The blonde walked into the bedroom with a steely determination etched on her face. While she furiously dug through drawers and ransacked the lavish apartment only to come up empty-handed, her sullen partner sat motionless on the crisp white bed sheets.

“Are you off the phone now? It wasn’t in the bathroom, either. Did you look at all while I was out?”

When her interrogation appeared to fall on deaf ears, she tried again, this time appealing to the dark haired woman’s emotions, “Alex, I understand you’re upset, but could you at least acknowledge I’m a person who is speaking? If I miss this flight I’m screwed…Alex! Passport! Hello?”

“My mom just died.”

The statement hung in the air. The blonde’s search was instantly forgotten as she tried to comprehend what she had just been told. She finally found her voice as she gently approached her distraught partner, “What?”

The brunette turned to consider her fair-skinned lover, “My aunt just called up…it happened this morning, I guess.”

The blonde’s forlorn expression spoke of the heartbreak she knew her partner must be feeling as she drew the taller woman into a comforting embrace, “Oh, Alex. I’m so sorry.”

Alex’s response was a mirthless little laugh filled with both irony and disbelief, “My first instinct was to call her to talk about it.”

The smaller woman leaned back to look the brunette in eyes, “What happened?”

Shaking her head in confusion, Alex replied with a voice tinged with tearful regret, “An aneurysm…I don’t know…my aunt said so many things I don’t even remember now.”

In that moment, the blonde shifted comfortably into the role of the pacifist for she was a perpetual people-pleaser, always avoiding conflict, “What can I do?”

This was the only incentive the brunette needed to transition into full business mode. Fortunately, her work had prepared her with a sharp mind as well as the ability to operate effectively during stressful situations. Without thinking, she lifted herself off the bed and began devising a plan, “I don’t know. I mean, I need to fly home. I need to figure out the funeral because there’s no one else to do it.”

Although uncertain of where she fit into this scenario considering the circumstances, the blonde simply agreed, “Okay.”