Stephanie walked into the house. It seemed so quiet, like it was sad or
lonely or something. She had spent the better part of two years in this
house, living with her husband in what she thought was a happy, peaceful
existence. Now she would never enter it again and it seemed weighted by
this thought. She stepped out of the way and let Chris in, and he looked
around nervously, he had never been here before and it really seemed cold
and impersonal, not exactly what he pictured Stephanie living in.
"So this was your house?" Chris said, still looking around.
"Yeah," she said, setting her keys down on the front table, "Why? Not what you imagined?"
"Not really, I mean, it's too...."
"Clean," she supplied.
"Yeah," he chuckled, not knowing how to put it delicately.
"That's Hunter. He's like a neat freak or something. I used to drive him up the walls."
"I'm sure you did. This place is spotless."
"Yeah, he has a maid come in twice a week. Come on, I'll show you up to Tristan's old room so we can start packing stuff up."
"Fine."
She started going up the large staircase in the foyer and Chris followed diligently. His house was nice, and quite large, but this place was huge, and very, very white. It was almost too pristine, like a museum. He half expected little red ropes closing off certain areas. They got upstairs and there was a long hallway filled with doors.
"Did you like living here?" Chris asked.
"Yeah, why?"
"Well, I mean it's huge. Did you want a huge house?"
"This was Hunter's house before I met him," she explained, "I just moved in with him. I was living in an apartment before I married him. Not too far from my parents because they didn't want me living all alone, but I persuaded them to let me."
"Oh, so you didn't pick it out together?"
"Nah, I just moved in. Kind of like what I'm doing with you."
"Do you want to move into a different place, we can pick one out together or something?" he said, rubbing the back of his neck nervously. Seeing where she used to live made his home seem more of a dump and not up to her standards in the slightest. He had the money to buy his own home, but had never really needed more space than he had.
"Chris, you don't need to move to please me," she laughed, "I like your house, it's nice, and it's not too big, but it's still big. Did you know, half of these rooms are just filled with junk that Hunter has?"
"I didn't know that."
"Yeah, he has eight bedrooms in this place and I think four of them actually have a function. That's just crazy. I like your house because it's much more cozier you know. God, would you have bought a house for me?"
"Well, I just want to make living with me as easy as possible."
"I'm not going to make you buy me a freaking house to make it easier. Maybe you can make sure that you don't leave any dirty clothes around, and that's probably the extent of how you can make living with you easier."
"I just want you to feel comfortable enough to call it your home too."
"I will, it'll just take some getting used to," she said as she stopped in front of the door, "Ok, here we are."
"Tristan's room?"
"Yup," she said, "Prepare yourself."
He was about to ask what he had to be prepared for, but she opened the door before he could. He was somewhat in awe of it all. The room was a pale pink shade and it was filled to the brim with toys and furniture and everything looked so perfect and in place. He almost felt bad that he had to disrupt it all.
"You're thinking about how nice it is huh?" she said as she walked fully inside.
"Yeah...."
"Well, when you're stuck at home with nothing to do, you do crazy things like design a nursery."
"You did all this?"
"Pretty much, yeah."
"I don't wanna touch anything," he said, setting the unfolded boxes on the ground next to him.
"Don't worry about it, just get all the stuff and I'll get all the stuff I need out of my room and other various places and we'll go."
"Quick and painless huh?"
"I hope so. I'll see you in a bit. If you need me, I'm at the door at the end of the hallway."
"Yes ma'am."
Stephanie giggled and walked down the hallway slowly, taking in everything around her. She had once lived here. It hadn't even been two weeks since she had called this place home. Now she was leaving it, leaving something so familiar, for something not so familiar. She entered her old bedroom and happy memories assailed her. Times when she knew, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that she had loved Hunter. That time had passed, but the memories, they don't fade away so easily.
She walked into her closet and looked at all the clothes hanging there. Hunter had had to relinquish the closet to her because she had so many clothes. She started taking things out slowly and packing them into the boxes and suitcases she had brought with her. She could smell Hunter's cologne in the room, and she thought back to when they were happy, and spent all their time in this bedroom. It seemed like dreams now, that none of it had ever really happened.
She finally finished with the clothes and went to work on all her jewelry and other things that were scattered around the room. She was almost amazed at how much stuff she had seemed to acquire over the past couple years. She stared down at some of the necklaces and things that he had given her. She fingered a diamond bracelet he had gotten her about a month ago, when they had brought Tristan home from the hospital. It had been just a one of those days kind of present, just to make her smile.
