Valentines Day (finished)

February 10th

Stephanie was sick. She wasn't telling Matt that. He'd feel terrible if he'd found out that he'd accidently made her throw up. Trying to stay presentable, she took a shower. She sighed as the warm water cascaded down her body. She soaped up her body, then washed it all off. She sighed, reaching down for the shampoo.

It wasn't bad shampoo, but it smelled horrible. I mean, she liked pizza as much as the next person, but there was a reason this shampoo was the cheapest. It was a very acrid smell that hit her nostrils. She almost gagged at the overdosage of smell. It was as if someone had opened fifty pepperoni pizzas under her nose, pleasant, but much less enticing once you began losing your sense of smell.

When she got out of the shower, Matthew must've taken one whiff of her and decided that was not for him; because he chose the little spoon position that afternoon. Stephanie didn't mind. It allowed less of a chance for him to her breath. This was on the 9th.

*

It's said that soulmates can read each other's minds, and February 10th put this to the test. Matthew, to say the least, passed the test. He could quickly tell that Stephanie wasn't a fan of the shampoo. He could also tell that she wasn't about to point it out. So, he wandered through the halls of Walmart searching for a good price.

Matt finally found a scent that he liked. Well, he somewhat liked it, but he knew Stephanie would love it. It smelled of lavender, and back in New York she'd put on a lavender perfume everyday. It didn't cost much, but it was more than they were able to normally budget out.

*

Stephanie was having a rotten day. Nothing was making it better. It wasn't big things like on the third. It was just the small things. Like her favorite radio show announced they were shutting down, her car almost ran out of gas, her parking spot was taken so she had to park a street away, and then came her work. It wasn't bad, just annoying.

She spent the morning doing some paperwork, only to find out in a meeting that they didn't have to do any of it after all. Most of the rest of the morning was spent with nothing to do because their instructions hadn't come in, Matt hadn't put a little note in her lunch, making today a dull dreary day without sunshine. During the afternoon she learned that all of the work, which wasn't a lot, was done in the complete wrong column. The afternoon wasn't much worse, but Steph couldn't pay attention because there was a leakage in the ceiling and she felt something dripping on her head. No one else seemed to believe her.

On her way back to the car she got cat-called and received a bunch of hoots and yells at. Stephanie picked up the pace when she was fairly certain that one had broken off from the group and was following her. She could've drove only using her feet at the pace that traffic was moving, but things were to look up when she got home.

Except they didn't.

Matt exhausted all of his topics within the first five minutes. They tried a bit of witty banter back and forth, but their dinner was a dull experience overall. Matt offered to do the clean up, and that was a nice change. Stephanie tried to re-absorb herself in Skyrim, but she mainly found herself going through a bit of grind-work.

Her mind was elsewhere. She couldn't help but to just sit and hope. She waited. She waited for Matthew to come into the room. For him to sweep her off her feet. For them to dance, or laugh, or get in a tickle fight, or... something! Something to break her from the monotony.

She stared hopefully as her husband walked into the room and sat down. "Isn't today the tenth day of Valentines," she mentally pleaded. "Shouldn't you be doing something? Can't you see that I'm unhappy? Can't you see that I need something right now?"

Soulmates are great, but they can fail the test of reading minds. As long as the other soulmate gives no clue, and Matt was drawing no conclusions from her sparse interaction. So, after three hours in their own worlds, the couple went to bed.

They laid on complete opposite sides of the bed.

*

Not every story has a happy ending, but this one always does. Not because Stephanie gets up in the middle of the night and realizes what the theorist really got for her. Not because they discuss the bottle over the next morning's breakfast. No, this story has a happy ending because they stay together. It has a happy ending because they continue together, and they love each other. However, if you're looking for closure, I do have something.

Stephanie poked her head out of the shower. "Honey," she asked the man brushing his teeth. "Did we get some new shampoo?"

Matt raised an eyebrow. He spit into the sink and popped back up, saying, "new shampoo? We've had that for a while.

"We have?" asked Steph, moving back into the shower to continue washing.

"Yeah, I got that awhile back."

"Really, when?"

"I... believe... I... got that for you for... Valentines."

Stephanie paused, hands stuck in her hair. She had a fleeting thought. A thought of relief. Then she had an out of body moment. She watched herself make the movements of climbing out and giving Matt a hug and a kiss. Then, her body climbed back into the shower. Stephanie tried to rationalize her actions, but couldn't come up with any good explanation for what she'd done.

"Must be love," she tried to dismiss.

Matthew frowned, but didn't complain. He finished washing up and went out to apply for more jobs. Stephanie sighed with love of her husband's caring. She scrubbed up her hair and resumed her daily schedule.

This, was on March 5th.