Irreconcilable Differences
chapter one:
Your Life is a Flashback

Author's note:
Another new story. ;) Just a short chapter to make it awesome, get it done you guys.

He always knew that if he went home to St. Louis, after the happiness of returning to his family drained away, his thoughts would go back to her. He would be sitting in the living room watching Alanna start to run around the house, half-listening to the television and holding his wife Samantha in his arms when she'd enter his thoughts. Every time he would touch Sam's skin, he'd imagine that it was her's; pretend that he hadn't left her behind to make it in the world.

Randy didn't know why he hadn't been wise enough to just take her with him. Have a quick marriage ceremony before he was shipped to boot camp. Have her live on the base with him. He sighed and let his hand run up and down Sam's arm silently. These were the thoughts he had whenever he came back to Missouri.

He would secretly wonder where she was, what she had done with her life since he moved off and made it. Whenever he closed his eyes he would see her face when he told her that he'd be joining the Marine Corps. The face that said she would go with him, anywhere.

"Let me go with you, Randers," she had said. He smirked at the use of his nickname.

Randy bit his lip and opened his eyes when Sam spoke beside him. He simply nodded his head, knowing she often asked yes or no questions ranging from, "does spaghetti sound good for dinner?" or "did you have a good flight?". Little to no details were needed when he spoke to Sam now-a-days which was good. When Sam left him, he looked down at the little girl who was coloring in a book on the floor. She was splayed out like her crayons – rolling around every few moments as if giving herself a break from the tedious color job.

He gave a soft smile to the girl who gave a toothy grin to her father. Alanna dropped her crayon and jumped into her Daddy's lap, hugging him tight.

These were the moments when he felt most guilty for thinking about his ex. When he held his daughter who was made with Samantha and he out of "love". Randy refused to admit that he was getting older and didn't want to be a fifty year old father who would be going to take pictures of her daughter's prom night. Randy blinked and let his hand play with one of the pig-tails of blonde hair Alanna had for the day.

"I missed Daddy," Alanna informed.

He smiled and kissed her temple, "I missed Alanna," he said. "I did, I'm happy I got to come home for a day or two."

When she squirmed out of his grasp, Randy watched as she toddled off to help Sam with dinner. This was his chance. He stood up and stretched, "Baby, I'm going to go in the garage real quick," he nodded.

Randy was out in the garage before Sam could have answered. He pulled his iPhone out of his back pocket of his jeans, opened up the web browser and sighed. He reached over to the work bench as the page loaded, taking a pack of cigarettes in his hand and pulling one out. As he watched the Facebook page open, he lit it and stuck it in between his lips. He only smoked when he was home – it was a stress reliever... and a reason to go and be alone.

His fingers expertly typed in her name into the search box and he took in a deep breath. He had done this about seven times a month – just looking up her profile and seeing if anything had changed. He had seen her go through a few relationships in the past year – but she never named names.

When her status would change from "in a relationship" to "single", Randy always debated whether or not he should contact her and catch up. But with Sam in the mix, along with Alanna, it was never a viable option.

Her profile picture greeted him. She was just as beautiful as she was when he saw her last. Her blonde hair curled and going down her back. She was laughing in the picture which showed Randy that she was happy with the life she was living. He scrolled through the page and raised an eyebrow. She had moved.

Her hometown was St. Charles, Missouri – where he was living currently with his family. But now her city was San Diego, California. If he remembered correctly, she did have family in San Diego – maybe she had moved out to help her elderly grandmother who was alone. He was tempted to text her and see if it was alright. But he knew it wasn't wise.

He knew it would open a can of worms – a can that he wasn't ready to open. Yet.

Randy looked at her recent status updates, some saying she would be at the beach all day and if someone needed her, they could call her. Her updates were numerous and gave Randy a sense of calm. She was safe and alright, no matter where she was. He just wanted to make sure that after all he had done to her that she was alright.

He always wondered if she thought of him the way he had been thinking of her lately.

Two days ago would have been their ten year anniversary if they had stayed together.

He silently read each status update before spotting the one that made his jaw drop.

I think of him everyday – but when I see him now – he's not mine. He's hers... and they look so happy. I miss my best friend.

He was tempted to call her, to comment on the status, to like her status – but there was a sound that came from the side.

"Randy? Dinner's ready," Sam said with a smile.

Randy bit his bottom lip and nodded, walking into his lie of a life yet again.
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Just a start, guys. I know it's short but I'd like to think that it is enough to get you into it. Right? Three reviews, possibly? I mean, let's see how interesting this could be huh? Yes, Randy's an ex-Marine – if you didn't know that already. Haha, I like the Randy in the military – it's awesome. And sexy. Enjoy you guys.