3: 3
3.
His fist clenched, then loosened. He softened his voice. "Ebony, it was just a joke from a client. Why take it to heart?"
"Rachel and I only do this so the deal goes smoothly."
"Ebony, Rachel is like a little sister to me. Why have you been going after her lately?"
I laughed.
A little sister?
Going after her?
"Ha. A joke? A deal? What, that client only agreed to work with you two because of your pretty faces?"
"Once, twice, fine, Antony. But you keep defending her, over and over. What exactly is she to you? Don't tell me you don't know."
Instead of getting angry at all this, he actually smiled.
The next second he took my hand. "Ebony, what goes on in that head of yours all day? I help her because the boss put her in my hands himself. If I don't look out for her, isn't that the same as going against the boss?"
"All right, don't be upset. If this really bothers you that much, I'll go write my resignation letter for the boss later. As long as you're happy, I'm happy."
Every time we fought, he was the one who backed down first.
And when he put it that way, I was the one who came off as unreasonable.
That was exactly why everyone saw us as the model couple. Even my own parents said I'd married well, that no one but Antony could put up with me.
But this time, I didn't want to just let it go.
We'd fought before, and it always blew over fast. Since Rachel came along, we fought more and more, even if in the end nothing ever came of it.
But it had already done real damage to my marriage.
Right now, every explanation of his was just an excuse to me. I shoved him away, angry. "Antony, do you remember that necklace you gave me last time?"
"Of course I do. I gave it to you for our third anniversary."
I looked at him and pressed on. "She was wearing it."
He grabbed my hand and coaxed me. "Of course I know that. That's why I bought you a new one, a limited edition."
In a flash, like a magician, a necklace appeared in his hand, and before I could react it was around my neck.
I looked at that familiar face of his.
Seven years in love, three years married, ten whole years, and it all played back through my mind like a movie.
Then I thought over everything that had happened lately.
He and Rachel really hadn't done anything. I knew every time he brought her home, and there were cameras in the house.
So what was I even thinking?
Was I going to throw away all these years over someone who meant nothing to us?
Just then Antony's phone rang. It had to be his boss. His face turned grave and he said, "Okay."
He hung up, kissed my forehead, and said, full of apology, "Ebony, the meeting's about to start. Go wait for me in the car. I'll come find you as soon as it's over."
Then he handed me the car keys and walked off without looking back.
I sat in the car for half an hour. The photo hanging from the mirror was still the one from when we first got together.
In it, he and I were smiling, happy.
I clenched my fist and told myself, [Ebony, stop letting your mind run wild. He loves you. He's always loved you……]
After all that back and forth in my head, I quietly drove home.
Antony came back that night in high spirits, wrapping his arms around me and spinning me in circles. "Ebony, we landed the contract. The boss says he's giving me a raise. Ebony, aren't I amazing?"
He spun me until my head swam, and I quickly reached out to swat him. "Amazing, amazing, you're the most amazing. Now put me down, you're making me dizzy."
He set me down right away, gently.
For a moment, all the distance of the past weeks vanished, and it was as if we were back to when we'd first started dating.
But heaven always seemed to want to make a joke of me.
A week later.
My boss sent me on a business trip, a night flight at that.
But by the time I got to the airport, a storm hit, and the airline canceled tonight's flight. After I called my boss to explain, I had no choice but to drag my luggage home.
I had just parked the car when I heard a familiar voice.
"Antony, honey, hang in there a little longer. We're almost home."
