The Hamptons (paused)

Two

"Thank god, it's Friday", I groan and hold on to my third cup of coffee this morning.

"Why did you stay out this late anyway?", Matthew asks, touching his finger on his ipad so he can read the next page of the electronic newspaper.

"I told you, I went to see Caroline", I answer, a little disappointed that he forgot.

"Yea, I know, honey", he says, not looking up from his damn tablet. "But I get the feeling that you're doing all the work for her. Besides, her husband is a doctor, why can't they afford a wedding planner?"

I frown. "Well, I don't know, maybe because it's not personal at all? And it's fun to plan a wedding!"

"Yea, doesn't seem like it", he says, motioning to the hot beverage in my hands.

"Whatever", I murmur although he hates it when I do so. He doesn't seem to notice though. Maybe I should try something different to get his attention.

"We have an awful lot of time left this morning", I say slowly, setting down my cup and moving into his direction. "M-hm", is all I get since he seems to be deeply fascinated by the sports news.

"I have an idea how we could spend it...", I continue, hugging him from behind and kissing his neck. He puts his hand on my arm and caresses it but still keeps his eyes on the newspaper. I try not to be demotivated and nibble at his earlobe.

"Babe...", he tears his eyes away from the screen and smiles but I can tell that it's not real. He just doesn't want to be rude while he turns me down. "I really have to go. Maybe tonight, okay?"

I try to swallow the lump that built up in my throat. Rejection doesn't feel that great. "Yea, sure", I mumble and get back to my coffee. Great start.

+++

Work is the same as everyday today. I manage to get done a pretty huge amount of paperwork that was laying around and by the time I'm off, I'm pretty proud of myself. For getting approximately four hours of sleep and thinking about what happened in the kitchen this morning, I did pretty good.

"Do you think it's bad if your boyfriend doesn't want to have sex with you?", I kind of blurt out when Peter and I walk to the grocery store nearby. He almost spits out his iced coffee.

"What?", he shrieks. Okay, maybe I am not the I-talk-about-my-sex-life-with-everyone person but do I seem that prudish?

"Well, you heard me", I say and shrug. "If your boyfriend didn't want to have sex with you, what would you think?"

"Well, first of all: I don't do relationships", he says as if it was the most obvious thing. I figured as much since he never talked about a boyfriend or an ex. "But if I were in your situation - I guess we're talking about you, right? Well, I would say it's normal", he takes a sip of his coffee and lets his words sink in.

"Okay... But aren't men supposed to be..."

"Horny all the time?", Peter grins and I feel my cheeks getting red. Okay, maybe I am prudish after all.

"Yea", I murmur.

"Most times, we are", he explains. "But, you know, we're not sex machines or something like that. Maybe he just wasn't in the mood. Work sucks, his favorite sports team sucks, or he was just hungry or tired. I wouldn't read that much into it. Besides", he smiles at me knowingly. "He could just be saving it up for Saturday night."

Maybe Peter is right. Matthew was reading the sports news after all and when something's wrong with his football team or whatever, he tends to get stressed out.

"Thanks, you are the best", I sigh, hooking my arm into his as we continue our way to the grocery store.

+++

When I get home, Matthew is in full weekend mode. Dressed in sports shorts and a white tanktop, he is sitting on the couch watching the rerun of yesterday's sport show. When he notices me, he stops the show and walks up to me in the kitchen.

"Need help unpacking these?", he asks and starts unpacking the groceries.

"Thanks. How was work today?", I ask, putting away the cheese and butter.

"Stressfull", Matthew sighs, cabbage in hand.

I debate on whether I should try to seduce him again but having this morning's rejection in mind, I don't really feel like it.

"Maybe we should cancel your parents' visit and just relax", I suggest instead.

"No, my mother has been talking about Sunday for weeks now", Matthew shakes his head. "I don't want to know what she will do to us if we cancel."

"True", I put away the remainder of the groceries. We walk back into the living room and Matthew takes his place on the couch while I snuggle up in the most comfortable armchair that ever existed. Since his sports show doesn't really interest me, I reach for the ipad that is laying on the coffee table to continue reading.

We love spending our nights like this. I eventually gave up on trying to convince Matthew that watching sports is boring and he stopped trying to convince me to watch with him. With me reading we can still enjoy our time together, both of us doing the things we like.

Around ten pm we decide it's time to go to bed. As always lately, I don't fall asleep right away. Unfortunately, Matthew is spooning me and I have to hear him breathe into my ear until I drift off into dream land. You know, I would really like to be the big spoon for once, but he wouldn't let me. Maybe it would kill his masculinity or something like that. But at least I could sleep.