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"Jeez, thanks again honey," he said, looking around. "I'll see you after work, all right? And don't worry about making dinner either. I'll make it when I come home."
"Oh," Veronica said, "okay."
"Great," he said, and he leaned forward and kissed her on the cheek. "Have a great day."
He left the kitchen and a minute later Veronica heard the front door open and slam shut, his car roaring into life before driving away.
Veronica walked to the fridge in the silence of the house and looked at the list of chores. Clean the bathrooms, go grocery shopping, vacuum out her car. She stared at it for a few seconds, expressionless, before walking out of the kitchen, chore list still in place.
She went up to the bedroom where she changed into jeans and a t-shirt, then grabbing her purse and jacket she left the house, locking the door behind her. The sun shone brightly down as she got into the car and started it up. Turning on the radio to full blast, she backed out of the driveway and drove away from the house, music filling her ears.
Chapter 10
Veronica sat on the hood of her car and looked out over the farmers' fields, watching the horizon slowly change hues from blue to pink. She took a bite of the cheeseburger, holding it in the foil wrapper it came in, and chewed the food thoughtfully.
Veronica had spent the entire day out, driving to places she had never before heard of and frankly didn't even know existed before today. They were mostly towns smaller than hers, herself stopping in to look around, grab a coffee, maybe perused around a used book store.
She had gone to one of the diners for lunch and grabbed the burger and fries at a roadside grill a few hours after that. When it hit five o'clock she looked to the West and saw the sun starting to set, and that made her pull over. Now, she sat parked on the side of the road, eating her meal, enjoying her time.
She took another bite, tasting the juices of the meat flow over her tongue. She put the burger down and grabbed the bottle, taking a sip of the bubbly liquid, washing down the food. She put it down beside her and she sat in silence, listening to the birds calling one another as night slowly visited them.
Veronica popped the last bite of cheeseburger in her mouth, crumpling up the wrapper and stuffing it in the box that held the long-since-eaten fries. She grabbed the drink and slid off the hood of the car, getting into the driver's seat and turning the key in the ignition. The clock on the dashboard flashed 5:29. Greg had been home for fifteen minutes already. Veronica took a breath and put the car into drive, making a U-turn and driving back the way she came, daylight slowly leaking out of the sky.
~~~
Veronica put her key in the front door and unlocked it, walking inside. The first thing she heard was the scraping back of a chair, and a second later Greg appeared around the corner. Worry lined his face.
"Hi," she said before he could speak, taking off her coat and hanging it up.
"Where have you been?" he asked her sharply. "It's six o'clock. I came home and you weren't here, no note, nothing."
"I was out," she said, meeting his eyes.
"Out?" he repeated. "Out where?"
"Just out," she said as she took off her shoes. "What does it matter anyway? You never tell me where you and your buddies go whenever you go out."
She walked past him and Greg looked like he was about to yell, but it never came. Instead she heard him take a deep breath in and slowly let it out.
"Okay," he said, following her into the kitchen. "You were out. Did you … have a good day at least?"
"Wonderful," she replied, sniffing the air with a look of confusion on her face. "Did you eat dinner already?"
"No," he said, "I came home ready to cook and you weren't here so I didn't know whether to try to find you or
not."
"Well, I'm here now," she replied. "I've already eaten, though, so don't worry about me. I think I'm just going to read."
She walked past him again into the living room, sitting down in the chair and turning on the lamp beside her. She picked up her book and turned to the place she had marked as Greg's footsteps approached her.
"You've already eaten?" he asked, his voice softer than before.
"I had a burger and fries," she said without looking up.
"Oh," she heard him say, and he walked back into the kitchen. A small pang of guilt appeared in Veronica's chest but she pushed it down. She heard the sound of metal clanging in the background as she focused on her book.
~~~
