Water Ch. 99 - Army of One

Reaching over and feeling the cold sheets of an empty spot was one of the rudest awakenings Beth has ever had.  Sitting up and looking around, there is no sign of Jon. 



The alarm clock on her dresser, next to a picture of her and Brian, says 7:42.  She first feels panic.  She left him last night at a helipad with his children.  Getting out of bed as fast as she can, she runs to the kitchen to grab her purse.  Getting her phone out, she sees that he's not called or tried to contact her at all.  Still in a panic, she dials his number.  Ring, ring, ring, ring..........Dorothea answers his phone, "He's sleeping." And the line went dead.

Beth can't move.  She can't believe what just happened.  Did Dorothea really just answer his phone?  Why does she have his phone?  'Think Beth, think.  There has to be a reason.  Are you forgetting something?'  Setting her phone on the counter, she walks over to the window and she can feel the anxiety set in and the tears start to build.  There isn't any reason for him to not have come here last night, or at the very least call me.  She has to sit down, she can feel her herself getting weak in the knees and sick to her stomach.  With her head in her hands, she starts to really cry.  Why, why, why?  Ok, think this through - he flew out to drop the kids off and was supposed to come right back.  What would make him not come back?  And again, why does Dorothea have his phone?  He obviously slept there.

 

Beth has always been one to go with her gut, and it's never really steered her wrong.  She cannot go through this.  He should have called her.  Did he really think that this was okay?  She gets herself together, wiping the tears from her face.  She gets up and walks over to her phone.  She picks it up and dials United Airlines.  She books the next direct flight, one way to L.A.  He didn't even call.  She has 2 hours to get dressed and ready to head to the airport.  She's going home, and getting back to the life that she knew.  The life that hurt her much less, the life that she controlled.  He never even tried to contact me. There is no acceptable reason for him to not call, none.

 

She goes into her room and grabs her robe.  Putting it on, she went back into the kitchen and made coffee.  She didn't have decaf, so she made regular and didn't use as many grounds as she normally would have.  When it's done, she takes it into the bathroom and starts her shower.  In the shower she cried, getting dressed she cried, packing her bag, she cried.  She is in shock and going through the motions like a robot.  It feels like she has done this so many times that she could do this in her sleep.  Bag is packed and she's ready to go.  She's just going to drive her car there and thought she would have someone from Deloitte get it out of long term parking. 

She gets to the airport, takes the shuttle to the terminal and checks in.  The time comes to board and she does.  She sits in her window seat, with her sunglasses on and just lets the tears roll.  She can't believe that after all they've been through, he would throw it all away for Dorothea.  Throw it all away period.  They were going to have a baby and he was excited, or so she thought.

 

The plane takes off and she looks back at NYC and says, "Goodbye rock star.  There will be no next time."  She's able to doze off and shut her mind off for a few minutes, but the jerk next to her keeps bumping her and trying to converse with her.  Finally she says, "I  don't mean to be rude, but I'm trying to sleep."  And she turns away.  He shuts up and leaves her alone.

 

Feeling bad for being mean to the guy next to her, make it's even harder for her to go to sleep.  She just wants to turn her mind of and let go of all the problems in her world, even if for only an hour.  Proves to be too difficult, so she sits there and looks out the window.   Running the memories through her mind, and feeling her heart break just a little more with each thought, she doesn't know how to handle having a baby on her own.  The thought that she is going to be responsible for another human being scares the hell out of her, she never thought she would be in this situation - ever.  She feels sleepier and sleepier and she finally let's herself doze off.  She could feel her body relax and she knows it's just a matter of time before they are back on the ground and she can get back to life.  Back to the life she had, pre Jon Bon Jovi.  She knows it won't be the same, but she's really going to try.  She has let work get away from her and now she finally had the energy to get back into it, with all that she has to give.  Many clients left messages and sent emails and she decided she'd contact them all tomorrow. 

 

She landed in L.A. at 12:00 local time.  As she walked off the plane, she grabbed her phone to see if Jon had called, and he did.  He had left her a couple of voicemails, after calling her more than a dozen times.  She didn't care what the voicemails said, she went ahead and deleted both of them and made the decision that she wanst going to call him back.  She couldn't do it, she wouldn't do it.  It's her heart and who better to protect it?