"Enough!" Adam bellowed. The room suddenly grew quiet, the air around them turning tense. Their eyes locked.
"I don't need this. I don't want a man who's just going to waste my life." She turned away, fighting the angry tears. "You know, you made me happy for once in my life, and we all could've been happy if you weren't so damn stubborn. Tell Lacey I love her, but I'm sorry, I just can't live with some brute who's too afraid to admit that he's in love!" She spat before rushing out the door and slamming it shut.
"Do we really have to go, Daddy? What about Marie?" Lacey's big brown eyes implored her father for answers.
"Yes. We have to go."
"Why?"
"Because I'm your father and I said so." He said harshly, grabbing her hand and pulling her toward the door.
"I don't want to go without Marie!" Lacey whined.
"You can either come with me or stay here all by yourself," Adam answered coldly.
"But what about school?"
"You'll go to school in Boston." He answered, getting annoyed.
"But all my friends are here. I like New York." She was getting impatient, but Adam couldn't take it any more.
"Marie is never coming back and that's the end of it. I don't want to hear another word out of you until we're at the airport. Got it?" Each word was colder than the next. He didn't even bother to look at his little girl as he dragged her out the door. Tears streamed down her face as she walked quickly to keep his pace
***
After a short plane ride to Boston, they settled in their old, colonial home. It was quite a change from their New York apartment, but Adam had it constantly renovated so it wouldn't go out of style. He sighed, sitting on his luxurious, white sofa.
Lacey stood in front of him with a sad look on her face.
"Don't look at me like that. There was nothing I could do" Adam said sadly – sorry to disappoint Lacey for what felt like the hundredth time that day.
" Now its time for us to get some rest, it's been a long day," He announced as he got up from the sofa and walked towards the bedrooms.
"Okay, daddy" Lacey's voice sounded hollow before she rolled her carry-on into her room and closed the door. Music sounded from inside. Adam sighed, knowing this was his daughter's way of telling him that she wanted to be left alone. She got that from her mother.
I just need to forget about her. I don't need her to take care of my daughter. I can take care of her myself. Adam grumbled to himself as he made his way up the stairs to his own bedroom. He dropped his bags by the door and fell into his bed. It was already approaching midnight and he could definitely use some sleep. Love isn't worth it anyway. He buried his face in his pillow and let sleep carry him away.
As soon as he was asleep, the nightmare began. His mind brought him back to the last night he had ever spent with his wife. They had gone to the club together. There, Adam had been sure that he had seen his wife flirting with another man. He had confronted her about it, dragging her back to the car.
"Adam! I didn't do anything. I was just dancing." His wife crossed her arms over her chest, sitting in the passenger seat with an angry look on her face.
Adam started the car, his rugged face locked in a look of rage. "I saw you." He shouted at her. "I saw you all over him. Don't try to deny it."
"You can't keep insulting me! I won't stand for it. I'm your wife." Ripping the keys out of his hand, she pushed past the valet and jumped into the car.
"Where do you think you're going?" Adam demanded, ripping at the locked passenger door. "Alexandra!"
She merely shook her head, pealing out as she left him in the parking lot.
He called one of his friends over and demanded that he follow his car. An app on his phone showed him just where to go, and they sped after her, running red lights and cutting cars off at each turn. Rage blinded him as he followed her trail, crisscrossing the city and out into the suburbs.
He was met with police lights when he got close to their home, and he quickly popped some mints to hide the liquor on his breath. His annoyance turned to dread as he recognized the crumpled heap of metal on the side of the road as his own car. He jumped out of the car, pushing past the firemen and trying to catch a glimpse of the scene.
The last thing he remembered before waking in a pool of sweat was a gurney, a body bag. Adam had tried his hardest to wipe that memory from his mind, but now, all he could think about was the pile of crumpled metal, his wife's body in the ambulance, the look on Lacey's face when she heard the news. Every day after that, he had drunken himself into a stupor in a desperate effort to forget her. Their marriage had not been perfect, but he had never wished his wife harm, much less death.
The nightmare repeated itself. The police lights blinded his vision, keeping him from seeing the details. However, this time, as he surveyed the damage, his wife was nowhere to be found. Instead, he saw Marie on the gurney. . "Don't you love me, Adam? You know, I love you." He heard those words on repeat, over and over again.
***
A soft rasping sound came from Adam's door. He groaned, moving his pillow over his head. He had barely gotten a wink of sleep last night. He was exhausted.
"Daddy?" Lacey's sweet voice floated into the room, as she knocked a little louder. "Daddy … I had a bad dream." She whined, pressing her body against the door. "Can I come in?" She persisted when her father didn't answer.
Adam finally got up and opened the door. His little girl stood there, holding her stuffed animal by its long, floppy ears. "What's the matter, pumpkin?" He asked, squatting down and looking at her with concern in his eyes. The rage he had felt the day before was slowly dissipating. "What happened? Everything alright?" He wrapped his arms around her, pulling her close as he rested her head on his shoulders.
"I had a bad dream. I dreamt I'd never see Marie again … " Her voice wavered and her eyes grew big.
"Don't think that, honey. Marie is fine. Safe and sound in her bed." Adam tried to reassure her, gently caressing her hair. "I promise." He pulled her a little closer.
"How do you know? Can we call her?" Lacey looked desperate, tears appearing in the corner of her eyes. "Please. I just want to talk to her." The little girl blinked, trying her hardest to keep back her tears. Adam's heart tightened at the sight of his weeping daughter.
"Don't cry." His jaw tightened.
"But I miss her … " Lacey buried her face into her father's chest, now sobbing. Adam froze in place, feeling his daughter's trembling body against his own. She was right. Marie was a part of their life. He couldn't just push her away. He had to get her back and reunite the family they had built. He would never live with himself if he allowed her to slip through his fingers.
"C'mon." He picked up his daughter and walked out of the bedroom.
It took Lacey a moment to look up, but when she did, she noticed her father already packing one of his luggage bags. "What are you doing, daddy?" She wiped her nose with the back of her arm, sniffling as she watched her father frantically gathering some travel essentials.
"We are getting Marie back. She's part of our family now."
***
Adam paced around JFK airport with a tense look on his face. He had already called Marie five times, but she never answered. He gritted his teeth and kept pacing back and forth. How was he supposed to find her in a giant city like New York? He racked his mind for answers as Lacey sat down, nervously swinging her legs. He could tell she was just as eager to find Marie as he was.
"Daddy." She suddenly tugged on his shirt. "Where's Marie?"
"I don't know yet, pumpkin, but we're going to find her. I promise." Adam patted her head. His heart ached at the sight of his daughter's concern.
He made a call to his assistant, then to his lawyer, tasking them to call every production company in the city. If Marie were anywhere, she would be on stage. He was sure of it. The minutes crawled by at an agonizing pace as he continued to make phone call after phone call, searching for answers. Finally, someone called him back.
"Hello?"
"Mr. Tucker?" It was his lawyer.
"Did you find her?" Adam said urgently.
"Yes. It appears my assistant found her. She's working as the lead in an off Broadway production of A Streetcar Named Desire."
"Where. Tell me now!" Adam demanded, his heart racing with the possibility of finding her.
"The Roosevelt Theatre, near the Market District … " Adam hung up before his lawyer could even finish his sentence. He would have to give him a hefty bonus later on for finding Marie, but right now, he had to go get her before it was too late. Lacey tugged at his arm, awaiting news.