The Argument, Erin House [phonics readers .txt] 📗

A fine specimen of a man. Strong back, strong arm, strong jaw, with brooding eyes and silver hair. He watched her cross over to him without much pleasure. When she reached him, he tried to smile.
“Don’t try to humor me,” she said.
He raised his eyebrows in response.
Her dark eyes smoldered at him. “Why did you do it?”
As he looked down at her, he asked himself the same question. What man in his right mind would want anything else? Perhaps she wasn’t a girl any longer, but she was what every woman should wish to be. Her curly blond hair was graying now, but her skin was firm, body slim and shapely, her mouth smooth. He looked away.
“Talk to me, James.” Her tone reminded him why he did it.
He pointed to her. “There you go again.”
“What?”
“That! Exactly that. I’m not your child. After the wedding, I wasn’t even your lover for long. Can’t you just let anything be? Why is it that everything has to be micro-controlled when you’re around it?”
“I can’t imagine what you mean. The only problem in this relationship is you. Can’t you say ‘thank you?’ Is being appreciative too far beneath you, James?”
“How else, Lydia? How else can I say ‘thank you,’ other than the ways I have? And lately, what have you done to require my gratitude? Kept yourself from me?”
“Is sex all you think about?”
He swore. “No, but as your husband you can’t say that you aren’t my right.”
“You can’t say it isn’t my right to withhold.”
“But why?”
“Because. Because you were unreasonable. Anything I did went unnoticed. Anything I didn’t do you immediately questioned. You didn’t respect my rights, or my boundaries.”
“You were punishing me? Unreasonable?! Never speak of me being unreasonable. What rights didn’t I respect? And what boundaries? Yes, do tell that.”
“When we got married, we became a team. We should have encouraged each other. You never learned that, James, never.”
“Oh, now. You could have done your share of that, you know. But I suppose I should have fulfilled you in your right to have your ego fattened, is that it?”
“Damn you, James! Damn you! Do you have no consideration at all?”
He was passed warmth of temper now. “Do you? Apparently, judging by your reaction, my comment was accurate. So, deflate your ego long enough to see past it, Lydia.”
“What?”
“See me.”
“I’m looking right at you, James.”
“But you aren’t seeing me. If you did, you would have seen how much I’ve needed you.”
“If you needed me, you would have said so.”
“I did, Lydia! I held your hand. I kissed you. You withdrew your hand. You turned your face. What else do you want me to do?”
“See, you admit you pushed my boundaries.”
“What?”
“The kissing…the touching…”
“But I love you, you’re my wife… should I never touch you?”
“Always interpreting what I say to the extreme, James.”
“Then tell me what you want. I can’t guess.”
“Always the extreme. And you love me, do you? I’m your wife, am I?”
Her query was met with silence, so she continued. “How old was she, James?”
“Twenty-four.”
“Scandalous,” she spat. He said nothing. “Well, aren’t you going to say something for yourself?”
“I’m not going to apologize for it, because you won’t hear me. It doesn’t matter that I was wrong. Bad wrong. It doesn’t matter that I’m sorry now. I am wrong, and I admit it. But you would rather me say I don’t regret a moment of it, just so you can add it to your list of offences to hold against me.”
“You’re not sorry you did it! You’re not, James. You’re just sorry I’m mad at you. That’s all you’re sorry about. And I’ll have you know…” but she was talking to no one. He had walked away.

Publication Date: 07-13-2010

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