It's human nature to want to run. Step outside in the suburbs at any given time during the day and you will find people doing so for many different reasons. Some people want to get in shape and some people need some time away from their children. For a certain few though, staying put is not an option. They have no other choice than to tighten their laces and delve straight into the unknown.
To say Evelyn Scavo was less than thrilled to be packing was a complete understatement. After hours and hours of contemplating the night before, upon Bree's recommendation her parents had made the decision to send her to Florida. Staying with her grandmother was out of the question. She and Stella had never been close; she was more than aware of the abuse her mother endured when she was younger and even had her own stories to tell. She absolutely didn't want any part of it. Jo and Andrew both lived in Fairview so the only option she had left was to head to Orlando to stay with Danielle and Phyllis Van de Kamp. Evelyn and Danielle had been relatively close until Danielle hit her teen years and she turned into a totally different person. It all began with the constant fighting between her and her mother and eventually they just grew apart. She hadn't really minded Phyllis at all even though she was more than aware how horribly she got under Bree's skin. When Rex was alive Phyllis would come and visit for Christmas and would never treat Evelyn any different than she did the rest of her grandchildren. She was overbearing and controlling but she would take Phyllis over her own grandmother any day. Evelyn climbed up on the bed and sat on her overfilled suitcase, zipping it up and latching the sides. She walked over to the window and saw Mike filling up his truck toolbox, she caught him glance over at her house before he headed back inside. Evelyn felt a sudden urge to toss her suitcase out the window; she couldn't believe that one man had screwed everything up so badly. The one man she had dreamt about her whole life. She knew the last week was much too good to last.
Evelyn pulled her suitcase off of the bed and dragged it downstairs. She could hear Tom and her mother talking in the kitchen and they both stopped when they heard her suitcase hit the bottom of the stairs. "Is that everything?" Tom asked. Evelyn nodded and Tom grabbed the suitcases and took them out the front door. "I am going to go talk to Mike really quick" Evelyn said leaning towards the front door. "Okay sweetie" Lynette said sympathetically. "Don't be too long. Your plane leaves in a couple of hours and we've got to get to the airport".
"I won't" she said and darted out the front door. Tom walked back in and watched her as she ran across the street. "Where's the fire?" he asked. Lynette walked over the window and leaned against the pane. "She's going to talk to Mike before she leaves".
"She's been spending an awful lot of time over there lately. You don't think there is anything going between those two, do you?"
"He's almost twice her age" Lynette said surprised. "So, that doesn't mean anything these days" Tom chimed in. Lynette looked back over at Mike's house. "No, we would definitely know if there was" she decided. Vincent was enough drama to keep her mind completely occupied; she didn't even want to worry about Evelyn dating anyone right now.
Evelyn quickly got to Mike's house but slowly paced outside the door before knocking. She didn't want to say goodbye, not when their relationship had just started. She gently lifted her fist and lightly knocked. Mike opened the door and Evelyn walked in without saying a word. He closed the door behind her and turned to see her nervously rubbing her hand across her forehead. "I don't want to do this Mike…I don't want to leave" she said on the verge of tears and Mike hastily walked towards her and wrapped his arms around her, picking her up off the floor and burying his face in her hair. "It's going to be okay". Evelyn laughed quietly, "That's what everyone keeps telling me". Mike set her back down on the ground and laid his hands along the bottom of her cheeks. "If everyone is saying it than it must be true". Evelyn smiled then looked at him. "You're going to go to Florida, you're gonna get some rest and in a couple of weeks you'll be back home and I will talk care of you".
"You'll take care of me?" Evelyn asked. "Do you trust me?"
"Of course I do" Evelyn responded and walked over and sat on the couch. Mike walked over and sat next to her. "I promise I won't let anything happen to you". Evelyn grabbed his hand in both of hers. "You can't control what happens to me Mike. Just promise me one thing…"
"Anything" he said seriously. "Wait". Mike looked over at her confused. "I know that this whole thing is new and that we don't really have any "rules" or anything yet but just wait for me".
"So I should call all of my other girlfriends and tell them not to come over?" Evelyn laughed and then playfully punched him in the arm. "It's impossible to be serious with you" she said and jumped off the couch and headed towards the door. Mike caught her arm and spun her around and kissed her, he kissed so deeply she would have sworn her knees buckled. She knew right then that she didn't have to worry about Mike, that kiss told her he would be there waiting as soon as she got back.
