Seth sat in his car, staring up at his house. He was home but it didn't feel like home. It hadn't felt like that in a long time. More like a random place he just crashed when he wasn't on the road. It felt like the walls were closing in on him, and he couldn't breathe properly when he was inside.
"God damn it!" He muttered.
Lately it was getting harder pretending to be happy with this life. He had lived his dream and the payoff had been amazing, but there was still one thing missing. His other dream. The one he left behind in order to pursuit this.
He took out his phone and opened Twitter. The story was still there. Some fan claiming she had slept with him and was pregnant with his child. Eventually the world would catch on that it wasn't true. Either she wasn't pregnant or the child would belong to some other man. His lawyer was already on it. He had never seen that woman before, and he had most certainly never slept with her. Just someone getting their 15 minutes of fame on his behalf.
He knew the internet. They might be against him right now for not stepping up or even saying anything about it, but sooner or later they would all turn on her when the truth came out, and they would all come crawling back pretending to be his fan once more as if they had his back when it counted.
"It's all so fake," he sighed.
He closed Twitter and instead looked at some old pictures on his phone. He had never been able to delete them. His other dream. Licia with her long, caramel brown hair and her cognac brown eyes. They used to dream of living out in the countryside together and raising chickens, cats and dogs. Maybe even some goats. Just living the quiet life in peace.
When he went to chase his dream of becoming a professional wrestler, she went to live their dream on her own. Over the years he had looked her up. She still lived in that house, and as far as he could tell, she was single. Sometimes she had dated but nothing serious. No one ever stayed with her, just like no one ever stayed with him. She was too deeply rooted in his heart for him to ever let anyone inside completely. He could only hope it was the same with her even though it wasn't fair of him to hope for such a thing.
She had let him go. He still remembered the final day he saw her. Both of them were crying. She asked him to find the happiness she couldn't give him. And he had. He had found it. It just wasn't enough. Not without her.
"Fuck this!" He growled.
He threw his phone in the passenger seat, turned on the engine and pulled out of the driveway. Fuck this house, fuck today, fuck wrestling, fuck everything, fuck his life. He drove for hours until he entered a small village. Some people watched curiously as the unknown car drove through their little town. He passed the small supermarket there and continued out of town. Even this far out wasn't enough for Licia but it was close enough for her to go there to shop.
He turned right down a long, dirt road and then stopped. There it was. The house was right in front of him. Movement to his right made him turn his head. She was standing there in her garden, taking down her dry laundry before the sun would set. An old, black dog with grey hair here and there stood next to her. He exited the car and looked at her. She had aged just like he had but she was still the most beautiful woman he had ever seen.
"Seth?" She asked. "What are you doing here?"
Her voice sent him right back to a place he longed to be. It was like they had only been apart for days and not several years. He crossed the yard and scooped her up in his arms.
"I don't wanna talk," he said.
He kissed her and was surprised that she allowed it. She buried her fingers in his hair while he carried her inside the house.
