman and never looked back. Her company ID and access fob to his apartment were on the floor the garage. That was the last time he saw her. Ranger wanted to go after her, but he didn't. Someone even found her cell phone and Rangeman pen which had tracking devices in them tossed out. The next day she traded her CRV for something else because the signal led them to Mel's used car lot.
He took off for a mission, one he volunteered for not waiting for a call. It was the longest six months of his life to be away. The week in debriefings seemed like it would never end. Stephanie was always in his thoughts. Ranger longed to touch her, to see her beautiful blue eyes. The longing is what drove him to finish up as fast as he could and get back to Trenton. He lied to himself and her, omitting how much he truly loved Stephanie. Him and his stupid rules. The HELL with his rules! He had someplace to be as soon as this plane lands. He prayed she would forgive him and give him another chance.
Ranger handed the cab driver money. He didn't want any one at Rangeman to know he was back so he never called to be picked up. He wanted to see Stephanie first. He tumbled the locks and stepped inside. The apartment was dark. No Rex running in his wheel. Leaning back against the wall, his legs couldn't hold him up as he sunk down to the carpet. Oxygen trapped in his lungs. Finally, a painful, heart wrenching "Babe' finally escaped. The sound echoed. It seemed so loud through the apartment. Her empty apartment. Stephanie was gone. He was too late.