Fleeting Time

  FLEETING TIME

  © 2021 L.Aquila

  All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  ISBN PRINT 978-1-09836-087-0 | ISBN eBOOK 979-8-98504-722-6

  Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 1

  Lexi

  “Hey babe, wake up we’re going to the carnival today with the kids. We promised them,” I say with a smirk at my beautiful husband. He’s laying down in bed looking oh so tempting. Jake and I have been married for ten years. We were high school sweethearts.

  I got pregnant right out of high school, so he took over his father’s car dealership, which was a huge plus because I was able to stay home with my children.

  My daughter is ten; her name is Isabelle, and my son is three. His name is Sean. They are my everything.

  “Babe, can you give me five more minutes? Or better yet get over here and lay with me preferably with no clothes on?” he smirks.

  My husband is by far the sexiest man I know, with his jet-black hair, blue eyes, and square jaw. I have to beat the ladies off. He and my son look alike and my daughter and I do as well, with our long brunette wavy hair and green eyes. Sometimes people have to do a double-take because I had her so young, we look very similar.

  “Babe, I would love more than anything to stay in bed all day today but we promised the kids,” I say.

  He pulls me down towards him and kisses me. It starts chaste then turns into something more. As he kisses me hard it’s like the first time every time our hands roam each other’s bodies and we begin breathing frantically.

  “You are so beautiful,” he says breathing heavily.

  “I love you so much babe,” I say as I gravitate towards him.

  Bang bang! The doorknob starts shaking. “Mom! Dad! Let’s go!!” My daughter says loud enough to startle us both.

  “Ughhh, why is it every time we start kissing it’s like she knows to come and break it up? I smile.

  “It’s OK. I’ll get dressed,” Jake says. He grins at me, leans down for one more kiss.

  I smile to myself and lay there watching his fine ass walk over to the bathroom. He shuts the door and turns the shower on. I lay there thinking how blessed I am to have a family filled with so much joy and love.

  It’s not always easy but without them, I would be nothing. Sometimes I get frustrated and say things I don’t mean; I know we all do. Jake knows it’s hard for me at home with the kids all day while he’s at work.

  Sean isn’t in school yet and when Isabella comes home from school, she doesn’t really help out; she just does her own thing. She is just a kid but what I didn’t realize was how jealous she would feel towards her brother. I mean he’s only three. I guess when you’re an only child for seven years and someone else comes along it can be hard. I do my best not to get frustrated with her though. We all have our moments.

  I walk out of the room while Jake gets ready.

  “Hey, Mom!” Isabelle says so cheerfully this morning which I’m grateful for. “Can you make us breakfast?”

  “Of course, sweetie,” I say while giving her a big hug. “Is your brother up yet?”

  “Yeah, he’s playing in his playroom at the moment.”

  “Mom . . . ” she whines, “he keeps waking me up in the morning! Tell him to stop,” she says with animated hand movements.

  I beam at her. “He loves you, Isabelle, you know that. You should be happy he wants to always spend time with his big sister.”

  “Yeah, yeah,” she says with her shoulders slouched.

  “Mom, you know how easy and great my life was before him,” she huffs. “You know I love him, but he gets all the attention from you and Dad then . . . he wants mine!’’ she exclaims.

  “Sweetie, we do the best we can. He’s still little and needs more attention. I promise you this weekend you and I will get alone time to do girl stuff,” I explain happily.

  She smiles, “I hope so!”

  “I promise, sweetie, I promise.”

  I put the pancake mix in the pan and ask Isabelle to watch it while I check on Sean who I can basically see through our kitchen because it’s an open floor plan.

  “Hey, baby,” I coo, smiling down at my precious little boy playing with his toys.

  “Mama!! Mama!! I want brewfest pweseee,” he says with his cute little voice that I can understand even though he’s not exactly saying the whole word.

  Grinning, I lean down, squeeze him and pepper kisses all over his face while he giggles and laughs excitedly. “I love you, baby, so much.”

  “Wuv you, mama,” he says.

  “I’ll be right back with your breakfast.”

  This is what life is all about. I have never been happier. I still have night terrors, basically since I was a child. My home life wasn’t the most loving, I should say. Some things happened that I prayed every night I could change yet I’m still haunted by those demons regularly.

  Jake comes out of the room dressed and showered giving us all a hug and kiss. We eat and chat for a while before heading out of the house.

  That’s when my life changed, when my world came to a stop. This is the story that forever changed me.

  It’s a beautiful sunny day as we all pack into our black SUV. We are lucky to be able to drive any car or truck we want from our dealership.

  The windows are down, the kids are laughing, my husband looks happy and so do I.

  He holds my hand the whole ride to the carnival; the kids are so excited. As we pull up to the front, I get this feeling in the pit of my stomach; it sinks literally.

  I don’t understand this feeling so I shake it off the best I can. “Babe, are you OK?” Jake says with concern on his face.

  “Yeah, I’m fine . . . I just got this weird feeling that’s all.”

  “Just stay close to the kids, OK?”