She didn't know when she had started crying, but when she looked up in the mirror, she found that her eyes were red and her cheeks stained with tears. She had thought she could make it through this day without tears, that she would just come in, get her stuff, and then get out again. But of course, that wasn't the case, not when so much of her life had occurred in this house. She sat on the bed and put her hands over her face, trying to hide her tears.
Chris finished packing all of the stuffed animals and assorted toys. He didn't have a Sharpie with him, so he went to go ask Stephanie if she had one. As he neared the room, he could hear her softly crying. He knocked on the door, but he guessed she couldn't hear him over her crying. He opened the door and saw her sobbing while sitting on the edge of the bed. He went over and kneeled in front of her.
"Steph, what's wrong?" he asked softly.
Stephanie jumped unconsciously, not hearing Chris walk in. She wiped her eyes and looked at him and saw the pity on his face. She sniffled and tried to smile, trying to ease the situation, but it wasn't working. She felt him put his hands on her knees and rub them gently, trying to calm her down.
"I'm sorry, I didn't want to get emotional."
"No worries, you're allowed, you just broke up with your husband," he said, giving her a supportive smile.
"Yeah," she sniffled.
Chris reached over to the nightstand and grabbed a tissue for her, which she accepted gratefully. She blew her nose and he handed her another tissue with which to dry her eyes. He waited until she calmed down before he started asking her any questions. He knew that she was going to have a rough time with this. It was never easy to pick up and move on, even though you knew it was necessary.
"Do you wanna talk about it?" he asked, getting up to sit next to her.
"You know, I know that the circumstances under which I got married weren't the best, but still, when you marry someone you expect it to last forever, and then when it doesn't it's just a huge disappointment."
"I'm sure it is. I've never been married, but I always hope that when I do, it'll stick you know. And then we'll have that perfect life, nice house, lots of kids."
She looked at him, "Everyone wants that. I'm sure you'll find it someday."
"And you'll find your special person."
She turned her head to look at him. He seemed so sincere that she could almost believe him when she said that. But as of this moment she didn't think there was anyone for her out there. She had screwed up her life so much that she didn't really deserve anyone. What made him think that she was even allowed to have someone after she had broken hearts and lied to so many people?
"No, I won't," she said, shaking her head.
"Steph, you will find someone you love more than you ever thought possible, and you'll wonder how you ever lived without them."
"So you say," she said, "But look at my life right now. I'm getting divorced, I have a baby with one of my friends who only had sex with me because he pitied me, and I'm just a mess."
Chris held her, "If you're a mess, than I'm a mess too."
"No."
"Steph, look at me, I had sex with my friend and got her pregnant, told her I loved her, which she didn't reciprocate, so I basically looked like a fool, and then I turn to drinking, I'm a mess too."
"Yeah, that is pretty bad," she said, laughing through her tears.
"Yeah, and this is why we're together, because we need each other to keep each other sane."
"Keep me sane Chris," she said.
"Looks like you're just about done here, so let me start loading stuff up and we'll leave ok."
"Ok."
"I'll give you a minute to.....say goodbye."
"Thanks," she told him gratefully.
She sat there as he started to grab some of the boxes, almost dropping them on the way out the door. She stood up and looked around, just taking in the surroundings. She knew she would probably never look at this room again. She could still hear the faint echoes of laughter, tears, and love in the room. It almost made her not want to leave. She didn't know how long she stood there, gazing upon her former abode, but before she knew it Chris had come back in the room. She turned to him and then noticed that all her boxes were gone.
"I'm done," he said tentatively, not wanting to invade on her moment, but wanting her to know that he was ready whenever she was ready.
"Ok, so I guess we should go," she said, though her voice told him that she didn't want to leave.
"It's ok if you want to stay for a few more minutes."
She sighed; she didn't want to stay. That would only prolong the inevitable. She had to turn around and walk out that door, and she couldn't look back. She was starting a new life now, and that meant that she had to leave her old one. She inhaled loudly and let out her breath slowly, taking in the room one more time.
"I'm ready," she told him.
"You sure?"
She turned to him and walked to the door, kissing him on the cheek before she left the room, "I'm positive. Let's go pick up Trist and go home. Then we can start the task of unloading all this stuff."
He just nodded as she walked downstairs and he followed her, marveling at the kind of strength she had. He knew this was difficult for her, but here she was, acting as if it were nothing. He had to admire that about her, she was so strong and brave, even when she didn't need to be. She walked to the door and held it open for Chris as he walked out. She took one last look around, smiling softly. She closed the door silently, though she could feel the echoing into the empty house.
She walked to Chris and grabbed his hand. She needed to know she wasn't alone in this. He grasped it tightly in his as they walked to the car. She could almost believe that they were a couple in love or something of that nature. When she needed him, he was always there. She knew he had said he would always be there for her, but she had taken it to mean that he would always be there to help her with Tristan, but he was proving her wrong. He was there for her too, and she couldn't ask for anyone better. She didn't even look back as they drove away.
