“I love you so much,” I muttered.
She pulled away, putting her hands on my shoulders. “Get it together, boss. There’s no time to waste. I am going to order you a few new outfits to choose from so you feel like a confident boss bitch on the day of the actual meeting. I am also going to get in contact with his assistant ASAP, and we’ll make sure this place is in tip-top shape.”
“Can I give you a raise?” I asked.
She replied with a nod, “Yes, I already sent my negotiations to your email… I’ll also settle for an iced coffee… but that’s neither here nor there.” She pulled away, and I laughed as she walked away, swaying her hips in triumph as she put her hand in the air.
“Remember, you can’t fire me!”
It was 7:17 PM, and the door of our home had finally opened. Gavin entered as he set his briefcase on the floor and pulled off his suit jacket. I approached him and placed a small kiss on his cheek as he ran his hand over my waist.
“Sorry for running late. I had a few things I needed to finish up… How are you, honey?” he asked with a tired sigh
I smiled softly. “Pretty good, and no worries. Myrtle just finished dinner and left only a few minutes ago,” I said.
Myrtle was our housemaid. We’d hired her when we first got married. She stopped by a few times a week.
Gavin nodded silently, and we were soon together in the dining room for dinner.
Gavin was extremely successful. His parents passed down their law firm to him, and he’s grown it with a few partners ever since. We were in a close relationship when we were in college so it shouldn’t have surprised me when he asked me to marry him, but I was happy nonetheless. He was handsome, with a cut jawline, perfectly dark combed hair, a gym-perfect physique. Attitude and ego were a bit shaky, but his other qualities often made up for it.
He was my first serious relationship, my first kiss, my first everything. We were now going on being married for five years.
I asked him how his day was, and he went on to tell me a few of the business deals he had completed and how much profit he’d made from each. I was truly happy for him, knowing how long he’d worked for this.
“How was your day?” he soon asked.
Instead of giving him the dry answer of nothing much or slow as it had been for the past few weeks, I spoke on the positives.
“We found a potential client, although I’m not supposed to say until everything is finalized. But since it’s you, I’ll tell you. Kira managed to get in contact with Vincent Garcia, and we could potentially be working with his son soon.”
I was enthusiastic—it was hard to hide just how excited I was.
But if I expected Gavin to reflect it back at me, I was dead wrong. He was silent, the pause pregnant before he clenched his jaw. The tines of his fork scraped on his plate.
“Congratulations,” he said. His tone was flat.
The wind came out of my sails somewhat. “You don’t seem too congratulatory,” I said lightly.
Gavin turned his full attention onto me.
I braced.
“You’re in four million dollars of debt, and you expect me to be happy about some random rich artist who you haven’t even met yet… having thepotentialto bring in half a million at the most? Be realistic, Rosenna.”
I wilted somewhat—because Gavin was right. This new client partnership wouldn’t clear my debt completely.
But it would at least be something towards it. And that was a good thing, right?
“I just thought you’d be happy.”
“Happy? I’d be happy if my wife wasn’t trying to do big girl things and making a mockery of me and my colleagues. You barely make three hundred grand a year in profit, and I’ve been trying to haggle Brent to ease up on the interest rates… And you want me to be happy?” He shook his head, placing his napkin down on the table like a final period on the conversation. “Fucking useless,” he muttered, looking away.
I immediately felt tears spring into my eyes.
Slowly I stood, grabbed the plates and cups, and walked over to the kitchen. At the sink I began cleaning.
Slow footsteps sounded behind me. Then a sigh.
