Derelict by J.E. Rowney

Author:J.E. Rowney [Rowney, J.E.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2019-07-11T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Sixteen

Monday, Week Three

Eva spent Monday in her office, clicking through the photographs from the wedding, and starting the editing process. By the time she had finished for the day, she was determined that it was possible to save what she and Mark had. The hope, the magic of the wedding, had rubbed off onto her. She was infused with its positivity.

Mark had been home on Sunday evening when she returned, and had promised to be back early on Monday to have dinner, to share time. True to his word, he clattered through the door at quarter to six, rain-soaked but cheerful.

“Hey,” he leaned down to the chair where she sat and kissed her.

“Hey.”

His wet hair dripped onto her, and the dampness of his face pressed against hers. She thought about how she had just reapplied her make-up, but she smiled anyway.

“Good day?”

“Same day as every day,” he said. “Only wetter.”

He rarely spoke about his work, and so she rarely spoke about hers. It was a silent agreement between them. Mainly this had come into force when Eva had tried to discuss her shoots, and Mark had glazed over, showing nothing but abject disinterest. Now, she never tried to tell him, and never bothered to ask. Eva nodded and smiled.

Mark changed out of his wet clothes and Eva served dinner. For a while she felt like they were any normal couple, home from work, doing what couples do. It didn’t take long though for the conversation to deteriorate, and the fresh air separating them to turn fetid.

Between forkfuls of risotto, Eva said, “I thought that when we started counselling you might make more of an effort to...”

Mark cut in. “You think I’m not making an effort? Jeez, you don’t know how much of an effort this is.”

Eva opened her mouth to bite back, but paused and thought.

“I was going to say make more of an effort to be here, to spend time with me. I just feel like you’re still off out every weekend, that we’re not doing things together, you know?”

“I’ve got to do things that I want to do too, Evie. I can’t be here at your beck and call all of the time. It’s not about that, is it? If we are going to work things out, and be happy together, I think we both actually have to be happy. Do you know what I mean?”

Eva nodded silently. She did know.

“Maybe you should do more things for yourself, by yourself too. You never go out anymore, you really should.”

She looked at him, and wondered whether to tell him about her weekend. She could let him know about what she had been doing with Scooter, that she had started to do things for herself, that she knew exactly what he meant because she felt the same way. Instead, she said, “Yes.”

“Okay? Hey? Come on, it’s okay.”

Mark brushed her hair from her face, wiping the tear-darkened strands away from her eyes.

“I just want to be with you, you know,” Eva said.

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