Infinite

The First Session: Part 4

Houston, Texas in the Clarke Home, Saturday, November 20th, 2029 at 6:00 pm

Rachel

The timer on the oven went off. I set down my laptop and headed into the kitchen. I was making lasagna; Lucas' favorite. He had been working a ton lately, and we hadn't had any time together. He's always so busy, but lately it felt like he'd been avoiding me. Ever since we talked about starting a family a few weeks ago, he came home each night well after I've gone to bed. He promised me he would be home for dinner tonight.

I took the lasagna out of the oven and set it on the stovetop. I curled back up on the couch with my laptop and continued lesson planning. This week we were diving into quadratics, which is one of my favorite lessons to teach. It was a foundational concept for their later math courses, so we spent a lot of time in this unit.

I became so invested in my prep that I lost track of the time. I glanced up at the clock and realized that it had been over an hour. I couldn't believe him. He promised me he would come home tonight. I knew that something was going on but he wouldn't talk to me.

I decided that tonight I was going to stay up until he came home. I didn't have work the next day, and we needed to talk about this. I curled back up on the couch and turned on the TV.

Watching some reality shows should cheer me up and keep me awake.

Before I knew it, I dozed off while snuggled up under a blanket.

#

I woke up to the sound of the front door unlocking. I glanced at my phone and saw that it was almost midnight. Lucas came in through the door very cautiously, not realizing I was awake in the living room. When he turned and saw me sitting there he dropped his briefcase.

"Oh my god, Rachel, you scared me," he chuckled slightly, as if nothing was wrong. He looked incredibly handsome with his dark hair that fell across his forehead.

I almost forgot that I was angry with him. I crossed my arms and just glared at him. His smile faded into a frown and he swallowed, rubbing the back of his head.

"Look, Rach, I'm sorry I'm home so late. I know I said that I would be home for dinner. We just had a breakthrough on this project and I needed to stay and-" I cut him off before he could continue.

"You promised me," I said quietly. "You've been coming home in the middle of the night for weeks, Lucas. Ever since we talked about starting a family I feel like you've been avoiding me." His jaw dropped at my words.

"That's not true," he replied quickly. "I have just been busy with work." His feet remained firmly planted in the entryway as he raised a hand up to brush his hair out of his face. Even though I was mad at him, I wanted to run over to Lucas and kiss him, but it had been weeks.

"You're always busy with work, Lucas!" I shouted at him as I stood up from the couch. "I have a full time job that requires me to bring my work home as well but I still make time for you." I started to walk towards him, and his shoulders dropped slightly as he looked away from me.

"Why don't you come home anymore? I never see you and you won't talk to me," my voice breaks slightly as I speak. He began tapping his fingers on the end table by the front door. The sound of the keys in the bowl jingling filled the room. I waited for him to say something, but he just stood there, tapping.

"Lucas," I said sternly. "Do you not want a family with me?" He looked at me, and his eyes softened.

"Of course I want a family with you Rachel," he sighed. "I just don't want one right now."

My heart sank. It felt like a weight had been dropped on my chest.

"Why?" I said as loud as I could as I fought to hold back tears. Lucas started tapping on the table again. I couldn't take it. "Lucas, talk to me!" I shouted at him as I took a few steps forward.