Stand By Me : Second Verse
Chapter 8: I Am Beautiful With You
March 2014
It was a little before eight in the morning and I staring down a bowl of peanut butter ice cream. Why am I sitting in front of a bowl of ice cream so early in the morning you ask? Well, because I want to and because I felt wholly miserable. I had ever plan on sleeping in this morning while Tom was out for his normal morning run. I use to try running with him, but his damn long legs made it impossible for me to keep up with him. If he tried to keep my pace.....let's just say he tried and it wasn't pretty. Now that I have got off the subject of my ice cream, let me get back to it. I was rudely awakened by my phone blowing up with text messages, most from Liz, but that is not important. It was the subject of said message that had me staring down the wrong end of a brain freeze. It was a photo taken when we were in Tahiti. I'm not sure if it was just a fan picture or someone put it in a magazine. I tend not to pay any attention to all the stuff that flies around the internet and I really shouldn't start now.
The picture in question is one of two chefs at a upscale restaurant that we had dined at during our stay. The two chefs and the hostess wanted a picture with my husband. Tom being Tom said alright and said picture was taken. Now I guess someone read the caption under it and thought the hostess was his wife. No big deal, mistakes happen, but the absolute shit storm it made on the internet worried me. Well that and the fact of some of the other comments made. One was “oh she's really pretty, he's a lucky guy.” Another was “What was he thinking?! She's a dog.” I had a chance to speak with the woman when we were there and I found her to be quite pretty. So what does all this have to do with me and my ice cream you ask. I guess I am just hit with if they say stuff like that about this poor girl who isn't his wife, what the hell will they say about me? I'm no beauty queen! I'm short, curvy and painfully plain next to the other women Tom has dated over the years. So here I sit feeling a bit sorry for myself I guess. I know he loves me, he tells me so every day, but that old nagging voice come back in now and then and tells me I am not worth it. Today it was particularly loud.
“I didn't think you'd be up yet love.” The voice in my head must have been loud, I didn't even hear Tom come in the house. Before I could answer he was standing on the other side of our table and looking down into the now half melted bowl of ice cream. “Leigh, what's wrong?”
“Nothing......” He held up his hand and I sighed. He knew me too damned well. I tapped my phone screen and showed him the picture and the comments Liz had sent me. He shook his head and handed me back my phone.
“Well that picture was taken out of context.” I nodded, but did not look up. “Leigh?”
“I.........Liz sent it and you know how her mind works. She was up in arms and.......” Tom groaned, but not because he was upset per say. He rounded the table and gently pulled me up from my seat. His shirt was soaked with sweat and I wrinkled my nose. He looked down at himself and laughed a little.
“I'm going to go shower and then you and I will have a talk. Go wait for me in the bedroom.”
“Tom.....it's nothing really.”
“The large bowl of.....” He swiped a finger into my ice cream and put it in his mouth. “......peanut butter ice cream begs to differ. You normally only reach for that if your upset.”
“Am I that readable now?” He leaned forward and placed a kiss on my forehead.
“I would hope that I know you well enough by now to know that something is running through your head.” His hand tilted my head up and I could not help looking in his eyes. A bunch of emotions ran through those baby blues and I gave up trying to tell him nothing was wrong.
