The more she thought about it, the angrier she became. The shock of his outburst had worn off, and she was mad! Enough was enough. He made her life miserable when he was home and left her waiting for him when he wasn't. He barely communicated with her and shut her out of anything meaningful in his life. She was going to have this weekend if it killed her.
Once she was packed and ready for the next day, she went into her bathroom, opened up the medicine cabinet and took the vial of sleeping pills. She knew she was too wound up to sleep, and that if she didn't do something about it right now, she would be up half the night listening for him to return.
Pouring a glass of water, she threw the pill to the back of her throat and chased it down. She climbed into bed, set her alarm and snuggled under the covers, holding them close to her as though to defend her body from the unknown.
~~~
She woke up in the morning with a foggy head, her body fighting to its way to full consciousness. Shutting her alarm clock off, she rolled over and noticed that the other side of the bed had not been slept in. She paused, looking at the neatly made side of the bed. He was often late getting in, but he had never been gone the entire night before. She laid there, taking a deep breath and telling herself that it didn't matter anymore. She was not going to let him push her around. If he wanted to sulk and stay gone all night, so be it. He had probably crashed at one of his drinking buddies' houses or something. Or maybe at his office. Either way, she hoped he was happy with whatever message he was trying to send her.
Sliding her feet out of bed and into her slippers, she padded to the washroom and prepared for
work. Afterward, on her way downstairs, she picked up the overnight bag she had packed the night before and walked into the kitchen. She decided to go to a drive-through to buy a breakfast sandwich and a coffee on the way to work. She didn't want to take any chance that he would return home just as she was leaving. She didn't want to deal with him, or the situation, right now.
~~~
When she arrived at work, she quickly walked down the hall to her office and shut the door as soon as she entered. She couldn't handle talking with people today; she planned on getting her work done and getting out of Dodge as quickly as she could. Now that the day was here, she felt an almost desperate need to be in the mountains. She wasn't quite sure if she was running to something or away from something. Either way, she was gone as soon as she tied up some loose ends and got on the road.
~~~
She only had to talk to two people that morning; the first came in to make sure she was okay, as she didn't often keep her door closed for so long. Another came by to get her to sign off on their portion of yesterday's project. By lunchtime she was caught up, her emails were answered, and even her filing was done. She opened her office door, waved goodbye to the ladies in the cubicles situated just outside her office, and left the building.
She was on the road with a full tank of gas and a sub sandwich within half an hour. She cranked up the music on her stereo and began singing at the top of her lungs. Rolling down her window to feel the warm air flow through her hair, the smell of the city was thick, but somehow a welcome escape from the recycled air of the office.
She had been driving for about half an hour when she realized her cell phone was not plugged in, so she picked it up and attached the cord charger. As she did that, she noticed that the alert sign was on to let her know she had new text messages. Ignoring the distracted driving laws in effect, she opened up her message center and checked to see what messages she had waiting. She was shocked to see she had five, and they were all from her husband.
She tapped his name, and the message string came up.
"Call me."
"Don't be like this, call me."
"Are you ignoring me now?"
"Damn it, phone me already!"
"You can't just leave like this, phone me already."
She threw her phone down on the passenger seat and pounded the console beside her. Damn it! Why did he have to pull this? Why couldn't he just leave her be and let her have some time to herself? Why was it that when he wanted to talk, he wanted to talk right now? Those messages had all been left within a space of about half an hour. How many times was she left waiting for him, her texts and phone calls going unanswered for hours? Now he wanted to talk, and he wanted it right this minute. Well, he was going to have to wait. She needed some space and some distance between them. She couldn't deal with him right now. She shook her head as she ran her hand through her hair, one hand on the steering wheel. As she looked ahead, lost in thought, she heard her phone buzz again. A short while later it buzzed again. She picked it up, and sure enough, it was her husband.
"You can't keep ignoring me."
"If you are trying to punish me this isn't going to work."
Before she had a chance to decide how to respond, the phone rang in her hand. The number that came up on the caller ID was her husband's cell. This was getting ridiculous! She was not going to answer. She turned her phone to mute and cranked up the stereo further. He was just going to have to wait for her this time.
Chapter Fifteen
Olivia
O livia popped what she hoped would be her last day-time cold capsule as she prepared to go out on Friday night. Luckily the cold, while violent, had also been swift, and she felt almost one hundred percent better just a few days after coming down sick. The boys were off at their dads', and she was looking forward to dinner and a movie with Luke tonight; they had decided on sushi and the latest Bond movie.
She heard him walk up the front steps and opened the door before he could ring the bell.
"Well, hello!" he greeted her with a smile.
"Hi!" she responded, cheerily.
"I see you're ready to go," Luke said. "And your voice sounds even better than it did this morning, so getting back to work must have helped."
"You're right, it was the oddest cold," she answered as she turned around to lock the door. "'In like a lion, out like a lamb' - so to speak."
He opened the car door for her before going around to the driver's side. His vehicle smelled like a combination of new car, leather, and cologne. He had traded in his old car and bought this one about a week after they had started dating, and it still looked new. She leaned back and let the plush leather engulf her. He often teased her about her old car, saying she needed to upgrade, but as much as she appreciated his new car, she was happy with her twelve-year-old, paid for, old faithful.
~~~
When they arrived at the restaurant, they were taken to their booth, and she sat down across from him.
"Are you afraid of me?" he asked.
She didn't answer but looked at him with puzzlement.
"Come sit beside me," he said, patting the space next to him.
She laughed and moved into the seat beside him. He draped his arm across the back of their booth, and his fingertips grazed her shoulder. He moved in closer and whispered in her ear, "You look gorgeous tonight."
A shiver ran through her at the sound of his deep voice speaking so intimately close to her, and she went weak in the knees when he passed his lips across the thin flesh behind her ear.
A chuckle escaped his lips as he saw the expression on her face, seeming to take pleasure in her discomfort.