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Chapter Two - That I Know More Of The Stars & Sea


"How much time do you get per week when it's just you two?" Sue asked, observing Patrick's nonchalant body language. He slumped back in the chair, his legs wide open. One hand supporting his heavy head.

"A few hours." Shay said gently. Patrick's silence unnerved Shay.

Sue's index fingers pointed up as her hands clasped together, they rested under her chin.

"Tell me how you met?" She asked, Patrick looked at her.

"What's that got to do with anything?"

"Everything." Sue said patiently, frankly getting a little tired of his immaturity.

"Er, we met when I moved into Chicago about 7 years ago, Peter, Patrick's best friend, he was one of my neighbours." Shay informed Sue.

"Patrick - what was it about Shay that made you have feelings for her?" she asked him, he shifted in his seat, he did not want to open up to this woman. Shay looked at him, begging for him to answer.

He coughed slightly and sat up, clearly out of his comfort box, which as it happened, had decreased in proximity over the years. After wriggling like live bait for a few moments, he settled and looked at Shay.

"Everything about her." He said softly, then looked back to Sue quickly.

"Was there anything in particular, was there anything she made you feel, anything she did that made you decide that you wanted to marry her?" Sue asked.

Patrick kept his eyes lowered under the bill of his newly acquired "Nickelback Is Dead" cap.

"She's always there when I get home....always there to remind me that I can be normal, taking care of me..." he said shyly. Shay smiled and dipped her head slightly into the sleeves that were pulled over her hands.

Sue was smiling a little too.

"Sometimes....after being married for some time, you start taking things for granted. All we need is a little reminding of why you fell in love with that person....and not the reasons why you should fall out of love." She said, Patrick looked at her, nodding slightly.

"But you make it hard!" Patrick said suddenly, turning to Shay, she was taken back slightly.

"Huh?"

"You!...You shut me out. I come home after being away for weeks and the kids aren't even bothered and you aren't even bothered!"

"We're used to you not being here!"

"Well I hate that your used to it!" he said.

Insecurity. Needs to belong. Sue wrote down.

"Shay, how do you feel when Patrick gets home?" Sue asked. Shay turned to Sue, was she questioning her now?

"I dunno how I feel, it depends how long he went away for." She said,

"A few days?" Sue asked

"That's fine. A few days is fine!" she said, shrugging, brushing off that time period.

"A week, maybe two?" Sue asked. Patrick looked at Shay. Shay looked at Sue.

"The kids start playing up after about a week. They wanna know where Dad is...I'm tired usually. So when he gets back, I'm usually .....relieved." she said, thinking about what it was she actually felt.

"Why?"

"Cos he came back." She said straight away. Patrick's mouth opened slightly

Insecurity. Needs to belong.

Shay was surprised at herself.

'God, you're good.' She said in her head.

"That I come back - What, you think I won't?" Patrick asked, turning his body to her.

"Every time you go." She said gently, breaking the truth to him.

"Shay you're my wife!" he said, he was surprised at the conviction in his own voice.

Shay looked at her sleeves again, picking at the blue fabric meticulously.

"Have you ever had any indication from Patrick that he might not return?" Sue asked. Shay looked up and stared at Patrick.

Patrick shook his head slightly.




"Yeah baby, you go - I'll get a cab as soon as Kyle gets here!" Shay gasped to Patrick as she groped for Aimee's hand in the sleeve of her pyjama's.

"Mom!! It tickles!!" she squealed, Patrick leaned down and kissed her mechanically on the cheek. Shays eyes followed him as he slipped down the stairs.

The phone rang and Shay stumbled on one of her black stiletto's as she did and swiped the phone from the wall in the kitchen.

"Shay, it's Kyle - major suck, my car totally died and I'm stuck in the middle of .....You know I don't even know where?!" Kyle shrieked down the phone.

"Kyle - Kyle! Breathe!" Shay said concerned.

"I'm so sorry!"

"Please, just get someone out and get home safe - don't worry about it sweety!" she said kindly.

"I'm so sorry Shay, I know how excited you were about tonight!"

"Don't you apologise, please just be safe, have you got a help?"

"Yeah, my Dad's on his way over but he'll be a little while - I can still get there, I'll be as quick as I can!"

"No! No...go home Kyle, I'll still pay you for your trouble but please...just head home. It's not a problem..." she said, smiling at her end of the phone, slumping against the wall. After hanging up, she slid down the wall and pulled off her shoes.

Walking into the bedroom, she punched in Patrick's cell number and listened to it ring and ring.

"Oh c'mon baby..." she said, it went to voicemail.

Sighing she took a breath, she hated leaving voice messages on her own husbands cell.

"It's me, Kyle can't get over so....I hope it's going ok....I'll be at home binging on Ben & Jerry's ....love you. Bye." She said softly and hung up.

"Mom?" Rory cooed, Shay lifted her head from her hands, his hand rested on the back of her neck.

"Where's Kyle?" he asked.

"She got car trouble, you're stuck with me kiddo!" she said, he smiled and sat on her knee.

"You look pretty Momma...I like your necklace!" He said, taking the chain in his small fingers, she smiled and looked at her son.

"Thank you sweety..." she said.

"You wanna watch cartoon's with me?" she asked him, he nodded excitedly. Shay pulled her hair down as she walked into the kitchen and opened the freezer to get the tub of Ben and Jerry's before joining her son on the sofa for an hour of cartoon's.



It was the same old.

Club gets busy while they sat in the in the VIP lounge and looked pretty. It was so easy to lose touch with normality. Only VIP's were given entry to the VIP lounge, therefore it was just a bunch of VIP's kissing each other's asses all night.

Patrick was slumped in a plush sofa, his hat pulled down, he thought he was waiting for his wife to show but maybe he was just being himself. Pulling out his cell he saw the voicemail and quickly instructed his cell to play it to him.

His heart sunk a little as he heard it. No Shay meant no normality for tonight. He stood up and tucked his cell into his jacket pocket, hastily heading towards an exit.

"Patrick!" the woman's voice beckoned him as he made his way out, turning his was confronted with an adorable blonde, familiar to him unfortunately, very familiar, that meant no exit any time soon.

"Leaving so soon?" she asked, raising her eyebrows.

"I need to be at home." He said, moving towards the door, both her hands grabbed his left arm and tugged him round.

"You need to be here Patrick." She said, getting too close, he backed away only to be knocked into by the adjacent wall.

"Look, Bex...stop this!" he said, pulling his hand away.

"I saw you looking at me earlier...don't even deny it!" she said, eyeballing him with wide blue eyes.

"Well, there is a lot of flesh showing, do you blame me?" he asked, she didn't even take offence, the thing with Bex was, this resistance from men, only fuelled her. She smiled smugly, knowing she had irritated him.

"Shut up and get me a drink." She said boldly, pulling his hand behind her as she sucked him back into the scene...