Ana sipped her frappe. Why was he here? What did he want?
He watched her carefully, trying to find the micro expressions, her mannerisms, all those little things he knew so well that always told him what she was feeling what she was thinking.
But she wasn't...making her usual faces. Her usual habits. It's like she was someone new. How long had it been like that?
Not when they were fighting. She was normal when they fought.
"I have to go on trip," he started.
It was easy to start a fight with Ana. Tell her you were leaving.
"Where?" She said softly.
He watched her. "Spain. A few days."
She nodded, pursing her lips. "Oh I see. Okay then."
He frowned. "No fight? No, why do you keep scheduling out of country work, when you know I can't go with you, Annika has school. I told you I didn't want to have a baby, I can't go anywhere now. None of that?"
She shrugged. "Sounds like you know everything I'm going to say. Waste of time to say it then, isn't it?"
He swallows sitting back. "Yeah...I guess it is."
She sighed. "You something though? When we were in the hospital, with Liam-when I was, you were in surgery, in a different part of the hospital-"
He clenched his jaw.
"I uh...when they came in, the doctors and nurses, they kept saying, how's mom doing today? How are you feeling, mom? Any pain, mom? And I kept wondering why they weren't saying my name anymore. Once you have a baby you're not you. You're just mom. I didn't know that."
He licked his lips. Not knowing what to say. She smiled softly, sipping her frappe. She looked down, the cup empty. She stood, throwing it away, before sitting back down.
Her fingers drummed the table gently, her nails rapping against the expensive marble.
"You're still here? I'm sure there's some complex surgery you can poach or at least scrub in on. It's not like you to hang here." She stated, drumming her nails.
He looked at her hand. "You don't do that."
"What?" She paused, before tapping again.
"The nail thing. Tapping your nails. You don't do that. What does that mean?"
Her brows raised before she looked away. "Just an idle thing. Doesn't mean anything."
"And the way you're talking. And that face you just made. Lifting your brows, you don't do that."
She scoffed. "I don't?"
He purses his lips. "I just mean...you're...different some how."
"Well that's what happens, Scott. I was 25 when we met. We've been married ten years. I've had a child. I'm not the same person anymore."
He frowned. "Then who are you?"
She shrugged. "I don't know. Does it really matter?"
Scott smiled. she smiled back. He reached out taking her hand.
"You know...it's been a while since we went out, hasn't it? Why don't we do something? We'll uh...let's go somewhere. Where do you wanna go?"
She looked at their hands. "I can't leave Liam yet. And it's hard enough, the nannies doing most of the work. Annika too. She's got a play this week. You won't be there, so I have to be. Last time she cried so hard I thought her face would stay red forever."
Her hands slipped from his, making him hold them tighter.
"Not this week then. We could just go to dinner. That nice place we went before Liam was born."
"It closed," she said simply.
"Oh. Well somewhere else is then. A nice restaurant. Maybe some shopping? We could go riding?"
She sighed. "Annika needs me to be there for her events. Liam needs to remember my face. And goodness knows I have to oversee the workers. Someone was stealing. Almost conned us out of thousands."
"Don't I pay someone for that?" He frowned.
She sighed. "No. I do that. I'm the available parent. I oversee the workers and the budget because last time someone did our budgeting they robbed us."
"I make sure our security systems are up to date, I go through the house, and make sure everything working, I call and schedule repairs I make sure everyone has enough clothes, enough shoes, that the kids don't just spend thousands of dollars-"
He frowned.
"I make sure your clothes are dry cleaned, I make sure Annika goes to school, is on birth control, goes to doctors appointments-"
"Well...that sounds like a lot. Let's hire more people to help you."
Morgana closed her eyes. "I'm a mother. I'm a wife. It's my job."
"No it's not. You're only job is to be happy. Take care of the kids when you can."
"We can't all just ignore our familial responsibilities to do what we want Scott. I don't have that luxury."
"What's that Mean?" He reared back.
She sighed. "It's 12 o'clock."
He glanced at the clock. "And?°
"You're never here at 12 o'clock," she said simply.
"I told you, I took some of the day off," he stated irritably.
She stood.
"What are you doing now!" He got up, following after her.
She walked into the gym, stretching.
"Morgana we were having a conversation."
"It's 12 o'clock." She said softly. Music came on making him look around.
What the hell-
Morgana started working out making Scott sigh.
She did that for an hour, making Scott protest as she walked past him, taking a shower.
"Hey, Ana, stop moving for a minute okay, let me talk to you."
She took her clothes off, making him stop and admire her.
She looked up at the faucet. She kept thinking she could really scar him if she just killed herself in front of him.
He'd never be able to forget her then. Abandon her. He could never-
Scott sighed. "Well if you don't want to go out, why don't we do something at home. One thing I do pay other people to do is fuck you. We haven't had sex in a while."
Ana smiled softly. "Okay."
