Alex listened to the phone ring, and hadn't quite decided yet if he wanted Catherine to pick up or not. He wasn't prepared, he didn't know what to say to her or how she would react.
"Hello?" said a familiar female voice.
Well, here goes, Alex thought. "Hi Catherine."
He heard a sharp intake on the other side. "Alex....?"
"Yeah."
"Wow. I can't believe- after all these years.... What've you been doing? Are you coming home? Where are you?"
"I- I don't know if I'm coming home. I don't think I'll be welcomed."
"I still love you."
"That's the problem" Alex replied. His mind wandered back to the incident.
Alex and Catherine were lying naked in Catherine and William's bed. William came in, taken completely by surprise. His eyes widened as he realized was what going on. "I'm sorry," was all Catherine had said. Alex lay frozen in fear and self-loathing. "I can't believe it." William said over and over as he turned to leave. He closed the door behind him with an echoing click. The two lovers couldn't move or even look at each other. A shattering crack broke the silence. They rushed up to William's study, but he was dead. "I love you" was scrawled on a scrap on paper on his desk. Alex had fled his comfortable upper-class life in shame.
"Alex?" Catherine's voice brought him back to the present.
"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have called."
"Please come home. I don't know where you are, but I can tell it's really wearing you down. It'll be ok. Come home."
"I have to go. Bye."
She didn't protest and he wouldn't have listened. Alex hung up the phone and morosely watched the rain come down.
I have to get out of this apartment, he thought.
Alex flung on a jacket and hurried outside, hoping the fresh air would save him from insanity. His feet took him to the playground and he flopped down on a swing, hoping it would hold his weight. An ambulance's scream filled the air. Alex idly wondered what was happening and looked up to see the ambulance coming closer. He tried to become invisible, suddenly feeling foolish in a playground sitting on a child's swing. As he attempted to decide which was worse, sitting here in the rain or just walking off, his eyes skirted around the playground, looking for the best escape route. Underneath the rusted red slide his eyes found a dark shadow that looked very much like a person.
Fuck! It is a person. Shit shit shit. How long has that been there?
Then, Alex panicked and ran, losing any hope of being invisible. He ran to his car, got in and drove away. He didn't have anything but the clothes on him, but he knew he needed to leave, before that town drove him crazy. He was going home. To Catherine. To bad memories and guilt. But at least he was going home.

Alex woke up on the sofa, mind still whirling from the night before. Taylor and Kara were heading out the door and they exchanged a few awkward pleasantries, awkward from Alex's end anyways. After they left all Alex wanted to do was hide in his room and collect his thoughts, even though he should have been heading to the police station to see Froyd. Alex morosely headed to his bedroom and flopped down on his bed. His mind was spinning with all that had happened to him in the last few days.
Did my dream mean something? Is it time to forget this town and this horrible job and go back home to Catherine? Would she have remarried? Would she still take me back? And what about Taylor? I have to protect him, but how? He just shot a police officer. Alex thought.
His eyes wandered around his room and looked out the window. It looked cold and grey and dreary. Standing at the bus stop was a girl as bland as the grey day.
Wasn't she that new girl? I guess life here is too tough for some people. Including me. Maybe it's just time to go home. I don't have to deal with this shit hole.
Instead of spending the rest of the day moping in his bed, Alex decided to get out of his house and get some food. As he walked down the hallway to the elevators he hoped he wouldn't see Taylor or Froyd today, he hadn't decided whose side he was going to be on yet and didn't want to have to make a rash decision he'd later regret.
That's how I've ended up in this situation in the first place. Alex bitterly thought.