Coming Home

Chapter 17

Chapter 17

"I think I'm on cloud nine," Venice said as she fell back on the top covers.

"Let me guess," Jill said as she landed next to her. "You finally fell into bed with your husband."

"No," she denied but the blush in her cheeks revealed the truth.

Her friend gasped; hand clamping around her mouth dramatically. "You so did!"

"I did not," she grabbed a pillow and hid her face in it.

She hadn't admitted any personal information to Jill yet. She'd wanted to keep things private while she tried to figure out her thoughts. As much as she wanted to enjoy and bask in how well her life seemed to be going, she knew for a fact that their time together wouldn't go down smoothly. There'd been a lot of ups and downs in their relationship and it would never go perfectly.

"So what's it like?" Jill asked after a stretch of silence passed by.

"What is?" she asked.

"To be with him."

Venice sighed in exasperation. "I am not going to discuss my relationship with my husband, Jill. There's some things that I must keep to my self."

Her friend threw her hands up in the air. "Oh, come on!"

"Change topic." She felt strongly about this. She didn't want to share any of her experiences with Jill no matter how close they were. Max would surely do the same thing if any of his friends asked for personal information.

Jill finally gave up and moved onto safer topics. They mostly talked about how they hadn't been able to hang out much lately after the explosion in the penthouse. The culprit hadn't been caught but they had a pretty good idea on who it was. Max hadn't brought up the topic, but Venice knew he was planning something out. She just hadn't had the chance to ask him about it yet.

"Do you think it has something to do with his ex-girlfriend?" Jill asked.

"No way," Venice answered, although it could be a possibility right now. She'd never doubted his ex before even though she had the right to suspect her. Her husband had been away lately and she'd been staying a lot in his parents' house. He'd mentioned something about going on a business trip, but a small part of her had felt that he wasn't telling her the truth. Now it made her wonder whether Max was still involved with his ex in some way. She was the model and face of his campaign, after all.

"I heard she's still not over him after breaking up a year ago," her friend continued.

They'd been legally married for over six months already, and it was ironic that Shirley Jones would still be crying over her past relationship when her ex had a wife already. The press had found out about their marriage shortly after the explosion hit the news. The public went crazy after finding out about it. She hadn't been able to come out of the house without having paparazzi following her around.

"I heard they were engaged before they broke up," Jill asked.

"It was a rumor," Venice answered. She'd known about the rumors that had been running around lately. Shortly after the news of their marriage, there'd been rumors about Shirley not being over Max even after having broken up a year ago. She hadn't paid attention to any of them knowing they were all lies. She trusted Max and what he had to say for himself. So what did she have to worry about?

"I can't imagine having a famous husband," her friend commented absently. "The idea of having one will give me a headache. There'd always be rumors about him cheating with some bimbo he met overseas or something like that."

Venice smiled and shook her head. "Max would never do that to me."

They'd sworn to be faithful; he'd meant his words, she'd been sure of it. So to doubt him meant she believed what others had to say. He'd been away for three days now and two more days remained before he went back to the States. She couldn't wait, but anticipation made everything worth the wait.

A phone rang in the background, catching her attention as Jill picked up her phone. She excused herself, locking herself in the bathroom as Venice reached for the remote control. She turned the TV on, skipping through the channels before settling on the afternoon news. There'd been a report about a plane crash somewhere in Sydney Australia and it seemed that it belonged to the Smiths' Inc.

Her heart began to pound, listening intently as the reporter provided the information. It couldn't be Max inside that plane, right? He'd said goodbye to her days ago, just before he'd left, he'd kissed her on the forehead, so sweetly and gently that it brought tears to her eyes. It had felt like goodbye to her then but hadn't voice out her thoughts. She was probably just being paranoid and now her worst fear seemed to be coming true.

She immediately reached for her phone and tried to dial his number, but his phone was unattended. He wasn't answering of her calls since the day he'd left that morning. Now it made her worried even more.

