2~Hannah

"Hey momma." I blew a kiss at her as soon as her face popped up on the screen. She gave me a big smile before frowning again.

"Okay before you scold me, I'm sorry I haven't called you. Work has been crazy." I explained.

"Hmm," her eyes squinted in obvious suspicion. "How's my son in-law?" She asked.

"He's great!" I forced a wide grin, hoping she wouldn't see through it.

"I don't see a baby bump." She adjusted her glasses.

"Mum, it's a selfie camera." I deadpanned. She had been disturbing me for a grandchild from the first week I got married.

"You still don't look pregnant." She pointed out.

"Mum we're taking our time, let us be." I rolled my eyes.

"We?" She vigorously shook her head. "I don't want to believe my son in-law is part of this."

I laughed. She always saw Zach as perfect. Rich, handsome and impeccably brilliant. Who wouldn't believe that he was the perfect man for them? I thought he was for me too.

"Are you there, Hannah?" She called out to me, jolting me out of my reverie.

I nodded quickly, "Yes mama."

She rolled her eyes, "As I was saying before you started daydreaming about your husband,"

I laughed at that before denying it, "I wasn't daydreaming about Zach."

She shook her head disbelievingly.

"People still congratulate me over your wedding. Not a day goes by without someone coming over to ask about both of you." She said.

"It's been six months ma," I chuckled.

"Still feels like yesterday. It was so beautiful, I framed photos of it all over the walls here." She gestured with her hand. I could imagine what she said. Her words made me feel nostalgic and want to go back home.

"I really miss you ma. Please come over here." It felt so lonely without her.

"I'll only come over when you're pregnant."

I scoffed. We were back at this baby issue again.

"Let me come over to India. Just so I can make sure you're okay." I leaned my phone against the wall and clasped my palms in a pleading manner.

"Sweetie please, I'm fine. Your sister takes very good care of me." She said. I got a little twinge of jealousy when she said that.

"She's stealing all your love." I pouted.

"When's the last time you spoke to her?"

I swallowed, "It's been a while."

"Well, you should call her some time."

I nodded, "I will." That was a lie. I couldn't bring myself to face her after all that happened within the last year.

"Oh well, I'll talk to you another time, I have a visitor. I love you and make me some grandbabies!" She rushed out.

"We sure will!" I sarcastically returned her excitement, blowing a kiss once again before hanging up.

"Why are you lying to yourself?"

I almost jumped out of my skin at the sound of a strange voice behind me.

"Zach, I didn't know you were back." I said, holding on to my chest.

He stepped further into the office and I instinctively took a step back.

"Why are you deluding yourself into thinking that I would ever regard you as my wife?" That question had to be rhetorical.

"Zachary, I was speaking to my mother." I spoke as calmly as I could, avoiding his searing gaze. It hurt me to gaze at him so longingly.

"And you had to shamelessly lie to her? Just like you did to me?" He accused.

"I did not lie to you, Zach." I quietly said.

"Yeah right," he scoffed. "You need to stop making my mother scold me for something so pointless. There'll never be anything between us." He stated firmly.

"Please, can you just hear me out? Can you at least be civil with me?" My voice broke with desperation. His icy blue eyes stared at me with barely any expression at all.

"We've been married for six months and that is the longest sentence you've ever said to me. Zach, this is so unfair!" My voice went up a notch. Whatever had I done to deserve this?

I watched his jaw tick and his fists clench in a bone-cracking grip.

"You might as well file for a divorce because I want nothing to do with you." He coldly stated and stormed out on me.

"No! I'm not leaving! Say anything you want but I'll still be here!" I yelled after him, sure he heard, before falling on my knees to let out the sobs that were going to drown the sound of his footsteps.

~~~

"Hey Marv," I hugged her as soon as I got into my office where she was waiting for me.

"Hey, you alright?" Quite the observatory one, she had seen my sunken eyes and surely heard the sadness in my voice.

"I'm fine. How's the transfer coming along? And the renovations for the building? How are they going? We need the place ready and conducive for the new staff the Hawkins are bringing here." I lurched into work questions without delay to avoid her questioning me about my well-being.

"It's all going well. Don't fret about anything, I have it under control." She assured.

"That's good." I sighed, reaching for a pen to start scribbling ideas for work expansion.

"I read somewhere that avoiding your problems don't actually make them go away," she remarked.

I glanced up before slowing returning my eyes to the journal in front of me.

"And bottling up pain makes it a lot harder to heal too." She casually added, eyes glued to her iPad as she rocked the swivel chair from side to side.

"You saw that in an article?" I asked, still not looking up.

"As a matter of fact, yes. Yes I did." She said.

"Hmm, nice. I read somewhere too that prying into people's problems is not always the best way to sort out yours." I retorted just as casually as she had done.

"Excuse me?! I am not prying into your life, I'm simply concerned about you." She got defensive.

"Since we're citing quotes now, I just made a reference from an article I read too. Why are you getting defensive?" I innocently said.

She huffed, folding her arms across her chest before narrowing her eyes at me, "I know you've been crying, Hannah. You look like a shadow of yourself." She stated matter-of-factly.

"And I said I'm fine. A little crying never killed anyone." I shrugged.

"For how long would you continue to let this man hurt you?" I saw the concern in her eyes but I wasn't the least bit concerned for myself.

"Until I'm fed up."

"It's been six months!"

"Not six years."

"Are you kidding right now?" She glared daggers at me.

"What if I'm not?" I leaned back to face her squarely.

"Do you even know how ridiculous this sounds? You're telling me you would want to spend more than a year with a man that totally ignores you?!'' Marv looked like she was going to have a seizure with the way her left eye twitched.

"Marvel, can we not talk about this?" It was too early in a workday to talk about something like this.

"Hannah, don't do this to yourself. There are many men out there that would give you the princess treatment you deserve." Her tone was a little more pacifying now.

"His company saved ours." I reminded her.

"And the merger is finally complete. You can leave him now and continue working from this end without any hassles." She pointed out.

"What would people think about that? Besides that, this would only fuel his disreputable opinion about me." I countered.

"This is why you're stuck in a tasteless union. You always care about everyone else but yourself." Her words were strong and they held truth. But I was too blind to accept it.

"Maybe if I give him an heir, he'll finally treat me right." A tear rolled down my cheek before I knew it.

"Hannah..." Marv let out a long sigh. She walked around the table and gave me a hug.

"I don't want to be a divorcée." I sobbed.

"I don't want that for you either. But I know you know that this isn't worth it, at all." She said softly.

"His mom said to give him some time. I don't want to disappoint my mother.''

Mama had been through so much since we lost Dad and I didn't want to let her down. She had become so fragile, hearing saddening news like this could break her into pieces. I couldn't bear to see her hurt because of me, because I failed at marriage. It would scar me for life.

"I understand." She said, running her hands through my slick hair.

I wasn't sure she did. No one ever understood my plight because they did not know what it was to be in my shoes. No one saw the unshed tears in my eyes every time I stepped out. No one knew how disappointed I was at the way my life had turned out. They just couldn't get it.

"Marv he hates me. My husband hates me." I found myself wailing.

She shushed me. "He'll come around, he will."

"He told me I would never mean anything to him. There's no chance he will." I sniffled.

"There's always a way to get a man if you really want him." She said.

"What?" My eyes snapped up to hers.

"We're going to get this man groveling to get you by the time I'm done with you." She smirked.

Okay, I may not have known what she meant but I sure liked the sound of that.