He narrowed his eyes at the mousy woman staring back at him. Her wire-frames made her dull blue eyes large behind the thick glass, and each slow blink made his blood pressure spike that much more.
“What do you mean, ‘she hasn’t worked here for weeks’?”
One eyebrow lifted and disappeared into the long wisps of her bangs. “She was fired three weeks ago.”
Her tone grated on his nerves. As though he should’ve known his darling wife had separated from the job she’d just this morning told him was going wonderfully. He had to suppress the urge to growl at the woman before him, even if her attitude left a lot to be desired. A hand to her ass would bring her in line.
The idea cooled his boiling temper and raised his temperature in a completely different way.
His wife had some explaining to do and he had the perfect way to extract the truth. No sense exploding now, save it for later.
He straightened up and gave a toothy smile to the woman in front of him. “Thank you for your help, miss. Have a lovely day.”
The woman mumbled something as she turned back to her computer screen. He was moving to the entrance of the building having not heard her words, his mind was too busy concocting the perfect way to confront his wife.
–
She pulled into the driveway, anxiety making her chew her lips as she placed the car in park. 4:45 on the dot; the exact time she should be home, with commute, from work.
Thinking about work made her palms sweat. She wiped them on her pencil skirt, trying to calm herself as she stared at the garage door. Glancing at the rear view mirror, she knew lines etched along her face from worry.
“Maybe you should just tell him. Three weeks is a long time to lie about being let go.”
She sighed and laid her forehead on the steering wheel. Why had she lied?
The way she’d been let go was appalling. She was being harassed by her coworker and he managed to discredit her and get her fired when she’d rebuffed him. She wasn’t sure why she didn’t tell her husband, about the harassment or being let go. Something had stayed her tongue. Maybe embarrassment or pride? Either way, she pretended to leave everyday at 6am and either sat at the coffee shop and looked for jobs or drove to the park.
Maybe today was a good day to fess up. Her lie was sitting like a lead weight on her chest. She knew he’d be mad, but she needed to tell him before he found out anyway.
A knock on her window jolted her out of her pep talk. She looked up to see her husband smiling down at her. The smile she offered back died a little on her lips when she saw the hard look in his eyes.
Some sense, like a inkling of knowing, told her she’d already been found out.
He opened her door, beckoning her to come out with a crock of his finger. “Come in the house, love, I’ve got something lovely prepared for you.”
She swallowed hard, dread keeping her frozen for a beat or two. When she managed to climb out of the car, gathering her purse and briefcase from the passenger side, the hand gripping at her neck guided her up the driveway and into the house.
The door closed with a thud behind them as he took her belongings and sat them by the coat rack.
He turned her slightly, pushing her against the wall and leaning in to whisper in her ear, “We have so much to talk about, don’t we, love?”
It was much harder to swallow around her much dryer throat. His lips trailed along her jaw, confusing and arousing her.
“Much to talk about.”