“Making me play with one of my other toys, I like. If you wanted to send a message, it was received,” Emily sends her good morning text. Problem was, it started as that, but evolved into so much more.
“Something wrong, Sweetheart?” Paul asks, from his cup of coffee. Aniker places her phone face down and smiles back at him.
“No, Bae. Everything is fine,” Aniker lies and tries to hide it with a bite of bacon.
“Good, at least this will be the only thing on your plate then.” Aniker nearly chokes on the small bit she was working on.
“What do you mean by that?” Paul takes a long sip of his coffee without breaking eye contact.
“I think we should separate,” Paul says, and gives time for a response. Aniker needs it as her heart stops when the words come out. When she doesn’t say anything after a while, Paul crosses his legs and sets his hands on his lap linked. “I would guess you have a rebuttal for that.” Aniker doesn’t answer. She just holds her head down. “So I imagine this isn’t that much of a surprise for you.”
“No,” She speaks up.
“Before you showed up last night, I was doing a lot of talking with my sister and mother. They think the only way to fix the situation we are in, is to give each other time away to reevaluate what we want from this marriage.
“How long?”
“As long as it takes,” Paul answers then clears his throat. “There is no time limit on healing.”
“Will you see other women during this time?”
“Perhaps,” Paul answers. Aniker takes a deep breath but doesn’t dare protest. She has no right to.
“Did,” Aniker starts up, “never mind,” she decides against it.
“Did last night help at all. Of course, it did. Last night meant something to me. I know it meant something to you too. I don’t know what possessed you to come over last night, but I wouldn’t change the outcome of last night for anything. I felt closer to you than I have in a long time.” He reaches over the table and await Aniker’s hand. Aniker looks at it but doesn’t feel it would be a good idea to take his gesture. Paul gets up and walks around the round dinner table to Aniker, and kneels beside her, taking her hand.
Aniker turns her face away from him when he does. Not wanting to look him in the eyes as she feels tears building up again.
“Sweetheart, I know you’ve felt this coming. I can’t be the only one. You’ve been so distant from me.”
“I’m not crying because I think you’re wrong. I’m crying because I know you’re right,” Aniker says folding into herself and letting tears out into her lap. Paul rubs her back as the heaves start, but tries to reassure her.
“If last night taught me anything. It’s that we still have the connection that lead us to be married. But we can’t continue on the path we are on. It’s not working.
“I know,” Aniker sobs.
“I know that sex is an issue. And I wish I could tell you that I will be able to do what happened last night on command, but we both know that I can’t. Last night was a rare night where emotions took over and I don’t know how often that will happen.” Paul lifts Aniker’s face to greet him. “But I promise you I’ll try to fix all my issues in this time. Will you promise me you will do the same?” Aniker is silent for a moment.
“What if I fix mine, but you realize you’re better off with someone else?”
“Then we will figure it out,” Paul answers confidently. “I don’t want this separation because I don’t want to be with you. I want it because I don’t know how to keep you, and I need to find out how.”
“How does leaving, help you find out?”
“Sometimes you have to step back and look at the problem from another angle,” He says without a shred of doubt. As much as Aniker wanted to yell, fight, curse, protest, something. She couldn’t argue with his logic.
“I just think it’s funny that you want to separate after I make a mistake. I said I was sorry.” And of course, she can’t just say what she feels. She has to get combative.
“A mistake? I could start a blog on all the mistakes you’ve made recently.”
“And you haven’t made mistakes of your own?” Aniker fires back storming into their room.
“Of course I have, but I take responsibility for mine. Unlike you.” Paul says, kicking the chair out of his way and walking over to the counter, sagging his head in a fret.
Luckily Aniker was in the bedroom and he couldn’t see that his words hurt her, because they were a little too true.
Aniker has become a spoiled brat ever since Paul has become more successful and gave into her way a little more. The more he gave, the less she felt the need to correct her actions. He constantly knew that she was crossing the line in the beginning. If she wasn’t self-aware of it, she had Lijie who would always reassure her that she was heading down the wrong path.
She knew he was close to his breaking point, she just didn’t know how close.
Aniker goes into the closet and mindlessly grabs a few outfits and a few shoes. Pulling out her suitcase she starts to pack. She can hear Paul grabbing the dishes, and that stops her in her tracks. Quickly turning she heads to the kitchen and bumps him out of the way when he is making the dishwater.
Aniker wipes her eyes and says,” I may be a bad wife, but I’m still your wife.” Handing her the dishes, Paul watches as she does the work of cleaning their plates. He walks up behind her and wraps his arms around her. Aniker pushes him off with her elbow or rather tries. Her attempt fails and links their hands together as he hugs her.
