"Hi," he responded. "Nice to see you."
"Yeah, things have been pretty busy at work these days," she answered.
"What's up there?" he asked.
"What do you mean?" she looked at him quizzically.
"What's up that's making things so busy all of a sudden," he clarified.
"Oh, you know, this and that, always something," she said vaguely.
"Can we cut the bullshit?" he asked.
"What do you mean?" she asked, trying a delaying tactic, so she had time to get her thoughts together.
"You know exactly what I mean," he insisted. "You've been working late, coming home late, and basically avoiding me since you returned from the mountains."
She took a deep breath and steeled herself for a conversation she knew was overdue.
"You're right," she admitted, sitting down in the chair across from him. "I've been avoiding coming home as much as possible."
"Why?"
"Because whenever I'm home, all I can do is focus on our relationship and how unhappy we both seem to be," she blurted out.
"I see," he stated, looking down at his hands, his jaw set firmly in place.
"I just don't know what to do anymore," she explained. "We rarely talk, and when we do, we argue or fight. We live in two separate worlds where we are each coming and going, we have nothing in common and do nothing together, it's like we live two completely separate lives."
"You've given this a lot of thought," he said, still staring at his hands.
"How can I not? Don't you?" she asked. "I'm miserable, and I don't think you're happy either. You are cold and aloof most of the time, or you are angry and grumpy. What am I supposed to think?"
"Huh," he grunted.
"Huh? What do you mean huh?" she asked, in an exasperated voice. "Please speak to me for a change!"
"What do you want me to say? You've basically told me I'm a horrible husband and you would rather work than be around me," he barked. "How am I supposed to respond to that?"
"I didn't say you were a horrible husband," she argued. "Please don't put words in my mouth."
"Then what else do you call the person you described?" he demanded.
"Look, it is obvious we're both unhappy," she said in a voice she hoped was calming and reassuring. "This isn't about blame."
"It sounds like it to me," he responded.
"It's about us as a couple," she reassured him. "Not about who is right or wrong."
"So, what do you propose we do about us 'as a couple,'" he asked.
"I honestly don't know," she answered. "I want us to be happy. I want things to be like they were before. Maybe we could try counseling?"
"Counselling," he repeated.
"Yes."
"Okay," he finally looked up from staring at his hands. "Okay, let's try counseling. You aren't the only one who wants things to be like they were before."
"Good,"
"But you need to start coming home on time," he demanded. "I don't like not knowing where you are or when you'll be home."
"Fair enough, I'll do that," she stated a small smile on her face. She considered pointing out that this was exactly what he had been doing for a very long time. She remained quiet, however, as it seemed like a rather petty point to make when they had just taken a step forward.
They sat in silence for a while before she worked up the nerve to ask him what had been on her mind for the past few weeks.
"Hon, can you tell me something?" she asked.
"What?"
"Why are you so unhappy all the time?"
He sat for a few moments, in silence. After a while, he took a deep breath and responded "I don't really know, I just know things aren't the same as when we got married. I feel a bit cheated."
She felt a bit like the wind had been knocked out of her. He was saying things that completely reflected how she had been feeling but had been unable to express to him. She had never considered that he, too, must think that things had changed so drastically for the worse. What on earth had happened to them?
"How do you feel cheated?" she asked.
"When we were dating you were so into me," he started. "Now, I can tell it is ho-hum. When we were dating it was exciting and passionate, and now it's, well, blah."
It stung a bit to hear him put into words such a negative description of their marriage, but she honestly couldn't disagree with his assessment. Their courtship had been whirlwind, exciting and so passionate. When they married, things seemed to turn to dust. She had expected the emotions to last forever.
"Okay, fair enough," she acknowledged. "How do you suggest we change that?"
"I don't know," he shrugged. "Maybe when you start coming home on time again, we can spend more time together as a couple. Maybe we could spice up our sex life a bit too."
"Okay," she said, biting her tongue to keep from reminding him that she had tried doing just that and that he had rebuffed her on several occasions. This wasn't the time to worry about the past, but to concentrate on the future. He's ready to work on it now, that's all that matters.
"Well, let's go on up to bed, it's getting late," she reached her hand out to him.
"Are you sure you want me to go up with you?" he asked.
"Of course, don't be silly," she smiled.
That night, their lovemaking, while not overly exciting, was gentle and tender. She went to sleep with a glimmer of hope that maybe, just maybe, they had turned a corner of sorts and their marriage wasn't over.
Chapter Nineteen
Olivia
D riving down the road, she wasn't sure why she had agreed to meet Luke tonight. Her day had been hectic, first with work, and then getting the boys ready to spend a couple of weeks with their father. Summertime was always a mixed bag for Olivia. She enjoyed her alone time, and how her schedule opened up, and she had so much time to do just what she wanted. But it also threw her routine off, and she felt slightly off-kilter when her day- to- day schedule had so little structure.
Luke had called her just after she'd finished wrestling with camping gear, and cajoling her boys into showers and clean clothes. No easy task when all they wanted to do was leave in their dirty jeans, earbuds firmly inserted in their ears, eyes glued to their screens.
"How about a movie?" he opened up the conversation.
"Oh, that would be lovely, but I'm wiped, and I just want to sit back and enjoy the silence once the boys leave," she answered as she sank into her couch. "It was a hellish day at work, and I swear getting these boys to do anything is like pulling teeth."
"Sounds like you could use some time away then," he stated.
"No, really I… Adam! Get out of that fridge, your dad is taking you both to supper first!" she shouted. "Sorry 'bout that. No, really, I'm beat."
"Too beat to sit in a movie theatre and snack on popcorn?" he asked, feigning incredulity.