Stephen exited the flight into Orlando a little quicker than normal. He hadn't been home in a few weeks and he was eager to sleep in his own bed, plus Raleigh was back from Ireland. She'd been staying there for the past few weeks helping out his Mum while his Dad healed up from having heart surgery. It was a pretty routine surgery so he hadn't been overly worried, but he wished he could have taken the time off to go back himself. It was hard though working for the WWE, they never stopped, were always on the road, and he always had a job to do. Time off had to be requested months in advance so your "character" could be written off the show for it. So he'd had to stay in the States, instead his best friend and confidant Raleigh had gone in his place. She'd been a part of his life for so long he sometimes had trouble remembering when she hadn't been there. At first it had been some dumb school project that he really hadn't been that interested in. His mother had been the one to find one of her pen pal letters and force him to keep in touch. "That girl needs someone to talk to, you should keep writing." She'd told him. She had been going through one of her Lifetime Movie phases and the girl's sob stories had touched her. They hadn't imagined it had all been 100% true. Where he had had a stable family life with love and support, she'd never been even acknowledged. She'd taken care of herself and when her Father had abandoned her she'd taken care of her mother. Something she still did to this day, as her mother couldn't be left to fend for herself. That was something he had always admired in her, her willingness to care so deeply for someone who had never returned the favor, and probably never would.
Walking through the airport he tried to keep a low profile, hard for someone of his stature to do. He just wanted to be home already, even though he loved his fans he didn't want to be sidetracked by autographs and photos. Luckily it wasn't too busy in the airport and he was able to get a taxi quickly. He got home around seven pm. Rae had probably already gone to pick up her mom, and the girls were probably over. He knew Barbie and Natsia, Rae's girlfriends, had been planning a welcome home party for her, so they'd no doubt spent the better part of the day laying out at the pool. He was tired but he wanted to see her, to ask on about his parents and see how her trip had been. He sent her a quick text to let her know he was in town and he'd be over before jumping in the shower.
Raleigh jumped at her phone vibrating on the table. She'd been immersed in the classifieds trying to find a decent sounding job to get, her mother was napping. She picked up the phone and looked at it, a smile creeping to her face. "I'm home. Can I stop by around nine? Just to see how the trip was and see you guys." Job searching will have to wait then, Rae thought as she looked down at herself. She hadn't showered since her 8 hour flight back from Ireland, she knew she looked terrible. Not that she needed to impress Ste, but she didn't want to scare him either. She walked to the bathroom pausing to check on her mom, she was still fast asleep in the bedroom. Rae decided to let her sleep; she'd simply shower with the door open in case her mom woke up. She had had one episode a few months back where Rae had been showering and her mother had seen someone in the apartment. She'd run outside and into traffic. Of course there hadn't been anyone in the apartment, it was all in her mind, but she could have been hit by a car and killed. Rae had had to take special precautions during shower time since then. She was excited to see Ste; she hadn't seen him since about two weeks before she'd left for Ireland. He'd gone there for the initial surgery but then had had to fly right back out to LAX, so she'd flown over a few days after he'd left. They hadn't actually seen each other in about five weeks, which was long for them. Finishing her shower Raleigh sauntered back to her room turning on the baby monitor so she could here if her mother woke up. It seemed silly but it's what she had to do to assure her safety. Where most people would have committed their relative by now, Rae had decided to instead try to help her, to coax her back to health. She knew her mother had good days with her daughter, something she would never have in some cold psychiatric hospital.
Raleigh rummaged through her closet searching for something to wear. She hadn't even thought about tackling her suitcases but it had been cooler in Ireland so luckily most of her Florida clothes were still neatly in her closet. She settled on a blue and pink floral baby doll dress. It was breezy and soft on her light skin. She'd been lying out all day but hardly had any color, not that she tanned much anyway. She pretty much always stayed the color of soft peach, thanks to the genes from her Welsh Father and Norwegian Mother. She paired it with a soft black cardigan because it was getting cooler. Spraying a bit of Victoria's secret, Love Spell, she tiptoed downstairs to put on some coffee and wait for Stephen. She sat down on the couch and flipped on the TV while she waited.
The sound of the door opening jarred her from her sleep. How long have I been out? She wondered to herself. She looked back at the foyer to see Stephen shutting the door. He slid off his shoes, a house rule, and walked into the living room and taking a seat on the chair next to Rae.
"I texted you that I was here, and knocked, then made the executive decision to use my own key." He said, taking the remote and changing the channel.
"Sorry, I didn't even realize I'd fallen asleep, how was your flight back?" Rae asked yawning and putting out a big stretch.
