They sat down for dinner, just as they did every night. She had carefully prepared a meal that fit all his expectations – low sodium, low carbohydrate, high protein. When he sat down at the table, he instantly turned to his paper, reading through the sports and the news as he took quick, hefty bites. The woman ate a bit more slowly, twirling her fork in the air as she looked at the man before her.
"So... how was work?" She asked, hoping to start a conversation.
He shrugged. "It was work."
"Nothing fun happened, or new?"
"Nope," he scraped up the remainder of the food on his plate, tossed down his paper and went to get seconds. She looked at his muscular back as he walked away from the table, wondering if it was his physique that distracted her from the person he truly was before they had wed. She let out a sigh.
"Well... care to hear how Evelynne's day was?" Placing a particularly exasperated tone on her name, her husband eyed her over his shoulder.
"Sure, Evelynne, how was your day?"
She smiled. "It was okay! My Microeconomics course is very challenging, but I'm excited at the knowledge that I'm getting closer and closer to getting my degree, which means I'm learning more and more complex things.
"And Rosie was a good girl today," she added, nodding to their dozing pup. "We went for a walk and then afterwards I did yoga. I think I'm starting to really get flexible-"
"That's great," he said, emotionlessly, eating his second helping over the sink in the kitchen before tossing his plate down. Evelynne pursed her lips sadly, knowing whenever he cut her off like that it meant he wasn't listening in the first place. As he walked back to the kitchen, he grabbed his paper and his coffee and headed to the couch, where he would sit in silence for the rest of the evening. This time, however, he stopped and looked at his wife.
"Oh, do you remember John?" The question surprised her. Of course she remembered John – it was her husband's coworker. They had spent a lot of time with him before he had been reassigned to a different country, and she had noticed his eyes always lingered on her. When they had gone out for drinks his last night in town, Evelynne had challenged his eye contact – a way of saying 'I see you, I know you' – but John had held her gaze; 'I know, I want you.' The thought of it made her shiver.