"Evelyn come on your going to be late!" she heard Tom yell from the street. They're lips parted and Mike ran his hands down her arms and grabbed her hand in his. "Everything…"
"Will be fine" they both said together. "I know" Evelyn said and smiled. They looked at each other for a moment and Evelyn gently whispered, "Goodbye Mike" as she walked out the door.
* * *
The ride to the airport was long and quiet, not because anyone was angry with each other but simply because there wasn't anything left to say. Upon arrival to the airport they were met by Detective Shepherd who provided Evelyn with the tickets she needed and also informed her that she wasn't allowed to make any phone calls for a couple of weeks. "So now you think they've tapped the phones?" Tom asked. "We're not sure " the detective said as he ran one hand through his hair. "We just don't know what to expect from these guys, so we are expecting the worst".
"Well how am I supposed to know what's going on, or how my mom is?" Lynette placed a sympathetic hand on Evelyn's back. "We will be in touch with Mrs. Van De Kamp we can relay information that way". Evelyn just took a deep breath, frustrated with the whole situation. There were lots of tears and lots of hugs as Evelyn boarded the plane and headed 2500 miles away from home. She hated long flights; they were filled with too much time to think and too much time to worry. She was going to miss being home, miss spending time at the pizzeria and miss spending time with Mike.
Evelyn had absolutely no trouble finding Phyllis and Danielle once she got to the airport. All she had to do was look for the woman frantically waving her arms and jumping up and down. "Evelyn! Evelyn, dear over here!"
Evelyn smiled and gently waved as she made her way through the crowd of people. She sadly smirked as she saw a young girl jump into the arms of her boyfriend, a son hug his aging father and a group of young girls greeting their mother. All she wanted to do was turn around and go back home.
"Hello sweetheart!" Phyllis said hugging her tightly. "My goodness, we are going to have to fatten you up while you are here, you're so skinny!"
"Thank you" Evelyn smiling. "That's not a complement dear, no man wants a stick figure, and you know what they say. Real woman have curves" she said grabbing her arm and walking towards the baggage claim area. "Danielle say hello to Evelyn".
"I would have said hi long before now if I was able to get a word in edgewise" Danielle said sarcastically smiling at them both. "Oh Danielle, no need for your theatrics, I am sure the poor girl has been through enough already. Danielle just rolled her eyes and hastily walked ahead of them. "Don't mind her" Phyllis remarked. "Her hormones never quite straightened back out after having Benjamin" Phyllis said smiling. Evelyn knew this was going to be the absolute longest trip of her life.
Phyllis Van De Kamp's home was located in what Evelyn believed was the largest retirement community she had ever seen. A huge apartment building was surrounded by smaller townhouses and recreational sports were crammed into every empty space in between. Phyllis whipped the car into the small driveway of one of the surrounding houses and Danielle got out and went inside before the car even stopped. "Give her some time, she will warm up".
"I'm sure" Evelyn said sarcastically walking around the trunk to pull her bag out. Phyllis showed Evelyn to her room informing her to rest up before dinner. She stood up from the bed and examined her surroundings. The house was beautiful, as she expected it would be. It was old but charming, the dark wood floors throughout the house made it homey and quite comfortable. The majority of the walls were covered with pictures from every single decade of their family or so it seemed. Outside the lawns were perfectly manicured and the streets were lined with palm trees. Down the street Evelyn spotted a large pool, she decided if she ditched the company she could definitely get used to this. She walked over to the bed and started pulling clothes out of her bag and stuffing then into the dresser but stopped when she saw a picture of Bree and Rex on the wall when they first got married. They looked so young and so happy, she couldn't believe how much things had changed.
"You know you just moved into purgatory right" Danielle said walking into her room and plopping down on the bed. "Come on it can't be that bad" Evelyn remarked walking over and grabbing a pile of tank tops out of her bag and shoving them into the dresser. "It's is" Danielle said. "There is ton's of stuff to do, there is this great bar downtime. It's got live music, dancing, that kind of stuff but it's impossible to get out of here". Danielle said pulling a book out of Evelyn's bag and thumbing through it. Evelyn just scoffed and kept unpacking. "My grandmother is like a prison ward, she won't let you go anywhere".
