Only She Sees by Manel Loureiro

Author:Manel Loureiro [Loureiro, Manel]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781503941915
Publisher: Amazon Crossing
Published: 2017-02-07T00:00:00+00:00

27

“Martin! Eat your breakfast.”

“I don’ wanna!” he said. “I don’t like that cereal, Mommy. Can we get a different one next time? Pleeeasse!”

She wanted to explode. Her nerves had worn thin over the last few days, and even minor disagreements were enough to set her off. Poor Martin had found that out a few times while Daniel had chosen to close himself off even further from Cassandra.

Watching her marriage spiral out of control wasn’t helping. Cassandra knew she was systematically burning every bridge that connected her to Daniel, but she couldn’t share her dark secrets with him. They were two ships moving in opposite directions and neither seemed to know how to turn back.

“Cassy, let him be,” Daniel said. “If he doesn’t want cereal, he can eat something later.”

“Oh, sure. Later. Right. He can just head down to the bakery and pick something up or meet his friends over tapas. He’s a kid, for crying out loud. Do you want him to starve?”

She immediately regretted saying that. She could practically see Daniel withering beneath her barrage. She was being cruel and unfair, yet she couldn’t help herself.

“I didn’t say that.”

“I know what you said.”

“And I know what you wanted to hear.” Daniel set his coffee on the table and stood up. “I don’t know why we’re arguing. You’re just going to end up doing what you want anyway.”

“What I want?” Cassandra was furious. “What I want? Don’t you mean what you want?”

Daniel shook his head and smacked his lips.

There it was. The elephant in the room that neither one wanted to acknowledge. The rift between them that was only growing wider.

“I’ve never made you do anything, Cassy.” Daniel sounded genuinely hurt. “I’ve never asked you to sacrifice anything without first exploring the alternatives.”

“But you’ve also seemed to think I might need something else.” Cassandra was nearly yelling. Her temples were pounding.

“We’ve talked about—”

“You never seemed to think your son might, too. Our son! You only ever thought about your own future.”

“I bust my ass every day for our future.”

“And I don’t? Martin jumping from school to school and me jumping from one shitty job to the next because you’re never fucking content.”

There. She said it. The silence that ensued was thick and bitter. Their marital problems, which were causing them to gradually become strangers, had been laid bare before them, with boiling anger and rage.

The lingering issue was that Cassandra had sacrificed a successful career for the sake of love. When Martin had come into their lives, the decision had become even easier. But as he grew up, she felt cornered into a world carved by previous decisions. They were decisions that had seemed right at the time, but now she wasn’t sure what to think.

Cassandra’s face was beet red. She watched Daniel take several deep breaths and crack his knuckles before turning around and looking out the window at the rain-soaked forest.

“What’s wrong, Cassandra? Why are we doing this?”

Because I resent the entire world and blame you for it. Because I’m scared and you can’t help me.

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