She was starting a new life.
"So this was your house?" Chris said, still looking around.
"Yeah," she said, setting her keys down on the front table, "Why? Not what you imagined?"
"Not really, I mean, it's too...."
"Clean," she supplied.
"Yeah," he chuckled, not knowing how to put it delicately.
"That's Hunter. He's like a neat freak or something. I used to drive him up the walls."
"I'm sure you did. This place is spotless."
"Yeah, he has a maid come in twice a week. Come on, I'll show you up to Tristan's old room so we can start packing stuff up."
"Fine."
She started going up the large staircase in the foyer and Chris followed diligently. His house was nice, and quite large, but this place was huge, and very, very white. It was almost too pristine, like a museum. He half expected little red ropes closing off certain areas. They got upstairs and there was a long hallway filled with doors.
"Did you like living here?" Chris asked.
"Yeah, why?"
"Well, I mean it's huge. Did you want a huge house?"
"This was Hunter's house before I met him," she explained, "I just moved in with him. I was living in an apartment before I married him. Not too far from my parents because they didn't want me living all alone, but I persuaded them to let me."
"Oh, so you didn't pick it out together?"
"Nah, I just moved in. Kind of like what I'm doing with you."
"Do you want to move into a different place, we can pick one out together or something?" he said, rubbing the back of his neck nervously. Seeing where she used to live made his home seem more of a dump and not up to her standards in the slightest. He had the money to buy his own home, but had never really needed more space than he had.
"Chris, you don't need to move to please me," she laughed, "I like your house, it's nice, and it's not too big, but it's still big. Did you know, half of these rooms are just filled with junk that Hunter has?"
"I didn't know that."
"Yeah, he has eight bedrooms in this place and I think four of them actually have a function. That's just crazy. I like your house because it's much more cozier you know. God, would you have bought a house for me?"
"Well, I just want to make living with me as easy as possible."
"I'm not going to make you buy me a freaking house to make it easier. Maybe you can make sure that you don't leave any dirty clothes around, and that's probably the extent of how you can make living with you easier."
"I just want you to feel comfortable enough to call it your home too."
"I will, it'll just take some getting used to," she said as she stopped in front of the door, "Ok, here we are."
"Tristan's room?"
"Yup," she said, "Prepare yourself."
He was about to ask what he had to be prepared for, but she opened the door before he could. He was somewhat in awe of it all. The room was a pale pink shade and it was filled to the brim with toys and furniture and everything looked so perfect and in place. He almost felt bad that he had to disrupt it all.
"You're thinking about how nice it is huh?" she said as she walked fully inside.
"Yeah...."
"Well, when you're stuck at home with nothing to do, you do crazy things like design a nursery."
"You did all this?"
"Pretty much, yeah."
"I don't wanna touch anything," he said, setting the unfolded boxes on the ground next to him.
"Don't worry about it, just get all the stuff and I'll get all the stuff I need out of my room and other various places and we'll go."
"Quick and painless huh?"
"I hope so. I'll see you in a bit. If you need me, I'm at the door at the end of the hallway."
"Yes ma'am."
Stephanie giggled and walked down the hallway slowly, taking in everything around her. She had once lived here. It hadn't even been two weeks since she had called this place home. Now she was leaving it, leaving something so familiar, for something not so familiar. She entered her old bedroom and happy memories assailed her. Times when she knew, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that she had loved Hunter. That time had passed, but the memories, they don't fade away so easily.
She walked into her closet and looked at all the clothes hanging there. Hunter had had to relinquish the closet to her because she had so many clothes. She started taking things out slowly and packing them into the boxes and suitcases she had brought with her. She could smell Hunter's cologne in the room, and she thought back to when they were happy, and spent all their time in this bedroom. It seemed like dreams now, that none of it had ever really happened.
She finally finished with the clothes and went to work on all her jewelry and other things that were scattered around the room. She was almost amazed at how much stuff she had seemed to acquire over the past couple years. She stared down at some of the necklaces and things that he had given her. She fingered a diamond bracelet he had gotten her about a month ago, when they had brought Tristan home from the hospital. It had been just a one of those days kind of present, just to make her smile.
She didn't know when she had started crying, but when she looked up in the mirror, she found that her eyes were red and her cheeks stained with tears. She had thought she could make it through this day without tears, that she would just come in, get her stuff, and then get out again. But of course, that wasn't the case, not when so much of her life had occurred in this house. She sat on the bed and put her hands over her face, trying to hide her tears.
