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"It's nearly 8:00, Mel, I was hoping for a little dinner?"
"I'm sorry, I just get lost up here sometimes, with these old things."
Tony nodded absently, and turned to leave, as Melanie was pushing the old trunk aside. It held more treasures than she ever imagined. Her curiosity was peaked, as she wondered what other tales her Aunt would tell on the pages of her diary.
Melanie made dinner in a hurry. She was thankful that she had all the ingredients for Tony's favorite salad, and she served it to him as he waited not so patiently at the kitchen table.
They didn't speak while they ate, the silence unusually uncomfortable between them. Melanie hoped to pacify Tony with a little dinner, the way Aunt Daisy had pacified Joseph, but her husband seemed so out of sorts. She was about to clear the table after they'd finished eating, when Tony interrupted her.
"You know, Melanie, things aren't going very well between us," he said. He seemed collected and not at all angry now; though the truth was, his well practiced cool scared her, so much so, there was a lump in her stomach.
"What do you mean?" she asked cautiously.
"Maybe I was too old to marry, too set in my ways."
"What! You're only thirty five," Melanie said incredulously.
"I know that, but there's a difference between us, in the way we see things. Perhaps there's just nothing we can do about it."
"You're really scaring me Tony, I don't understand. What is it that I do that bothers you so much?"
"This morning," he started immediately. "You interrupted me five times, five times," he repeated for emphasis. "I can't get any work done. And they all seem like such ridiculous things. I really thought this house would keep you busy, you were so inspired to renovate it, quitting your job and all that. But it's taking time away from my work. I can't have that!"
"I'm sorry," Melanie started to apologize.
"No, that's not enough. I've told you this before, but no matter what I do, you don't hear me. You didn't used to be like this at all!" His voice was rising in tenor just a bit.
Melanie bit her lip, holding back her immediate response, and her hurt. Oddly, her thoughts immediately recalled Joseph's solution to his troubles with Aunt Daisy: the spanking. She shook her head, as if to shake away the thought altogether. It was too ridiculous to even mention, and why in heavens name would she have even thought of it? Spanking was an antiquated throw back to some Neanderthal time, hardly a modern solution to a real relationship dilemma. It might have been okay in Aunt Daisy's day, but certainly not now!
"I'm sorry Tony, I really am, I've just had such a problem making decisions about this house. With you here, I guess I forget you need to work."
"Exactly," he agreed.
"I'll try. I'll really try to be more considerate."
Tony didn't look relieved. In fact, his jaw seemed set in concrete, and his jet black eyes pierced her so thoroughly that she had to look away. Her heart was pounding, as her mind worked furiously to find the right thing to say to appease Tony's concerns. She couldn't bear to lose him, he meant far too much to her, but this sudden seriousness scared her. Always before, she could flirt her way back into his good graces, but now, she couldn't even fathom making a sexual advance.
"It's a whole attitude Melanie, I can't put up with your questions, and then your pouting and running off, disappearing upstairs where you moon about God knows what." Tony gestured with his usual Italian flare, his temper showing more and more, where he'd once been so calm.
"I just get so overwhelmed," she tried to explain.
"You've never been overwhelmed by things before. I don't understand, this is what you wanted!" Tony said pointedly. He looked at her and sighed sadly, a sullen mood replacing his irritation. He rose from his chair, and going to his office, he closed the door with an emphatic finality.
This Tony took Melanie by surprise. Suddenly so distant, he didn't even seem like the Tony she loved so much. She was scared.
That night, she slipped into her sexiest nightie and waited for him in under the covers; though she fell asleep before he came to bed, sometime after two o'clock. The next morning, Melanie woke by eight o'clock, but Tony was already gone. She wondered if he'd slept with her at all, except that the tell-tale signs, the wrinkled sheets and bunched up feather pillow, suggested he'd been there.
Melanie avoided Tony all morning. It wasn't hard to do as long as she didn't knock on his door. He didn't come out once, and his closed office door was a sure indication that he wanted to be alone.
While she waited for the right moment to initiate some reconciliation, Melanie plunged into her work: making phone calls to decorators, going over paint samples and trying to make at least some of the millions of decisions that she faced.
At noon, she stopped to fix lunch. By that time, her stomach was doing anxious flip flops, as she considered how Tony might greet an interruption. She hesitated for nearly ten minutes, hoping that he'd come out on his own, but finally gave the office door a timid tap announcing her presence. She heard his muffled reply and opened the door.
"I thought you might want lunch?"
"Ah, yes, I am hungry," he said. He seemed pleasant enough.
Melanie took his reply as an invitation, though the two ate in silence, Melanie not knowing what to say.
