“Is this safe?” Steven asked as Marie placed a black mask over his face.“Shhhhhh. Stop talking. What are you so scared of?” Marie asked, amused by his constant questions about facial care routine.“This is supposed to be relaxing, you know?”“Are you punishing me for yesterday? Because I'd like to say a few words in my defense.”“Oh hush.” She said, as she laid beside him.“So how long do we wait?” He asked“I have no idea.”“Okay, what's next?” He asked in a way that made Marie aware of the fact that he hoped this was all.“Next, we pummel our faces with burning stones to kill dead cells.”“Burning stones? Why does this sound more like an initiation rite or an interrogation technique?”Marie bursted out laughing.“I'm kidding. We wash this stuff off and I give you a lovely head massage.”“Ah. After the pain, comes the pleasure.”“What pain? Do you know how many people would kill for my facial treatment? Maybe I'd better take my loving hands to some other guy who would appreciate it.
A very tear-stained and sad face looked up at him, seizing his ability to feel anything else but compassion. Rick, who had always looked so confident and unbothered, looked up at him with snot in his nose and fresh tears in his eyes. Steven bent to the boy’s eye level and wrapped him in a bone-crushing hug, which was the very thing that sent Rick over the edge as nerve-wracking sobs tore through his body. Steven said nothing but just held the child as he wept, letting him get whatever sadness he was feeling out of his system. Scolding, if at all necessary, could come later. After twenty minutes of crying, Rick leaned away from him and said,“Thank you, Uncle Steven.”“Don't worry about it. Can you stand now?” Steven askedRick nodded and Steven helped him up to his feet. Rick, who was usually bold, was looking everywhere but at him. Perhaps, his head had cleared a little and now he was beginning to realize that he was going to be in a lot of trouble. Steven took out his cell and texte
It was finally birthday week and Marie found herself surviving on water, insane amounts of coffee and greasy food. Even Steven had noticed something was up with the way she kept thrashing around in bed. The reason for her nervousness was simple: this party had to be the most perfect thing she had ever planned, and she had been talking to Dr. Carol more about being intimate with Steven and was determined for it to happen on his birthday. She still had real, ugly scars that surfaced at the top of her mind at times but she felt so much more confident in her decision. She had decided to stop thinking about how it would complicate their relationship and marriage, and just decided to see how things went.“Earth to Marie.” Steven said, looking at her with something akin to worry.“Yes?” She said, slightly embarrassed that he had caught her lost in thoughts again. This was happening too frequently for her comfort.“What were you daydreaming about this time?” He asked“Nothing. You needed me t
“What is that?” She asked, rubbing her sleepy eyes open.“What is what?” Sandra asked, placing the box into a cabinet and shoving it shut.“The box you were carrying?” Marie said“Oh. That's just some of Zed’s stuff. Don't worry about it.”“Oh, I see. Anyway, I feel so nervous, I think I may get sick.”“Nonsense, and not on my watch. Today is your day and I'm going to make it special.”“I don't know about it being my day, Sandra. Hehehe. It's Steven’s day.”“No difference. Isn't that the point of marriage?”They both dissolved into peals of laughter as Sandra ushered her into the room to get ready.“Sandra, I can't start getting ready now. It's 10 in the morning. The party begins at 6PM.”“Oh, you oblivious girl. Fine, but we start prepping by 2 PM and I will tolerate no objections.”“Okay, Cap.” Marie said, holding back a laugh. She headed to the kitchen to fix herself some eggs for breakfast. According to Sandra, anything else would make her feel bloated. Hopefully, she didn't keel
Right when he thought he couldn't be any more fatigued, Steven found himself being harassed by James to get into his car and make a quick stop at Alden Kings Inc. to pick up Marie’s anxiety medication.“What do you mean my wife is on anxiety meds?”“Well, do you want to read her text?”“Can't I just have some ordered for her? I’m tired and would like to just go home.”“Steven, come on. I’ll drive. We'll dash in and out before you even know what's going on.”“Fine.” Steven said, getting to the car but extremely irritated at James, and by extension everyone else on the road. James, though, seemed to be driven by a severe restlessness of his and was driving like someone with a death wish.“James, slow down, will you? I have no desire to die today.”“Oh, quit whining, City Boy.” James snarled.How come she hadn't told him she was on anxiety medicine? Or had Dr. Carol just put her on medication? He had no idea his beloved Marie was battling such a severe case of anxiety and it killed him t
“Hey birthday boy, a dance?” Sandra asked, as she held out her hands to him. On any other day, he would have been reluctant to indulge her but was in such an agreeable mood that he found himself smiling and leading her to the dance floor.“I hear I’m in your debt?” Steven whispered“Oh yes, you are. But I did good, didn't I?”“You excelled. And I think I owe you a gift.”“Oooh, I love gifts.”Steven smiled and said nothing else. After a couple of minutes, Sandra said“Marie loves you so much, Steven. The things she had to go through and do to have this party? I’ve never seen her so stretched before. She simply refused to give up.”“That's my wife. I live in total awe of her, I doubt I'll ever deserve her.”“Maybe we both never will,” Sandra said as she looked at Marie with a smile on her face.After dancing with Sandra, Steven went over to his grandfather who was chatting with another old timer at the firm, Dean Fallon.“Hello, permit me to intrude to say a quick hello.”“Oh, that's p
Who could be calling him at this time? Steven thought as he yanked the errant cell phone from his breast pocket. He was about to toss the cell away without looking at it when his eyes caught his caller ID. It was his father. Marie looked just as livid as Steven but withdrew far enough to give him privacy to answer the call. A part of him wanted to ignore the call, and then text his father later.Steven doubted that anything the old man had to say was important, but Marie had already retreated to the far corner of the room and was texting. Besides, the last thing he wanted was the unease from wondering his father's reason for calling this time. Steven wasn't optimistic enough to believe that his father had remembered his birthday, after all.“Hey Son. Long time no speak.” William King's voice boomed over the phone.And whose fault was that, he thought but thought better of speaking it out.“Yes, Sir.”“You can't afford to forget your old man, Steven. We're all we’ve got. You and me. We
On the next day, a beautiful sunny Sunday, Marie gazed down lovingly at her husband whose arm was fastened around her waist despite being fast asleep. It was as though he was unwilling to let her go and discover that last night was a dream. It definitely wasn't, at least not with the warmth that was coursing through her. She closed her eyes and rubbed his cheek softly with hers before trying to sneak out of his embrace. She was about to lift her other ankle to the floor and congratulate herself when he grabbed her waist and pulled her back into bed.“Steven,” She giggled, turning to face him.“We can't stay in bed all day.”“Tell me one good reason why.” He mumbled, his face still buried in the sheets.“For one, I’m hungry.”“So the chef will make something for us. Next?”“We both need to shower.”“Highly debatable. Keep going.”He said, turning on his side to look at her.“What will we do in bed all day?” She asked before she thinking better of it.With a wicked gleam in his eye, Stev