The Woman He Married

33. The Bitch

Mae woke up to a phone call from Ellie early in the morning. She could barely get up to grab her phone, so it rang for a while until she felt the bed shifting and Zane lifted his arm from her waist. He reached over to the her side of the bed and grabbed the phone to answer the call while Mae just fell back asleep.

"Yes, Zane speaking. Mae's still asleep."

Mae looked at Zane, feeling uncomfortable and dizzy. She probably overslept her day, given that she spent her day sleeping while Zane was attending virtual meetings all day.

"Hello?" Zane hummed, reaching for the duvet and pulled it over Mae's shoulder to keep her warm. He peeled away from the phone and frowned.

"Maybe it's a butt dial," Mae murmured, realizing that Ellie did not say anything on the other end of the line.

"Maybe," Zane said softly, ending the call and putting the phone aside. He pulled her close and snuggled with her. "Are you okay?" He whispered, noticing the slight frown on her face.

"I don't know," Mae muttered, sitting up and looking out the window. She hummed, "Ellie lives alone now. I just..." She shook her head, not finding the right words to explain herself.

"Worried," Zane said, and she did not deny it. She could not deny it. He kissed her cheek, "Should we go check on her?"

"At this hour?" Mae asked, "What if she calls the cop?"

"Then we'll take a nap at the police station. It's still better than being sorry if anything happens."

Mae watched as he jumped out of bed and head to the closet. He came back out with a pair of sweaters for her. After a while, they hit the road and drove to Mae's childhood home to check on Ellie. Zane glanced at her every now and then, and he could not help but notice how quiet she had been on that particular day - just when he thought that things have started to become normal between them after explaining everything about him and Ruth.

He reached for her thigh and squeezed gently, "How are you feeling?"

Mae sighed, glancing at him. She frowned and shifted her knees to the other direction. It was a universal code, in his opinion, that his woman does not like his entire existence at the moment. He kept his hands on the wheel and nodded to himself. She has been sensitive, both physically and emotionally, for the past couple of days.

"I'm sorry," she muttered after a while. Mae looked at him, "I just don't feel too well."

"I could tell," Zane nodded, "I wish there's something I can do to help you feel better."

"You waking up and driving us to my sister's place is already helping me feel better," Mae hummed, kissing his hand. "Thank you. You're such a gift."

"You're my gift," Zane replied, smiling contently.

"I know," she shrugged, cracking a bad joke just to lighten up the mood. Mae stared at him for a while. She smiled softly when he noticed and kissed the back of her hand. "I have something to tell you," she hummed, "But we'll talk about it after we're done with Ellie, and we're sitting in our favorite cafe having breakfast."

"I love having our usual weekend date," Zane muttered, "We haven't done that in a while, have we?"

"Thanks to your never-ending workload," Mae rolled her eyes.

"To be fair, I do make effort to take you out but you have been a little meanie lately," Zane pointed out, then he held his breath, probably contemplating his own decisions after saying what he said. He glanced at Mae, adding, "Which is fine, by the way. Totally normal."

"Huh," Mae nodded, "And I am going to be a tad bit meaner for the next few months."

Zane frowned, pulling into Ellie's driveway. He looked at Mae as soon as he parked the car, "Am I getting punished?"