Reyona was sleeping, or at least trying to sleep, when she felt the bed depressed, and Thomas stood up and went out.
She waited for it as she heard his phone vibrate where he had kept it beside him. He wouldn't put his phone so close to him like that normally, as he had said that the radiation from the phone was not meant to be kept anywhere near the brain, especially in sleep.
Reyona knew that today was a special day, though.
She was sure he was expecting something, so she didn't comment on his out-of-habit move; she had merely curled up against his side, laid her head on his chest as she took his hand, and wrapped it around herself before kissing him good night.
She smiled to herself as she heard the phone vibrate, and he checked if she was asleep before gently removing her arms from around him. She had thought briefly of tightening her arms around him to see what his reaction would be, but then she decided to let him go. The show was about to start anyway.
He had been on edge since he got home, even though he tried to hide it with intermittent laughter. Reyona had gone home and ensured she made a very sumptuous meal for him. She had never believed in hiring domestic staff, even though she could afford them. She had a woman who came twice a week for cleaning, but she cooked and did other little things in the house herself.
For all of the eight years that they had been married, she had made his meals herself. Thomas couldn't cook, and she had not minded that the domestic tasks had all fallen on her in their home. She had been content with doing things for him, as she believed that the little things matter, and she wouldn't deny the fact that she had a bit of a traditionalist in her; she must have gotten that from her grandma. Her paternal grandmother believed that there were tasks meant for the man and those meant solely for the woman in the home.
Reyona had loved doing things for her husband because she believed that made them closer throughout their eight years of marriage, and he had been so appreciative that she would never have believed that while he was playing the doting, attentive husband, he had been playing her all along.
While she had been looking forward to all they could have together, he had been laughing at her all along. Well, this would be her time to laugh as well. Wasted time could not be gotten back, but she would make sure he remembered her when they finally left. Oh, he would remember her.
So she made him his favourite Garganelli pasta with bolognese sauce that evening with some chicken and waffles in case he wanted to take the lighter food. He opted for the pasta and had eaten heartily even as he discreetly checked his phone, then smiled at her, saying that her cooking was the best in the whole wide world. With an infectious grin, one of the main things that made her fall for him.
The bastard.
"Is it? Is my cooking really all that? Or is this another one of your lies? Is pasta even your favourite, or is it another one of your fabrications? Is this what you tell her as well? That she cooks better than anyone else? Than me?"
She took her mind off the path it was going down as she felt a new rage welling up in her when she looked at the way he was smiling at her with a twinkle in his eyes, even as she saw the worry in his eyes that he thought he had masked so well.
"Would it kill you to come clean with me? I am your wife, for God's sake. I willingly entered this. I am here willingly. Why? Why do you have to do this to us?" She thought right before she asked him if he wanted a second helping, and he nodded enthusiastically. She had been unable to eat. She had no appetite at all, so she told him she had eaten already when he asked why she was not eating.
"What? You had your dinner without me? That is a new one," he smiled before settling down to eat.
"How was your day? How was work today?" she asked with her eyes on his to gauge his reaction.
His reaction had not changed. The bastard's smile had been planted firmly on his face without any change at all.
If not that she had been watching him, she wouldn't have caught the way his hand jerked once and the fork in his hand clattered briefly against the plate, but then he picked up his fork and said to her with a smile "Well, you know. Just the same old"
"Oh, yeah? Were you at the gym or the fitness centre? Both?"
"Oh well, I was out with Lance. We were checking out some things," he added weakly.
"Oh? Cool, eat up. Don't let the pasta get soggy," she told him as she decided that she had made him sweat enough.
There would be plenty of time for his sweat.
Reyona turned over in bed as the thought cascaded through her mind, and she listened to her husband's movement. She could hear him in the living room now. He probably had not realised it yet. She contemplated whether she should get up to go find out what he was up to, but then she decided to hold on.
"Patience, girl. You have been…"
"What the heck?" she heard him shout from the living room.
Well, it seemed the bubble had burst. She smiled sadly at herself.
"Game on," she muttered as she stretched.
"Babe, is that you? What happened?" she called out in a sleepy tone.
And smiled when he grew silent.
"Didn't count on me waking up, did you? Well, this dutiful wife of yours has got to do her job," she thought as she stood up from the bed to go meet him.