  “Yeah, of course” he says. “You worry too much,” he grins.

  “I can’t help it.” I smile back at him. “Moms are supposed to worry.”

  “How are your dreams?” he asks.

  “The same,” I say.

  “Maybe you should talk to someone about them again, babe.”

  “Maybe I should,” I sigh.

  He is always there for me no matter what and I couldn’t be more grateful.

  “Jake, I love you,’’ I say smiling up at my husband.

  He’s so fit and tanned, I just can’t get enough of him. We are always holding hands or touching. I guess we can’t help ourselves, but I wouldn’t have it any other way.

  As we park and exit the car, I have Sean set up in the stroller and his bag with snacks, also a change of clothes underneath it just in case. He starts asking for his sippy cup which I give to him right away. He happily starts drinking as we stroll through the carnival.

  Sean starts clapping and laughing, obviously excited about the huge clown picture ahead. The Ferris wheel, games, and smell of carnival food hit you right in the face.

  We all walk around toget
her and take in the scene before us. It’s so nice to get out and do family things because Jake works so much during the week and sometimes even on the weekends.

  Still, I can’t help this bad feeling I have and I’m starting to get anxious. I grew up in a dysfunctional home, so my anxiety has always been something I struggled with.

  Jake always helped me through my panic attacks, but I usually would have an escape and not be around the kids for them to witness.

  So, I push it down in the back of my head and try to clear my thoughts while working on my breathing. I start feeling better as we walk. I have learned to control my attacks the best I can.

  What I can’t control is when my throat literally closes from lack of air when the panic attack hits hard. I’m thankful that this nervous feeling is controllable.

  Jake and Isabelle walk over to play a game together and they look so happy and carefree, it’s beautiful.

  Today is beautiful. The sun is shining; we are all having a great time.

  An hour into the carnival Sean starts to get restless so I decide to walk around with him in the stroller while Isabelle and Jake play games.

  “Babe, can you go get us some more tickets?” Jake asks.

  “Sure, no problem I’ll be right back,” I smile. They continue playing and laughing. I take Sean with me in his stroller over to the ticket booth.

  There is no line at the moment which is great because Sean isn’t having it right now. I’m waiting for a meltdown; it’s about that time.

  “Can I please have $20 worth of tickets?”

  The lady from the booth smiles and gives me an incredulous look.

  She stares at me for a couple of seconds with her round cheeks and gray hair and says, “Do you thank god every day for your blessings?”

  “Um, I’m sorry?” I say with uncertainty in my voice. I don’t even know this lady and she’s asking me an odd question.

  She looks at my son and says to me, “You should thank him everyday for your beautiful family, because you never know when he could take it away.”

  Take it away? What the hell is this lady on? I give her a questionable look like I have no idea what she’s talking about.

  “Your life is a gift, young lady and it seems your aura is yellow with a touch of indigo, which means you’re easily led, happy yet intellectual, and highly intuitive. You are a seeker, my dear.”

  Before I can process what she says, a man in black appears at the booth and for some reason, I get this sick feeling that he’s somebody from my past and when I say my past I mean when my parents were drug addicts and their dealer was after me for payment.

  This man has his same build and I feel like I’m going to faint but all I can think of is if I faint Sean will be left with this crazy-ass woman and that man I’m seeing.

  All of a sudden, I get this dizzy feeling, Sean throws his cup on the ground. Instinctively, I pick it up fast and as I come back up, I lose my footing and fall on my butt. I close my eyes for a moment with my head down breathing in and out to see if I can get the panic to subside and when I open my eyes I’m not at the booth, Sean is not by my side, and I’m in a small room with a couple of doors that are closed.

  I’m still wearing my blue skinny jeans, black tank top with my Chuck Taylor’s and I’m holding his sippy cup to my chest.

  I fly standing up fast and start yelling. “Sean! Sean!” Oh my god, where am I? Why am I here? There’s one door so I rush over to it and pull the handle, but it doesn’t budge.

  Pounding on the door I’m crying hysterically sobbing uncontrollably to get out. Sliding down the door with Sean’s sippy in my hand I try to calm myself down.

  Ding ding ding, I hear a bell, so I look up fast and turn around towards the door and two buttons are blinking.

  With my mouth open and tears flowing down my face I stand up with shaking hands not knowing what button to push.

  Taking a deep breath, I press the second button and the door slowly creeps open. What I see is the last thing I thought I would see.

  It’s sand and ocean. I have to be in our town still in Gansett Bay, but why am I at the ocean and what the hell is going on? I turn around and the door vanishes, I’m left alone at the beach. So I run as fast as I can, panting and crying, looking for someone. Anyone will do. I need to find my family.

  There is a restaurant up ahead! It’s called the Lobster Shack. My heart is literally pounding out of my chest while running towards it. We used to come here all the time to eat so I am familiar with it.

  I’m still holding my son’s cup while gasping for air. Barging through the front like a maniac, the hostess gives me a curious look.