Chris finished packing all of the stuffed animals and assorted toys. He didn't have a Sharpie with him, so he went to go ask Stephanie if she had one. As he neared the room, he could hear her softly crying. He knocked on the door, but he guessed she couldn't hear him over her crying. He opened the door and saw her sobbing while sitting on the edge of the bed. He went over and kneeled in front of her.
"Steph, what's wrong?" he asked softly.
Stephanie jumped unconsciously, not hearing Chris walk in. She wiped her eyes and looked at him and saw the pity on his face. She sniffled and tried to smile, trying to ease the situation, but it wasn't working. She felt him put his hands on her knees and rub them gently, trying to calm her down.
"I'm sorry, I didn't want to get emotional."
"No worries, you're allowed, you just broke up with your husband," he said, giving her a supportive smile.
"Yeah," she sniffled.
Chris reached over to the nightstand and grabbed a tissue for her, which she accepted gratefully. She blew her nose and he handed her another tissue with which to dry her eyes. He waited until she calmed down before he started asking her any questions. He knew that she was going to have a rough time with this. It was never easy to pick up and move on, even though you knew it was necessary.
"Do you wanna talk about it?" he asked, getting up to sit next to her.
"You know, I know that the circumstances under which I got married weren't the best, but still, when you marry someone you expect it to last forever, and then when it doesn't it's just a huge disappointment."
"I'm sure it is. I've never been married, but I always hope that when I do, it'll stick you know. And then we'll have that perfect life, nice house, lots of kids."
She looked at him, "Everyone wants that. I'm sure you'll find it someday."
"And you'll find your special person."
She turned her head to look at him. He seemed so sincere that she could almost believe him when she said that. But as of this moment she didn't think there was anyone for her out there. She had screwed up her life so much that she didn't really deserve anyone. What made him think that she was even allowed to have someone after she had broken hearts and lied to so many people?
"No, I won't," she said, shaking her head.
"Steph, you will find someone you love more than you ever thought possible, and you'll wonder how you ever lived without them."
"So you say," she said, "But look at my life right now. I'm getting divorced, I have a baby with one of my friends who only had sex with me because he pitied me, and I'm just a mess."
Chris held her, "If you're a mess, than I'm a mess too."
"No."
"Steph, look at me, I had sex with my friend and got her pregnant, told her I loved her, which she didn't reciprocate, so I basically looked like a fool, and then I turn to drinking, I'm a mess too."
"Yeah, that is pretty bad," she said, laughing through her tears.
"Yeah, and this is why we're together, because we need each other to keep each other sane."
"Keep me sane Chris," she said.
"Looks like you're just about done here, so let me start loading stuff up and we'll leave ok."
"Ok."
"I'll give you a minute to.....say goodbye."
"Thanks," she told him gratefully.
She sat there as he started to grab some of the boxes, almost dropping them on the way out the door. She stood up and looked around, just taking in the surroundings. She knew she would probably never look at this room again. She could still hear the faint echoes of laughter, tears, and love in the room. It almost made her not want to leave. She didn't know how long she stood there, gazing upon her former abode, but before she knew it Chris had come back in the room. She turned to him and then noticed that all her boxes were gone.
"I'm done," he said tentatively, not wanting to invade on her moment, but wanting her to know that he was ready whenever she was ready.
"Ok, so I guess we should go," she said, though her voice told him that she didn't want to leave.
"It's ok if you want to stay for a few more minutes."
She sighed; she didn't want to stay. That would only prolong the inevitable. She had to turn around and walk out that door, and she couldn't look back. She was starting a new life now, and that meant that she had to leave her old one. She inhaled loudly and let out her breath slowly, taking in the room one more time.
"I'm ready," she told him.
"You sure?"
She turned to him and walked to the door, kissing him on the cheek before she left the room, "I'm positive. Let's go pick up Trist and go home. Then we can start the task of unloading all this stuff."
He just nodded as she walked downstairs and he followed her, marveling at the kind of strength she had. He knew this was difficult for her, but here she was, acting as if it were nothing. He had to admire that about her, she was so strong and brave, even when she didn't need to be. She walked to the door and held it open for Chris as he walked out. She took one last look around, smiling softly. She closed the door silently, though she could feel the echoing into the empty house.
She walked to Chris and grabbed his hand. She needed to know she wasn't alone in this. He grasped it tightly in his as they walked to the car. She could almost believe that they were a couple in love or something of that nature. When she needed him, he was always there. She knew he had said he would always be there for her, but she had taken it to mean that he would always be there to help her with Tristan, but he was proving her wrong. He was there for her too, and she couldn't ask for anyone better. She didn't even look back as they drove away.
She was starting a new life.