Las Vistas Episode #6

***Author’s Note: Please refer to this post for background on the new character briefly mentioned in this piece.

Golden Coral Resort & Spa - Tahiti

Is that a grey hair, Eden thought to herself as she gently brushed a few stray tendrils from Cyrus’s face. She drew her hand back when he stirred slightly, but he didn’t wake up. She had been standing there for a while; long enough for her legs to feel numb, standing so long but still not ready to move. She held her breath for a moment and then released it so that she could breathe in tandem with him. She watched as her chest moved up and down right along with his. Two people, one breath, one life. Was that really their truth anymore?

They had always been in sync since the first day they met. They loved the same food, the same music; they both had the same strange sense of humor that no one else seemed to understand. They both had been focused on the same dream as well. Well, maybe that wasn’t completely true. She had had many other dreams for her life, but she hadn’t thought twice about putting them aside to help make his come true. His grades, his stats, his draft number, his team; everything in their life was him. The 10 year plan was coming to a close and every piece they had put in place had come together almost perfectly, but not once had any of their plans involved Cyrus getting injured, and from the way things had been since, it seemed as if his pride had been torn just as much as his tendons.

There was nothing specific she could put her finger on and that was the part that really got to her. He had been as sweet and as charming as ever to her -- as far as she could see, he had been taking everything in stride. Even when he had been benched for the rest of the season, he didn’t show one moment of irritation or annoyance. He had been cool, composed, and cooperative; none of which made sense to her given everything that was at stake. Their whole life was essentially hanging in the balance and he was “just fine” or so he said. But there was something else in the background, some invisible distance between them; a part of him that he wouldn’t let her see. It was nothing she could identify but it was there.

She first noticed it when Mackenzie had been born. He had come back to her and it scared her that she hadn’t realized how far away he had been. But preoccupation, even with a pregnancy, wasn’t enough of an excuse, which is why this time; she had seen it the moment it slipped through her fingers. He had become distant again, present but distant, attentive, but distance, always distant. So she was standing here trying to see him, trying to understand, trying to catch a moment of closeness.

Her heart jumped out of her chest when her cell phone started vibrating on the nightstand. She picked it up for the first time in hours and saw that Reese was calling and that she had 10 other missed calls. She eased away from the bed and out onto the balcony to take the call.

“Hey Reese what’s going on?”

“I was going to ask you the same thing. Thanks for letting me know you were leaving town. I had to pry it out of your housekeeper”

“I’m sorry; I was going to call you in the morning. Cyrus surprised me with a last minute trip and we were out sightseeing all day. Is everything okay?”

“I don’t know. Isabella called looking for you. She sounded upset, so I told her that I would track you down. I tried to check on her again, but I haven’t been able to get a hold of her.”

“Did she say what was wrong? Please tell me there isn’t another news scandal. Did she say anything about Nico?

Reese bit back the automatic response that came to mind at the mention of that name and opted for a more restrained approach. “No she didn’t say what was wrong and she definitely didn’t mention Nico. After everything that’s happened why would she? They’re over, or at least they sure as hell better be!”

“Reese -” Eden stopped before she started and let out a sigh. "What?!" he replied. “Thanks for calling me. I’m going to call Issy now. I’ll see you when I get back.”

Reese hung up, barely uttering a goodbye and immediately began dialing Isabella’s number again, but stopped himself. Eden could think or say what she wanted about Nico and Isabella, but there was another point of view, a sensible version of reality that spelled disaster where the two of them were concerned. He remembered the promise he had made to himself that he was going to make her understand that reality and show her how much he wanted to be a part of it, if only she would let him. He shoved his phone back in his pocket and hopped in his car. What he had to say needed to be heard in person; had needed to be said for a very long time, and was going to come out before the day was through. He started the engine, pulled out of the driveway and began the short journey to Isabella’s house.