"What did I tell you about Line 1?!" Vince roared in the background.

"Okay, honey, um, I’ve got to go. I’ll call you later." And he was gone. Just like that. I had caught him briefly, and for fear of a raised voice, that butterfly had skipped right out of my net again.

My fiancé had been missing for many hours, well, it added up to a few days, really, and I had finally thought to look for him at Vince’s place. It was a Vince’s workplace, really, but Steven thought of it as a hangout. Which Vince did not really discourage.

And when I called, there he was, hiding out, dodging life altogether, but also effectively dodging me. Which he wasn’t necessarily trying to do. I was just a casualty.

"Oh, hi, honey," he said easily, when Vince passed the phone to him. "I was just playing a game here. It’s battleships! Can you hear that? That’s someone being thrown overboard!"

"Darling? Darling. I hate to just cut to the chase like this, but … where have you been for the last few days?"

"Oh, I was just over here at Vince’s, you know. Well … yeah, mostly here."

"Josh from work called and you haven’t been there either. And I’ve been a little worried about you," I said cautiously. I didn’t want to scare him away again.

"Well, I can take care of myself out in the world. I’m stronger than the average human – you know that. No one would dare take me on."

"Steven, I know you’re strong. But the people that care about you worry when you go missing – "

"Easy, easy! I wasn’t missing. I knew exactly what I was doing. And you never have to worry about me. Here I am, safe and sound."

I wanted to pull my hair out. Why had he gone off like that? Had he really been at Vince’s place all of this time? Why hadn’t I thought to call there first? I mean, we were in the middle of the biggest thing in our lives – negotiations to buy our house, for God’s sake - and he had just gone AWOL.

Walked off, saying he just needed to go to the men’s room, and no one had thought anything of it. He must have slipped out of a side door. The sellers were more sour than sympathetic, and thought I must know where he was. And by then I was worried sick. The agents were none too happy themselves. All in all, it was a super day.

Of course, I had been coaxing him through the whole process, trying to ease his anxiety. Buying this house was originally his idea, but lately he seemed very fidgety about it. Then again, I never thought he'd just "walk off the set," so to speak. It was maddening. Was he really that scared of the commitment, or was he suffering from something else? I mean, if this was some kind of flight from reality, what was I in for? We were planning to get married … you have to hash out the squirrelly stuff ahead of time! 

"Darling, I don’t know if you remember, but the last time I saw you, we were talking to agents about buying the house? The meeting on Thursday?" Silence. Then I heard keys tapping in the background.

"Honey, are you listening?" Silence from him, and still the tapping.

"Honey?"

Yes, dear?" It was his absent-minded voice. I knew it well. It meant he was doing something else and paying lip service to whatever we were talking about. Uncannily, he could recall pertinent bits of a conversation later, word for word. Then again, he often also missed the gist the whole thing.

"Steven, what about our offer on the house?" Silence.

"Steven."

"Yes, the offer on the house. I heard you."

"So what about it?" Silence again, then the tapping of the keys. I heard him swear under his breath.

"Steven!"

"What IS it, honey? Why are you shouting? I heard you."

"I don’t think you did – you’re not answering my question."

"You’re asking about the house."

"Yes, but what do you think we should do? Set up another meeting a.s.a.p? The sellers are annoyed, but I think they are still interested in us."

"Well… I’m so sorry, honey, but I missed part of what you were saying. That was my fault. Please start again?"

I groaned in frustration. Or maybe it was more like a scream. Could a person scream and groan at the same time?

"Are you all right?" He seemed concerned. I felt murderous.

"Steven, you’re pissing me off! I can’t tell you how important this is! You need to get over here and start getting involved! I am not doing this all by myself."

"You’re upset with me."


I exhaled forcefully, basically knocking the wind out of myself. I couldn’t speak for a minute. Steven didn’t say anything and I suddenly was more angry than frustrated. I took a deep breath, then another, then a third, which I held until I felt my head might pop off. He didn’t speak during that whole time. He most likely was trying to get to the next level in his game.

(To be continued…)