"She just worries that's all" Evelyn said. She heard Danielle hastily breathe in and watched her snatch an envelope of pictures that had fallen out of Evelyn's bag. "Bree sent those with me" she said cautiously. "Benjamin is getting so big, she thought you might like some updated pictures". Danielle looked through the stack for a second before picking them up and jumping off the bed. "Thanks" she said walking out of the room and shutting her bedroom door behind her. Evelyn couldn't imagine how hard the whole situation was for Danielle, she couldn't imagine ever having to give away her own child.
Nearly an hour later Phyllis called up and both girls headed downstairs for dinner. They all sat around a small table in front of the living room window and Danielle fidgeted with her salad obviously bothered by the pictures Bree had sent. "I couldn't believe it when Bree called and asked me if you could come stay with us. We were delighted weren't we Danielle, sit up straight" Phyllis said as she tapped her arm and Danielle rolled her eyes and shifted in her chair. "Delighted" Danielle said faking a smile and looking back down at her plate. "I am sure you're going to love it here. There is a ton to do and you won't find any snakes in your bed" she said laughing hysterically. Evelyn just smiled not really finding her "joke" very funny.
"Actually Danielle was telling me about a little music bar downtown, we were thinking about heading down there to check it out tonight, after we do the dishes of course". She smiled at Danielle when her head popped up at the mention of the bar. "Why I think that would be an amazing idea, go see the culture experience the nightlife. You girls just don't stay out too late" Phyllis added patting her on the top of her hand. Danielle smirked with a look of disbelief on her face and Evelyn shrugged her shoulders and quickly finished her roast beef.
* * *
"I still can't believe you got her to let us go out on a school night" Danielle said adjusting her stiletto heal as they hopped out of Phyllis's Oldsmobile. "All you have to do is be nice to her Danielle.
"It's not that easy" she groaned walking towards the main drag. "You don't have to live with her all of the time, it's almost as bad as living with my mother"
Danielle and Evelyn finally made their way out of the alley where the car was parked and headed towards a large club with a group of people standing outside. Once Evelyn got closer she noticed the large O'Malley's sign and all of the four leaf clovers that covered the door. "I never thought of you as an Irish pub kind of girl".
"There's probably a lot you don't know about me" Danielle pushing the large wooden door open. Despite the fact that it was a weekday the place was packed. The club consisted of two rooms. The first one was a large room with a huge bar in the center if Evelyn stood on her tip toes she could see a large stage in the adjoining room and tons of people crowded around it. Danielle confidently walked up and ordered herself a beer. "Not much for ID's here I take it" Evelyn said smiling. "As long as you have money they have beer" Danielle added. "I'll take one too" Evelyn yelled over the loud music. She took a sip of her bottom of the barrel drink and grabbed the closest bar stool she could find. She took in a deep breath and once her ears adjusted she could vaguely hear the band playing. The lead singer crooned a popular cover and his voice, though Evelyn knew she had never heard it before, sounded so familiar. "Let's go check out the band" Evelyn said quickly jumping off the stool and heading towards the music with Danielle in tow. "Oooh look at the drum player, he's a hottie" Danielle remarked as she elbowed someone out of the way. "Danielle I can't even see the band, none the less, make out anyone's level of hotness from way back here" she said laughing. Despite the rocky start and all of her preconceived notions, Evelyn really was having a decent time with Danielle. They finally found a slightly open area near the stage. Evelyn adjusted her shirt and nearly dropped her drink when she looked up and saw that the voice behind the microphone was none other than John. She stood in stunned silence for a moment and watched as he belted it out in front of the microphone. "Evelyn, are you okay?" Danielle asked noticing the lack of color in her cheeks. "I know him".
Danielle let out a slight chuckle. "Yeah I am sure and I slept with the drummer last week".
"I am serious, he's an old friend" Evelyn remarked not taking her eyes off of him. "Well if you know him why don't you go say hello". Evelyn thought about it for a split second and decided that this wasn't really the time. They finished playing and John stepped up to the microphone and thanked the audience. Everyone cheered for what felt like forever and Evelyn smiled proud of her friends accomplishments. "Well they are done now and if you're not going to do it I will… Hey!" Danielle yelled out over the crowd. John didn't flinch but Emmet; the lead bassist looked over at her and smiled. John walked over and grabbed a water bottle from a nearby stool. The crowd began to break up and people started walking over to the bar to refill drinks and prepare for the next act. As he was about to leave the stage Emmet walked over and whispered something in his ear causing him to turn and look in Evelyn's direction. He then possessed the same look of astonishment she did and he had to blink a few times just to confirm what he was really seeing. "I can't believe it" John said jumping off the stage and running towards her, picking her up off the ground. "What are you doing here" he asked with excitement. "I'm staying with family for a little while not too far from here" she said smiling. "Wow…I mean of all places".
