Support Systems

Angie Brown keyed in the address sent to her by her fiancé Evans Cooper in her car's GPS and drove away from work.

There wasn't a traffic jam, and she was at the restaurant twenty minutes later. The restaurant, the Georgian restaurant was in a suburban area.

It had a huge parking lot for cars, and there were security guards at the main entrance. The atmosphere inside was elegant, just like the outside.

Once she walked in, she looked around, and Evans waved at her. With grace, she walked towards him, and he stood to pull the chair for her.

"Thank you so much for coming," Evans said. He was in a jovial mood, and his dimpled smile was highly contagious. He was 70kilogrammes, had dark brown eyes and blond hair.

"Sure," Angie smiled back, but her smile didn't reach her eyes, maybe because of fatigue.

At 27, Angie was financially stable and was the eldest of two siblings. Her height was 5'4 inches. She had black eye color, and her black hair was always in a ban.

"I wanted us to have some time outside the house, so I thought of organizing this. You know we mostly meet indoors," Evans said before they were interrupted by a waiter who took their orders.

They were first served with drinks as their food was prepared.

"I'm so glad you did. I really needed an out. Work has been so stressful, and days are so long," Angie said.

She was loosening up, and when the food was brought before them, she was in her full jovial mood. She thanked the waitress and lifted up the fork and knife to cut her chicken breast just in time as her phone rang.

"You will have to receive that," Evans said.

"This is our time. I will call back after our date," Angie said, but the phone wouldn't stop ringing, so she removed it from her handbag, checked the caller ID, and swallowed the food in her mouth.

She received the call, kept on nodding her head, and only asked, "When will that be?" and hung up.

Evans looked at her and asked what the call had been about.

"That was Karen, my friend from high school. Do you remember her?"

"Wow. How can I not? You two were so inseparable. I only had to look for her to know where you were," Evans answered back.

Evans and Angie had been dating since they were in high school. Evans was on the baseball team, and so was Angie's younger brother Gabriel.

Gabriel used to train with Evans, and they became friends from being around them so much, Angie and Evans started hanging out a lot.

They had been together since then, and they knew each other as though they had been born together.

"She talked of coming back to Atlanta," Angie said, then went back to eating.

"For a holiday or what? Didn't she get work in New York?"

"Can we talk about her later on? Let us just soak ourselves in this moment. It's ours," Angie said, and Evans nodded without another word.

***

Carey went back home in the evening and found Nelly, the daytime nanny they hired, was still watching over Frank, their sixteen-month-old baby.

Frank broadly smiled when he saw the dad and walked towards him, stretching his arms up so as to be carried.

"You sure do enjoy being carried," Carey said, lifting him up and giving him a peck, and Frank smiled more.

'Thank you. How was your day? How has he been?" Carey asked Nelly, who looked ready to leave for her own home.

"He's been a good boy. I think he has gotten used to me now," Nelly answered. "Ma'am is upstairs."

Carey looked at Nelly with confusion. It didn't make sense that Karen would be at home and not be playing around with Frank.

She lived for that. She would get home in the evening and not want to leave Frank's side.

"Is she okay? Like she isn't sick, right?" he asked. A lump had formed in his throat, and he suspected that something was definitely amiss.

"I'm not sure, sir. She came home quite early today, held Frank for a little while, then excused herself and went to her room. I haven't seen her since then," Nelly answered, and Carey started walking up the stairs with the baby in his arms. He got to their bedroom door, knocked, and waited for it to be opened, but three or so minutes later, the door was still closed.

"Karen. Karen." He called as he banged the door, careful not to scare Frank.

Karen woke up with a startle and looked around her. The sun was almost setting, and she assumed it was morning.

"Karen! Are you there?" Carey asked again, and Frank started crying, perhaps from wondering why the mom wasn't opening the door.

"Ouch," Karen said, getting out of the bed. Her head felt heady, and she held it using both hands as she hurriedly walked towards the door.

Frank wept quiet when he saw Karen, and she took him in her arms, asking him to be silent and that she was there.

Carey walked into the room and sat on the single sofa set that was beside their bed, and took in Karen's state.

"You were home so early. Are you feeling sick or something?" Carey asked, and Karen closed her eyes, willing tears not to flow.

"I'm not sick," she answered, and Carey waited for more, which wasn't forthcoming.

He got up from the chair and went and sat on the bed, next to Karen, who was now holding a sleeping Frank.

"He listens so much to you," Carey said, wanting to break the ice by saying something light and warm.

"Sure thing. I'm his mother after all," Karen answered, got up, then placed Frank on the bed crib.

He always refused to sleep in the nursery that had been decorated for him.

It was just Karen and Carey, and she knew she had to tell him the truth about what happened and that everything would be okay, but her mind went black and her mouth dry.