Chapter 1
Gabrielle’s POV
Everything has always been fine. When my mother died, I was strong; when I was a kid, I was strong, until I realized I never had to be strong for myself all the time. Someone else had been strong for me. When I met Lincoln, I never expected that we would end up married. We've only been married for about 8 years, and I've loved every bit of it. He's my rock and my best friend, and I can't think of a better person to spend the rest of my life with.
We both did a shuttle service together, and then eventually we would do deliveries. The world has become very structured around automation, but there are still jobs for people like me and Lincoln, which require us to give them the human touch. And so, when it comes to packages that don't get delivered well, or backed-up inventory, we go around to those places to deliver the mail that's backed up, or to access places that are not easily accessible for the regular delivery. Now that all of it has died down, money has become a little bit more scarce.
Anyway, I now have a job working from home, as most people do, and to make a little bit of extra money, Lincoln has taken a job with a company that trains AI models, specifically for a new robot that they're about to release in a few years. It's crazy howwe've gotten here. Sometimes I have a hard time believing this is real life, but him working at this office company means that he has to be away for long periods of time, and I miss him.
He's been working overtime, busting his behind the last few months. We are making a lot of money, and I can see the difference. It's allowed us to move into a better neighborhood.
It's allowed me to have a little bit of downtime, so that I could do more stuff around the house while he's away at work. Most nights he comes in, he's very tired, but I'm so happy to see him. And no matter how tired he is, he's always happy to see me, wrapping his strong arms around me.
Sometimes we'll watch something on the couch after I serve him dinner and fall asleep right there until work the next morning. More hours means more money, and even though I miss him, him working from 9 o'clock a.m. to 7 p.m. really makes me wish that he was here. We've always spent all of our time together, so it's quite an adjustment, us not seeing each other for many hours at a time.
Some days it feels like we see each other less, and like he's at work more than he is at home. They keep asking him to work late, and I get it, the company's getting off the ground, and he committed to that. But honestly, it bugs me, and I don't want to be that wife that's always nagging.
I'm privileged, and his job at that company makes it so that I can afford to stay home, even though I make quite a bit of money with my home job. It's nowhere near what he makes. And I'm all okay with this, to a point, because I know it's necessary.
What I'm not okay with is what happened last night, when he came home at 12 a.m. in the morning without having text me to tell me where he is. What I'mnotokay with is finding out that he had been staying over late with two other co-workers, one of them being a female co-worker, who he had told me in the past has made passes at him. I try not to think too much of it, and he tried to defend this woman, informing me that she's been pretty good about it after he set his boundaries in place.
I had asked him what he said, and he claimed he told her that he was married, didn't feel comfortable, and that she should stop.
And she did, for all intents and purposes. There's never been a reason for me to mistrust my husband, but you know when there's that inkling in the back of your soul that's telling you to keep your eyes and ears open, to remember that the person that you spent most of your life with could possibly betray you.
It makes me sick.
It makes me sick sitting at home not knowing if he's lying.
It makes me sick even imagining this co-worker, whoever else, being on my husband, kissing him, spending time with him.
Then I come to find out they are actually working alongside each otherallday,everyday almost, except for on the weekends.
So far, Saturday and Sunday are the only times I get to really see him when he doesn't have work, and he spends most of Saturday sleeping in because he's exhausted. I don't need to stress him out on top of all the other stress he has. But it really bothered me, and we fought about it.
He came back and apologized to me and told me how sorry he was, that he was just taking it out on me because he's been stressed and he doesn't want to be accused of anything right when he comes through the door.
He claimed he didn't get his notifications because he put his phone onsilentto barrel through the work, and I get that, and I'm really trying over here, I am, but it's difficult.
And I'm just wondering, does it make me a bad wife that despite the assurances he gave me to still be distrusting of him?
Does it make me a bad wife to feel jealous and a little insecure that the woman who likes my husband despite knowing he's married is there with him more hours out of the day than I get to see him?
-??-
Chapter 2
Click.
My heart is bumping the rhythm of nerves.
There he is, my husband who finally decided to come home.
"Hey," I greet him.
"Hey," Lincoln answers.
As he takes off his shoes, he stares at the ground, looking tired as can be. Why is he not looking at me? It really bothers me. You know, we just had this conversation, and he already is going back on his word. I stand there trying to center myself, trying to ignore the burning, burgeoning, overwhelming sensations of me shaking because I'm so emotionally distraught.
