THE PSO (Phone Sex Operator)

A Different POV

THEN

"I just wish you didn't work all of the time, Nate. Nate? Are you even listening to me?" Maria's angry voice breaks him out of his day dream.

Nate takes his eyes off his breakfast - scrambled egg on toast with a dollop of ketchup - long enough to catch his wife's eye and give her an unconvincing smile. She was wearing one of her usual maxi dresses with some random pattern on it. Her short, chin length black hair curled behind her ears. Big eyes framed with naturally dark lashes bore into him.

"Hm? Yeah. Yeah, 'course I'm listening, baby. I'll try to get the weekend off."

It was a lie. They both knew it.

"As long as you do." Maria's voice is laced with doubt. A heavy sigh leaves her thin cupid bow lips and she place's the tattered tea towel on the oven door rail before she rounds the kitchen counter. Sitting next to her husband at the breakfast bar, she hesitantly takes his hand in hers.

His hand. The one decorated with his gold wedding band. Their wedding day flashes through her mind in a series of lovesick images. They were so happy back then. A dramatic contrast to the state of their marriage in recent times.

Maria's not sure when it all went wrong.

She's also not sure where she can begin to fix things.

"I... I love you, Nate." She says it so sadly it almost sounds like goodbye.

Or the start of one.

He doesn't lift his head. Doesn't take his eyes off the food sitting on his plate. Suddenly, he didn't feel like eating it. "Love you, too."

--

Months later.

"This is your fault, Nate! I tried and tried and tried to fix things between us but you were never interested!" Maria screams from her spot in front of the sofa.

Nate wanted to punch something. He wouldn't, but he wanted to. "So - so, you're telling me, it's my fault you let some other man slip his dick inside of you? Tell me, Mia, was it good for you? How many times did he make you cum?"

Maria looks nauseated. "Don't be so crude, Nate-"

He laughs sardonically as he paces their front room, eyes wild and glazed over with tears. He knew in his heart their relationship could very well have been coming to an end.

But not like this.

He holds out his hands. "You wanted to talk. So, I'm talking. He find your G-spot okay, baby? He stretch you out, just the way you like it? Was he better than me, is that why he was worth throwing away our entire relationship for? His dick just that fucking good?!"

Despite looking moments away from throwing up, Maria was red in the face. "No! No, Nate. God no. It wasn't worth it! But I was so lonely. You never wanted to spend time with me-"

"Every goddamn time, I took time off work for you, it would end in an argument. I couldn't do it anymore, Mia. Do you know how badly it was fucking with my head, knowing my home - the place where I should be able to relax and unwind - was a fucking battlefield every time I walked through the door? I had nowhere I could go to catch my fucking breath. I needed to be able to breathe again."

"... And that's why you kept taking overtime," Maria says with quiet realisation.

He nods, running a hand down his face. "I thought we'd both be happier that way. We couldn't argue if we weren't around each other."

"Do you know how fucked up that is, Nate?"

He stares at her blankly. "This whole thing is fucked up, baby."