Jill came back shortly after the news had ended. She bolted to her feet, grabbing her friend's hands as she delivered the news. "What?" Jill gasped, shocked as she was. "I thought he landed in Sydney days ago?"

"I'm not sure," she answered, pacing around the room. "He hadn't returned any of my calls and his international numbers had been registered into my phone. So what could have gone wrong? He's not picking up at all."

"Oh, my gosh."

"I need to go to his parents' house," Venice concluded. "I had to tell them about what happened."

"They probably haven't heard the news," Jill agreed with a nod. "I'll drop you off there and call me if anything happens, all right?" Venice nodded and they hopped into her car, driving straight to the Smiths.

Eunice was the first person to open the door. "Have you heard about the news already?"

"I've tried to call him a few times but he never answered," Venice answered the moment they walked into the living room. The rest of the Smiths were huddled in the couch; her mother-in-law was in tears while George calmed his wife down. Caleb was fairlyquiet himself in the corner as she approached. Even Max's older brother was surprisingly present after not seeing him since the wedding.

"We haven't got a call about the crash yet but I have feeling my son is in that plane," Janine said as she wept.

"I'm sure our son is fine, Janine." George reassured, patting his wife's back all the while.

"He hasn't called in three days and now we see a news about a plane crash in Sydney?" Janine pointed out. "That can't be a coincidence, George."

"Let's not make any conclusions unless they confirm it's Max's plane, mom." Caleb said patiently.

A few more minutes passed by and they all waited for the phone call. So when it finally came, Venice almost jumped up from her seat. This was what they'd all been waiting for. It was either her husband was in that plane or he wasn't. There wasn't any in between. Limbs shaking, she bent down and grabbed her vibrating phone. An unknown number showed on the screen and her heart sank.

"Hello?" she answered, voice quivering.

"Am I speaking with Mrs. Smith?" the man queried.

She didn't know which Mrs. Smith he was referring to but she figured it was her. "This is she."

"I'm sorry, Mrs. Smith but I have bad news to deliver."

She already knew what he had to say. She felt it in her heart.

"The plane your husband had been in three days ago was reported to be missing. Shortly this morning, we received another report that his plane had crashed after landing in Sydney, Australia. They're not aware where his body might have landed, but the pilots' bodies were found after the incident. He's still missing, Mrs. Smith. We're not sure if he'll make it not knowing where he is."

Her heart couldn't possibly break in tiny, little pieces again. But it did. Slowly. Gradually until all she could do was cry. Venice's legs buckled beneath her and her fingers loosened around her phone. Luckily, Caleb was there to catch her before she fell on the floor. She heard Eunice take over the phone but darkness greeted her. She welcomed the warmth of the darkness, wanting to wallow in it and wishing she'd never wake up.

By the time she woke up again, the clock had adjusted two hours later. She was in one of the guest rooms again, knowing that she wouldn't be able to hold it if she woke in her husband's room. She missed him terribly. Surely, that news hadn't been real. It was fake. Max would walk through that door anytime now. But as much as she hoped, wished and prayed that a miracle would happen, Venice knew it wouldn't be that easy.

"You're awake," Eunice said after walking through the door.

"What happened after I passed out?" her voice sounded hoarse that her sister-in-law handed her a glass of water. She drank, not aware of being so thirsty. Her throat felt as if she'd spent years in the desert without water.

"There was a slight commotion after mom and dad found out the news," Eunice said sadly, looking older than her eighteen years. "Mom was hysterical. She'd been crying for the past couple of hours and no one and nothing can reassure her. Not even dad. She'd been begging the man who called to find Max's body, you know, to make sure it's really him. But I think that's the worst thing, not being able to tell whether it's him or not."

"Apparently, a lot of damage had been done. There was a bomb planted at one of the plane's wings and the technicians weren't aware of it. It was either they've taken place in the assasinating my brother, or they didn't do a thorough job at ensuring that everything is safe. Either way, they were all fired."

No mater how much firing they did, Venice knew they could never bring back her husband. s