He kisses her on the cheek, and then on her neck. Finding a sway to music that only he can hear, he moves her with him and continues to hold her tight. Spinning her around gives her a peck again, and again. Until her tears finally dry, and she can stand to look at him for more than five seconds without looking away.
“I may be a bad husband, but I’m still your husband,” Paul says, smiling at her. Aniker goes to turn away, but Paul won’t let her. He claims her mouth and once again has Aniker moaning into his embrace. Feeling the nudge of Paul’s friend, Aniker’s hand moves as if magnetized to greet him. Hard long muscle reawakens her desires for him as she simply looks him in the eyes and asks, “Again?”
“Again,” he returns using one of his hands to remove the button to Aniker’s jeans and she starts to remove the buttons on his shirt.
She didn’t want to lose Paul, and she would do everything in her power to make him see that she wanted no one but him. Even if it meant giving herself to him in the kitchen, living room, or where ever he saw fit. She couldn’t think of a better way to fix their marriage than with lots and lots of passionate sex. She smiles as Paul crouches next to her, placing her leg over his shoulder and taking deep laps of her warmth with his tongue.
She really couldn’t think of a better way to fix her situation than this.
“So, I told you to call Paul and tell him what’s going on, then call the cops to get Emily off of your back,” Lijie says to Aniker, walking beside her at the park. They started to come here on her first day off every week to work their way up to running a 15k race. So far they could make the distance in about ninety-five minutes. Lijie struck up the conversation during their cooldown.
“Yes, those were your instructions,” Aniker says happy to have her breathing back under control. She gulps the last of her water and eyeballs her brother’s in hopes that he would share. Lijie flips the bottle from his left to his right and hands it over, as he knows that’s what his sister wants.
“So instead you teased her by dressing in lingerie, and had sex with Paul because you knew she was watching.”
“Yes.”
“And now, Paul wants to separate because he doesn’t know that you find safety in him, because instead of doing the thing that I told you to do. Which would have made him feel like more than dick and money, it would have shown him that you trust him enough to come to him with your problems, that you feel secure in him when you have an issue. No, your new plan is to fuck your problems away.”
“Yeah,” Aniker says handing him back his water bottle. Before she could explain herself, Lijie starts back up.
“Even though, the whole reason you are in this mess is that he couldn’t sexually please you and you wanted to supplement with women. But because he gave you two good ones, you just going to forget about the dozens, possibly hundreds that you endured before in hopes that this now older man, is capable of keeping up with your younger and stronger sex drive. Did I get all of that?” Aniker nods this time because it’s one thing to think all of these things, but it’s another to have someone lay it all out for you.
“I’m sorry Sis, but that’s one of the dumbest plans I’ve ever heard. And I work in IT, at a hospital. There is no shortage of bad ideas that I hear on a day-to-day basis.”
“It’s more than the sex. There is still a strong connection between us. I can feel it, and so can he.”
“Okay, then what has changed since now and before aside from two good fucks?”
“I apologized.”
“For missing dinner at an expensive restaurant that for most people is a once in a lifetime opportunity. In which his reply to you was to go fuck yourself.”
“He did not say that!” Aniker strikes her brother’s shoulder.
“I’m translating. What else?”
“That’s it. Aniker says, pointing to a bench. Kong nods and they both walk over and take a seat.
“Did you at least tell him about Emily?”
“I didn’t have time.”
“So between waking up, making breakfast, having a sex break in between, finishing breakfast, taking a shower together, getting dressed, and walking out of the door. You didn’t have the time?” Aniker hates when he calls her out.
“It didn’t come up, okay.”
“Then text him now.”
“This isn’t something that you text.”
“Then text him you need to tell him something important.”
“I will,” Aniker says getting annoyed.
“Do it now.”
“Am I interrupting?” an all too familiar voice calls out.
“Amanda?” Lijie says, sounding as if he isn’t sure he’s calling the right name.
“Hi, Lijie,” Amanda waves nervously. “Thanks so much for fixing my printer the other day.
“Don’t mention it. It’s not like I get paid to do it or anything.” Amanda giggles at Lijie’s lame joke.
“Do you mind if I snatch your sister really quickly?”
“Only if you don’t mind giving her a ride home.”
“You’re super eager to get rid of me?”
“No, I am on call and got a text a little while ago. I was going to tell you, but I had a couple of hours to get to the hospital. If Amanda will take you, this will be perfect.”
“I don’t mind,” Amanda replies.
“Then ladies, if you’ll excuse me. And Aniker, don’t forget.” Lijie says, with a stern look.
“I won’t,” Aniker reassures as he walks away. Aniker turns her attention to Amanda. “What’s up?”
“Have you given any thought to my offer?” Amanda asks, taking Aniker by the hand and leading her to her car.
IJC Writing 