  “Excuse me, miss?” I say while huffing and puffing. “Can I use your phone? I need to call my husband.”

  “Um, sure . . . Miss are you OK?” she says curiously while everyone seems to be staring at me. “Yes, I . . . I . . . just need the phone.”

  I glance down at myself and notice how ridiculously skinny I am. This is not right. I feel so hungry and thirsty.

  “OK, I’ll get you a glass of water and the phone. Please take a seat,” she smiles but the smile doesn’t reach her eyes. She is obviously wary of me, which I can’t blame her for, since I just barged in here like a nutcase.

  I sit over to the closest seat at the bar still with my son’s cup in my hand and start shaking. The bartender gives me a wry smile and places a glass of water down. Instinctively, I grab the water like it’s my last meal and start to gulp it rapidly. When I go to catch my breath I notice a calendar at the corner of the bar that reads 2027. What the hell? This must be a mistake. I have to ask why they have a calendar indicating seven years in the future.

  That same feeling in the pit of my stomach returns with a vengeance.

  “Excuse me, sir?” I say to the bartender who is rather young and dressed a little differently than I’ve seen many people. He seems to be wearing edgier looking clothes than most. “Can I ask you where you got that calendar that has 2027 as the year?”

  He stares at me bewildered, then laughs. He laughs at me!

  “I am sure the owner bought the calendar at the store. Are you feeling alright?” he says, shaking his head back and forth. “You need to get cut off or something? Were you drinking before you came?” he laughs again.

  My face turns to beet red; my mood turns to anger. “I’m serious buddy . . . what’s going on?”

  He walks away shaking his head.

  I’m dumbfounded right now. Beyond annoyed at this point. Who does this asshole think he is?

  Seconds later the hostess comes back with the phone. “Here you go, honey, let me know if you need anything else,” she says as she walks away. Grabbing her phone with shaking hands, I dial my husband’s phone number while realizing this phone looks different than any other one I’ve seen.

  My heart is pounding out of my chest as it rings while holding the phone to my ear.

  As it’s ringing, I hear at the corner of the restaurant a cell phone ringing at the same time.

  Looking over I see a man with the same features as Jake—dark hair, same build—but I can’t make out his face. He is at the table with a woman and two children so I know that can’t be him.

  Something tells me to walk over there so my legs start to move towards their table. I still have the phone clutched in my hand with a death grip.

  I am close and as I approach the table he grabs his cell and holds it to his ear to answer with what seems to be my husband’s voice.

  “Hello?” he says. “Hello?” he says again. As he is about to hang up, I hear him echoing through the phone I have in my hand.

  The giant size lump in my throat expands as I take in the scene about to unfold in front of me. The woman touches his arm gently. “Sweetheart?” she says in her sugary-sweet voice. “Who was that on the phone?”

  This woman is blond with a killer body, blue eyes, nice boobs. Not that I don’t have a great body but I’m a brunette and this is my husband and I’m not seeing
him with another woman right now. This can’t be happening!

  They have two kids with them. My eyes go right to the girl. She has to be a teenager and she looks exactly like my Isabelle! I’m freaking out now! The little boy . . . oh my god, it’s Sean! This is my family! He has to be at least ten years old.

  Jake raises his head, locks his eyes with mine, and instant recognition takes place on his face. He turns white like he’s seen a ghost; his mouth opens to speak but nothing comes out so I beat him to it.

  “Jake? Wh, wh, what is going on?” I stutter.

  “Lexi!!” His eyes bug out of his handsome face. He sits up fast knocking the chair over, running towards me. He barrels into me knocking me over just a bit while hugging me. He’s shaking; he’s shaking bad.

  “Oh my god, Lexi, you’re here baby, you’re really here!” He grabs my face to examine me. “Are you OK? Where were you all this time?”

  He’s clutching my face with his hands staring into my eyes, his eyes are watering, and so are mine.

  “I...I don’t understand, Jake what’s going on?” Who is this woman? And why do these kids look exactly like Isabelle and Sean?”

  He stares at me in complete and utter shock while saying, “Babe, you have been missing for seven years.” I look over towards my children who now are standing with tears in their eyes. My daughter holding on to her brother’s hand.

  I’m dreaming! This isn’t real! I close my eyes while shaking my head back and forth furiously. Jake steps back to give me space.

  He grabs the sippy cup out of my hand and says, “I can’t believe you still have this. Lexi, you’re wearing the same outfit as the night you disappeared.” He’s right although my jeans are too big for my now tiny frame.

  I look up at him with my face drenched in tears. The whole restaurant is now watching us with weary eyes. That is the last thing I remember before I see black.

  I hear a strange beeping sound as I open my eyes. I see bright white walls. Everything smells sterile like a hospital . . . wait, I’m in a hospital.

  Why am I in the hospital? The last thing I remember is seeing my husband . . . oh my god, with another woman! My children were older! Was that a dream? I start to feel hot as I look around the room. I notice he’s here holding on to my hand tightly while laying his head on my arm. “Jake,” I whisper. “Jake?”