Page 30 of The Next Of Us
I gritted my teeth.
Pull your shit together, you fucking pussy.Stop whining about bills and house repairs and the cost of having kids.Would you rather a life without them?Pull your head out of your ass.
Rather than changing my outlook, my less than healthy mental scolding fed the guilt and restlessness churning inside me.
Why now?I’d had a perfect week with my wife, the best we’d had in a long time.We could plan to take more breaks, go up to the cabin more often.It wasn’t like anybody else used it much anymore.The problem wasn’t going to the cabin.
The problem was going back home.
I knew what was waiting for me.
Next week I would sit down and talk to Max.
I sighed.
Next week.
Nadine
I studied my husband.His whole demeanour began to change as soon as we got into the car.“Aaron, are you even listening to me?”
He shook his head and tossed me an apologetic smile.“Sorry!I was thinking about work.”
I found it hard to believe he suddenly wanted to leave what he’d spent his life building.Studying him, I asked, “Are you looking forward to getting back to the office now that she won’t be there?”
I frowned as his jaw clenched.
He shrugged and flicked the indicator to take the final turn-off for home..“I’m not sure.”
Beyond the windscreen, the road whipped past underneath us.I couldn’t stave off the fear it was hurtling us toward an ending I didn’t see coming.
Men didn’t get this restlessness and stay with their wives.Especially when their children were grown.They moved on.
With me and Thalia, Aaron didn’t even have a chance to be a kid before he had to become a man.
Could all of his restlessness really be attributed to some unwanted flirting at work?
I was being sexist.Maybe it bothered him more than I imagined.“Aaron, does the situation with Lynda bother you that much?”
Oh, God.What if there was more to the story?
He frowned deeply.
Lines I hadn’t noticed before creased his handsome face.When did he get so tired?
“It was annoying.”
“Annoying required two weeks off?”
His eyes widened momentarily as his mouth opened and shut.
“Aaron?What else is going on?”
“Nadine, this life we built…it’s beautiful.”
His hands gripped the steering wheel tighter.
“It’s just not the life I want anymore.”
