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“Yes, I’m sorry. It was raining hard, and I was worried about you.”
“Well, that’s sweet of you. I’m sorry, it took a little longer than I expected because of the rain.”
More silence, then, “Who’s the co-worker, which one?”
I hesitate a second sensing where this might be headed. “Andrew Cooper, he’s a second-year ER resident.”
“Cooper…isn’t that the doctor who’s been trying to get you to go out with him?”
“Look, Sebastian, it was raining, he needed a ride. That’s all. I even told him that I’m seeing someone to prevent him from misinterpreting my actions.”
More silence.
“Sebastian?”
“Just get home.”
The line went dead. I snort my incredulity. He can’t seriously be getting this upset over something so innocent. Surely, he was just anxious about me driving in this weather. And can’t possibly think that I was up to no good.
Can he?
The closer I get home, the more worried I become that this could turn into a major argument. Is our first argument going to be over something this banal?
I turn off the main street and drive the Porsche down the alleyway toward our place. I press the garage door button and drive in. I hop out of the car nearly snagging my jacket on the door. I bound up the outside stairs leading to the front door. I fumble with the keys, dropping them once before I open the door. When I enter our house, it’s dark save for the kitchen light.
“Sebastian,” I call out. I switch on the hall light and glimpse Sebastian standing there in the kitchen leaning against the counter with his arms folded across his chest. Though he’s removed his tie, he’s still wearing his suit from work.
“Look, Sebastian. I didn’t mean to worry you, I’m sorry about that. But there’s nothing to be upset about.”
He holds his hands up gesturing for me to be silent. “Relax, Madison.” He says in an eerily calm tone. “It’s my fault. We should have discussed a few ground rules from the beginning. I gave you that car for your transportation, to keep you safe, not to drive random dickweeds around town.”
He holds a finger up when I try to speak.
“I don’t want to ever hear about you having some other guy in that car. I’m not done yet,” he says, all in an even tone. “No double standards for us, the same rules apply to both of us, Madison. I don’t want to deal with this kind of bullshit, so let’s just agree that nothing like this will happen again.”
Despite the nature of his words and the tension in the room, he hasn’t once raised his voice at me. He unfolds his arms and sticks his hands in his pants pockets.
“Are we in agreement?” he asks, and now there is a little edge to his voice.
“Yeah, got it, no dickweeds in the car,” I say and walk over to the fridge to get a bottle of Fuji water.
“You think this is a joke?”
I unscrew the lid and take a swig of water. “I think there was an innocent misunderstanding, it’s been addressed and now you need to let it go.”
Though he doesn’t move, his ardent stare is immobilizing. The ferocity it conveys is chilling.
But this is silly making a mountain out of a molehill. I walk toward him, giving him my warmest smile.
“I’m home now, babe. Let’s not waste any more time on this.” I rise onto my tippy toes to kiss his lips. He neither moves away nor reciprocates.
“I’m tired, I’m going to bed,” Sebastian grumbles. He steps around me and heads to the staircase without looking back to see if I’ll follow.
Okay, that just happened.
Have I finally found the kink in Mr. Perfect’s armor? Maybe he just had a rough day and my getting home late was just the straw that broke the camel’s back. Whatever, I think as I turn off the kitchen lights and make my way up the stairs to our bedroom.
Sebastian is in the bathroom brushing his teeth. I slip out of my scrubs and into one of his t-shirts that I love to sleep in. I run a brush through my hair and pull it back into a ponytail. I then head for the bathroom as he’s exiting it. I brush his hand as we pass, he ignores it and heads for the walk-in closet to get undressed.
