The Miles Between Us

The Door Between Us

Six years. It had been nearly six whole years since Bex Mack had left home. Could she even call it her home anymore? Even if she couldn't, it was still home to a very special little kid. Andi. Leaving her daughter behind was by far the toughest decision that Bex had to make, but it was for Andi's own good.

Bex had seated herself at a table next to a window, resting her chin upon the palm of her hand as she gazed outside, watching the cars roll by as she found herself lost in a whirl of thoughts and regrets. She felt herself growing more and more anxious with each passing minute, wondering what her mother was going to say when she would drive up in that motorcycle of hers, pleading to visit. Just for a little while. A little while could mean a lot of things though, and for Celia, Bex knew that 'a little while' at most was only two days. Two days was not enough. There could never be enough time in the world to make up for the time that she had lost; all the time that she could've spent with Andi.

If Bex was being completely honest with herself, she would admit that she hadn't come to this coffee shop just to get coffee. No, it was much more than that. She was only ten minutes away from the house, and she wasn't ready to face Celia. Not yet. At this point she was stalling, but at least stopping here first had its benefits. Driving all night certainly wasn't the highlight of this trip. She was exhausted. Bex wrapped her hands around the warm cup of coffee that was sitting on the table in front of her, and raised it to her lips to take another sip. The last sip.

Now that she had finished her coffee, she knew there was no reason to stay here any longer. She had to put her worries to rest, and if things didn't turn out the way she wanted them to, she would just find a way to make it work. What was the worse thing that could happen? Celia refusing her request to stay? She wouldn't be surprised, but at the same time, she knew that wouldn't even be very likely. Her father had seemed to enjoy her visit last time, and she knew that he wouldn't let that happen.

After throwing her coffee cup away, Bex grabbed her keys and headed out the door, entering the small-sized parking lot. Next thing she knew, she was on the road again, heading to face the moment that she had been dreading for the past 24 hours. Ten minutes later, she pulled up on the driveway, and now the fear was beginning to feel far too real. What am I doing? Maybe I should just turn around and go back before this ends up turning into one huge mistake, Bex thought to herself, but even her own racing thoughts couldn't stop her from walking closer and closer to the front porch.

There was a slight pause of hesitation once Bex had reached it, her hand extended toward the door as she was prepared to knock, but she kept still, wanting to pull it back. For what felt like an eternity, she stood there, frozen as she let out a soft sigh, and began to give herself a little pep talk of some sort. "No... you can do this. It'll be okay. You'll finally get to see Andi again."

Andi. Her little girl was the very reason why she was even here, debating whether she should face her mother again just so that she could see her baby. Now, she was closer than ever. The miles between them had been too much to take, but now the only thing between them was a door. Reminding herself of that was enough for Bex to take the chance. She had to see Andi.

Bex felt her heart pound restlessly within her chest as she felt her knuckles clank against the door. There was no turning back, and now her only option was to wait and brace herself for the consequences of what she had done.