"Same as all the others, but I should ask you how yours was, you don't get to fly much, how was it? How are my folks?" Stephen asked, turning to face his best friend.
"Oh they were wonderful; you know they hardly needed me. Your mom and did some touring of the city, and your dad almost had me beat at chess. Almost" Rae said laughing.
"Oh really, that's not always easily done. Where's your mum at?" Stephen asked settling the television on say yes to the dress, not because he liked it but because there was nothing else on and he knew it was Rae's favorite.
"She's good, she's sleeping. I guess she didn't have any episodes while I was gone, but of course freaks out when I'm picking her up. She started to go crazy saying I took all these trips, then she thought she was already home so she didn't want to leave. I did get her out of it thought without drugging her which I think is progress." Rae said getting up and heading into the kitchen.
"You want anything to drink? I think Nats left some wine here, or I've got V8. Or water." Raleigh called from the kitchen.
"Wine? Rae, I thought you weren't drinking." Stephen said joining her in the kitchen. He wasn't pleased to hear that Natsia had brought wine over. He knew the girls often brought over cocktails, but he wasn't impressed to find that Raleigh had possibly been drinking. He wasn't completely against it but he felt protective of Rae and didn't want her to head down the same path as her mom.
"We just had a few glasses by the pool, don't worry. I didn't get crazy or anything. You should know me better than that." Rae replied, reaching into her cupboard for two glasses. She filled each with water and added some single serve kool aid packets. It wasn't the fanciest thing, but it tasted good. She handed Ste his and then downed hers in about two minutes. She hadn't realized how thirsty she was.
"Sorry I jumped at you. I just don't like the idea of you drinking all day with the girls, and I've known Barbara a little bit longer than you and she'd not always the best influence you know? I'm just looking out for ya kid." Stephen said, feeling sorry he'd jumped to conclusions. He knew it was almost hypocritical since he went out for beers with the guys after almost every show, but she had family history with addiction and he didn't want to see her go down that path.
"It's fine, let's not talk about that. How long are you in town for anyway? I've got to drop off a couple job applications tomorrow but we could hit the gym if you wanted, or maybe drive down to Vero Beach?" Rae suggested. They always tried to go to Vero if they could, there was so much to do there and Rae loved the little shops and the beaches.
"I've got a flight on Friday to L.A., then I don't think I'll be back until the twentieth, maybe longer. I've got to get things ready to leave again, we could do the gym though. Maybe hang out around here, where are you applying?" Stephen asked as they walked back into the living room.
"First off you don't need to get anything ready, you know I'll do it for you your almost helpless when it comes to logistics, and second I found a couple decent sounding restaurants that need wait staff." Rae added, flipping off the TV, nothing was on anyway.
"Waitressing huh? When are you done with school?" Stephen replied.
"Next semester will be my last, then I'll have a bachelors in media communications, not that I know what on earth I'm going to do with that." Rae laughed. She had initially gone after a degree in media communications after briefly dating a producer at the local television station. He thought it would be good for her to work in his field, and it had seemed interesting. But her relationships never last much more than a couple weeks, and unfortunately that had been all the time it took to sign up for classes in a degree she had no idea what to do with.
"Well, you could do a lot I would think with that, especially around here. The commute to Orlando isn't that bad, maybe work at Disney?" Stephen suggested.
"Okay, that actually sounds like a smart thing to do, you know how I feel about smart ideas. I hate them, lets do something crazy instead." Rae said lying down across the couch her head in Ste's lap.
"Crazy huh, what do you suggest?" Stephen asked, playing with her long brown beachy curls. The two friends were so comfortable with each other they did not even notice how intimate a moment they were now having.
"I don't know, something, anything. We could go mini golfing, I guess that's not too crazy, but its fun!" Rae suggested.
"It's getting a little late for that don't you think? Plus your mom's already in bed. Why don't we watch a move instead?" Stephen said with a yawn. He smiled at Rae knowing he was going to win her over for a boring night in. He knew she loved to get out and have fun, but she was really a homebody at heart.
"Alright Mr. Lame-o Pants, what movie? Has anything good come out lately, I've been out of the country remember?" Rae asked flipping the television back on and searching for the rental channel.
They decided on a comedy, it ended up being really stupid and silly but it made them both laugh and passed the time. Raleigh fell asleep though halfway thru and Stephen decided to let himself out. He stretched her out on the couch and covered her up with a blanket from her bedroom. He kissed her forehead and headed for the door. Staring back at her as he went to leave he felt a sudden rush of warmth through his body. She looked so beautiful lying there fast asleep, no troubles in her eyes, no worry on her face. He wished there was some way that he could make her always this way, to take all her pain and worry away from her life. Someday he whispered, someday.
