Seeds of Tomorrow

50

Atira strode into the house looking like the boss of a businesswoman she was, stilettos click-clacking on the floor as she tossed her keys onto the table beside the door and dropped her purse onto the sofa.

Phone to her ear, she opened the fridge to rummage through for a Diet Coke and slammed the door briskly. Her husband stopped the stirring of the sizzling vegetables in the wok to point to his cheek for a kiss. She didn't have to sigh out loud for him to catch on to the fact she was annoyed.

It wasn't a lack of love on her end but she couldn't handle his sulking. They'd entered the marriage with it clear that her career was important to her and that he would be the primary homemaker. It had been fine until the more recent years when he began to behave insecurely.

Atira planted a kiss on Krist's cheek, click-clacking out of the kitchen and into her office, closing the door behind her.

She was in the midst of a phone call between herself and her assistant, there was an upcoming work trip to Chicago, and travel plans were to be made. A new site was opening the first week of November meaning Atira would need to be present for various activities. Thrill.

Of course, the dread of the business trip was less than the dread of telling Krist that she would be leaving for a week. He took her Seattle trip well but when it came to cross-country trips, he pouted. They'd been married for fourteen years. He'd never had a reason to question her loyalty all of his issues stemmed from his insecurities and there was only so much she could coddle him.

Kicking off her heels, she plopped into her plush gaming chair and flipped open her laptop, accessing her work calendar. As she impatiently waited for her system to load, the door flew open.

Krist stood in the entrance, face contorted in anger. She mouthed the words "on a call," and held up a finger indicating he needed to wait.

"Yo, where's Audrey?" He blurted out.

Atira's stomach dropped. Shit! Audrey. She was supposed to pick her up from the football game she was cheering at on her way home but had been on autopilot the drive home.

"Hey, Britt, let me call you back," Atira said cutting off her young assistant and slipping her feet back into heels.

Krist glared at her, good grief.  She looked at him open-mouthed, waiting for his attitude.

"Bro, it ain't that fucking hard to remember," he scolded her like she was a child, "And don't worry about getting her, Kasey's mom is dropping her off."

He turned to storm away.

"Krist, you act like I did it on purpose," she protested.

"Never said you did," he retorted, "Just seems like your priorities ain't where they should be."

She raised her upper lip in anger, "Really? So busting my butt at work doesn't fall under your idea of proper priorities?"

Atira was tempted to laugh.

"You act like I ain't working," he replied.

"Never said that, but I am certain you had time to come home and smoke weed when you could have gotten Audrey yourself," she countered.

Krist glowered, "I've been home a whole ass hour-tops," he snapped, "I took fucking ten minutes to smoke, then came in here to make sure Gabe was doing his fucking homework before starting dinner. Now if you ain't tryna eat on time, yeah, I could have driven the half hour to go get her and the half hour back. I just thought being that it was on your way, it made sense."

Atira sighed, shaking her head before removing her heels once again, "I have to call Britt back," she told him flatly.

"Of course you do," he told her, voice full of venom.

Dinner had been tense at best, Krist making it well-known he was still pissed off and acting passive-aggressive, not that it was unusual for him. He rolled his eyes and audibly groaned as Atira poured herself a glass of wine but refrained from saying anything to her.

He didn't have to.

Anytime they argued and weed was brought up, Krist would make snarky comments about her and her wine as if she were a heavy drinker. While Atira did drink nightly, she did so in moderation. Perhaps a normal-sized glass or two to unwind, she didn't get sloppy and didn't drink bottle upon bottle.

"I'm going to the gym with Cami," Atira had told him as she helped with the dinner dishes.

"Of course you are," he muttered, rinsing the soap off his Wok.

Atira froze, head cocked, "What is that supposed to mean?"

"Well," he began, "You always do that shit anytime we argue like you leave the house to avoid me. Then you come back right before bedtime and act like nothing happened."

She clicked her tongue against the back of her teeth the same way he did to her, "Krist, I go to the gym every night with Cami."

He shrugged his shoulders, placing the Wok in the drying rack, "All good. See you when you get back."

Atira was not up to coddling him, he was a grown man even if he acted like a child.

****

"Honey, don't let him get to you," Cami said between huff and puffs on the stair machine, "We all know he gets like that and we all know you would never intentionally forget Audrey."

Atira wiped the sweat off her brow, "I know but it just feels like we never get along anymore. He's always pouting about something and it makes me not want to be around him."

Cami stepped down from the machine, her glutes and quads burning, "That's just how he is," she laughed, "It's how he has always been. Give him a day or two, he will cut his shit out."

She forced a smile, Cami wasn't wrong. Krist was a moody guy and the sulking or guilt-tripping wasn't out of the ordinary.

"How do you and Jeordie manage to get along so well all the time?" She asked, "I swear to god, you two never bicker."

Cami threw her head back and laughed, "Girl..: where have you been? All we do is argue. Since I lost the weight, he's even worse than Krist some days. Trust me, some days I want to smother him with a pillow. It just happens when you've been with someone for a long ass time.

"That dumb ass thinks because I decided to get myself healthy that means I want to be with someone else. I asked him what he was going to get out of being with someone new. We match each other's vibe and generally respect each other. The sex is phenomenal and it's not like we don't have an open relationship.

"See, that's Krist too. I mean, we obviously don't...we are only with each other..." her voice trailed off as she watched a muscular man at the squat bar.

Cami elbowed her with a grin, "I saw that," she teased.

Atira giggled, returning to her train of thought, "I just mean that he and I are in a good spot, or should be. We have our careers, and a nice family, we are comfortable. The sex is still good. Why would I want to go looking for someone else?"

"Krist is insecure, he always has been. Don't take it personally, babes," Cami assured her, casting her eyes in the direction of the squat bar guy, "I just wish he and Jeordie would cut the shit though because I swear those two work each other up."