"Of all places" Evelyn said smiling. Danielle cleared her throat. "Oh, Um John this is Bree's daughter Danielle".
"Who is that?" Danielle asked referring to a young guy with dirty blonde hair standing behind John. John grabbed his arm and dragged him over towards them. "This is Emmet's brother Rick, he was filling in with us for the night. Rick this is Danielle….." John gestured towards her. "Van de Kamp" she said as she shook his hand.
"Can I buy you a drink?" Rick asked and they both headed towards the bar leaving Evelyn and John alone. Evelyn looked up at him and John's smile faded when he got the chance to really look at her. Her face was hard, as if her life had drastically changed in the weeks since he had last seen her and her eyes were lost, vacant of the warmth that once encompassed them and there were traces of bruises around her eyes."Evelyn what happened?"
"A lot happened after you left. You might have known had you called" she remarked staring down at her feet. "I just got really busy" he said knowing that his answer wasn't anywhere near what she deserved. "It looks like it" she said looking around the club. "Do you want to take a walk?" he asked running his hands through his hair.
"Sure" Evelyn said. She looked over and caught Danielle and Rick sitting at the bar. Danielle smiled and waved when Evelyn gestured towards the door, and she felt shivers go down her spine when John placed his hand on her back and motioned her towards the exit. Evelyn let the cold air hit her face and she let go of the breath she had been holding onto. "Listen Evelyn, I am so sorry. I know there is no excuse for what I did it's just we got to Texas and met with this manager and he wants to take us into the studio, an actual studio" John said excitedly. "He got us a couple of gig's here and there. We are headed to North Carolina of all places after this and then we are going to New York City to record some music".
"That's amazing" Evelyn said sincerely. "Soon you're gonna be famous and you're not going to want to hang out with any civilians like me" she said smiling. "That will never happen" John said seriously, stopping on the sidewalk. He slowly moved towards her and put his hand on her cheek. "Evelyn, I thought about you ever single day since I left". She took a step back and John's hand fell away from her face. "John, how hard would it have been for you to pick up the phone and dial my number? You have no idea how badly I needed you".
"I am here now" John said walking up and kissing her. For a split second Evelyn surrendered. She let his tongue trace her lips and it felt as if nothing had changed between them. Then she came back to reality and pushed him so hard, she nearly knocked him over. "I'm with Mike" she screamed trying to catch her breath. "What?"
She was beyond flustered and her words came out in a jumbled mess. "Like I said a whole bunch of stuff happened after you left, I really can't get into it right now but he was there and you never called. I thought I'd never see you again." John took a step back and sat on a small crate near the back entrance to the bar. "I am sorry John".
"It was my fault" he said honestly. "I got so caught up in everything that was going on. It never occurred to me that you wouldn't wait. It was a dumb move" he said smiling halfheartedly. It was true. He never took any time he spent with Evelyn for granted but this was the first big break he had ever received and he immediately threw himself into his work. "Is there anything at all I can do to make it up to you?" Evelyn thought about it for a moment and then her eyes lit up. "I don't like that look at all" John said jokingly. Evelyn would never know how much it pained him to know she moved on, but he didn't want to lose her. "Take me with you" she said.
"You can't be serious" John said dumbfounded. "Take me to North Carolina with you, I promise I won't bother you or get in the way. I just have to get out of here".
John stood up and leaned against the wall. "So let me get this straight... You will forgive me for being such an asshole and all I have to do is take you with us".
Evelyn bit her lip and looked at him with hopeful eyes. "Pleeeeasseee?" she asked flashing him the puppy dog eyes. John looked at her and smiled. How could he ever say no? Earlier in the bar, she had been quiet and nervous. Once she finally opened up, John saw the playfulness and light that made him fall for her when he first met her, despite the serious predicament they were in. "Deal" he said.
Evelyn smiled and ran up to him and hugged him. She didn't want to betray Mike, but the last thing she wanted to do was let John go again. Now all she needed was a plan.
When we are backed against a wall, our very first instinct is to run. The wind is in our hair, out legs are gaining strength and we feel free. When you run it seems as if the whole world is ahead of you. We are so focused on the future, sometimes we forget to think about those we have left behind.