Chapter 4

Sarah laid on her bed, her cell phone loosely grasped in her hand that was also resting on the bed. She had been back home for a week, and the loneliness was starting to overwhelm her again. She tightened her hold on the phone, and thought of Liz, but then shook her head slightly, and loosened her grip again.

Blinking away some tears that had started to well in her eyes, Sarah picked up her phone and held it in front of her. She unlocked it swiftly, and then stared blankly at the home screen. The message icon looked like it was beckoning her. Sarah moved her thumb and hit the gallery icon instead.

Sarah wistfully looked at the photos that she and Liz had taken along the Embarcadero. She had had a great time on that trip. It felt so nice to be desired by someone, and Liz had been so accepting, and all-around perfect. Sarah stared at the photo of her planting a kiss on Liz, and a smile crept up her face. Then the smile abruptly disappeared, and Sarah gave a small sob, then wiped the tears out of her eyes. She hadn’t heard from Liz since that night.

Sarah continued browsing her photos, and quickly reached the photos of her children. It had been over two weeks since she last saw them, so she missed them terribly. John, her ten year-old son, was so strong on the outside, but maintained his soft nature inside. Jenny, her two year-old, was filled with joy as she blew out the candles on her birthday cake. John and Jenny had grown used to seeing her as Sarah, and even called her Mom. Sarah was so touched and blessed that they accepted her fully, even with their other Mom, her ex-wife, constantly spewing poison about her to them.

The thoughts of her children, then her ex-wife, overwhelmed Sarah, and she planted her phone back onto the bed. She hugged her pillow tightly, and sobbed. In contrast to the small sobs just a few moments ago, this time Sarah was full-out crying. She let out painful wails as she cried into her pillow. Sarah wished that there could be someone to comfort her in times like these.

Sarah’s thoughts returned to Liz again. Sarah wished that Liz was here right now, yet she couldn’t bring herself to send a message to Liz. She didn’t want to sound needy. She desperately needed someone to want to spend time with her, to want to seek her out, and not the other way around. She had spent most of her life so far having to act as the strong, protective person, and she was done with it. She just needed someone to be that role for her for once, so that she could be the one receiving support and comfort, and being taken care of.

Bzzt! Sarah’s phone vibrated.

Sarah thought, Can it be? Is it Liz?

Blinking away her tears quickly, she grabbed her phone and unlocked it again. No, of course it wasn’t Liz. It was just some work email notification. Ugh! No one at work cared about her, not unless there was some fire that needed to be put out, or some egos that needed to be assuaged. At work, Sarah was just as alone as she was at home, except she was surrounded by people, which made it worse, since she wouldn’t have the time and space to cry when she needed to. Sarah gave a small wail, and switched her phone off. She went back to hugging her pillow and crying herself to sleep.

“Here’s your food, ladies.”

In a different part of the country, Liz was sitting in a restaurant with some friends, catching up with them.

“So, how was your trip to San Francisco?” Marie asked. “Did you meet up with Richard and Dan?”

“Yeah, I did,” Liz said. “They’re pretty happy in San Francisco, and are looking at adopting a child.”

“A child? Wow, it feels like they’ve matured so much after they got married,” Marie said.

Liz looked down at her food, and saw the char-grilled salmon sitting deliciously on the plate. The salmon skin was crisp and slightly charred, but glistened in the light. Whether it was from the oil they had used to cook the salmon, or from the salmon itself, Liz had no idea. But it did remind her of the skirt that Sarah had worn when in San Francisco. And the salmon meat. It was cooked medium, and the light pink color also reminded Liz of Sarah’s top that night.