Unhappily Married ✓

01. Relationship

"A good marriage would be between a blind wife and a deaf husband." -Michel de Montaigne

The wall clock strikes ten in the morning.

Todd and I stand up at the same time to shake hands with our counselor. She tells us to sit down with only a gesture of her hands and we oblige her.

I can't help but notice her tight pencil skirt and long legs as she sits in front of us. As I run a hand through my rough hair, my hand stops midway through when I notice her wavy black hair. Immediately, I bring my hand down in my lap.

"Good morning, Todd, Stella," she says, resting her forearms on the table.

"Morning," we reply in unison.

"How are you doing today?"

"Just fine."

Her lips curl up in an amused smile. "Do you guys always reply together?"

"No!"

I feel like rolling my eyes, but I don't.

I wonder what kind of questions she'll ask us.

As soon as she opens a file, I take this as my chance to take a good look at her office. A good number of love posters with cheesy quotes capture my attention and I groan inwardly 'cause this situation is humiliating. 

"So...Todd and Stella, tell me something about your relationship?" she asks, her voice almost like cuckoo bird.

"Look," I glance at her nameplate, "Caroline, there's nothing to tell about it."

"Well, I think there might be something sweet that you guys would want to share. Right, Todd?"

"Uh, I don't think so."

I take in a deep breath and Todd's fresh and crisp cologne fills my nostrils. The fragrance that I once so dearly loved is now suffocating me.

"Okay, so do you have heated arguments often?" she asks, darting her eyes between the both of us.

I let out a humorless laugh.

"Always, we fight always. Todd seems to find excuses to fight with me."

"Excuse me, but you're the one who starts every fight," he says, his lips pressed into a thin line.

"Yeah, right."

"Okay, now stop it and try to remember why you are here. You're here because you think there's still a ray of hope that your relationship will bloom once again."

"No, that's definitely not the reason we're here," I say.

Caroline tilts her head, narrowing her eyes at me.

Turning my head, I point my index finger at the glass window behind me. "Do you see those people?"

"Yeah..."

"They're our parents and they're the compelling reason we're here. I don't know why they think we're made for each other and that our relationship should be given another chance," Todd says, frowning.

My relationship with Todd doesn't need to be discussed or to be worked on because there's nothing left in it. Two years of my marriage with him have been a nightmare that I want to forget as soon as possible. I got into a terrible mess once I decided to marry him. 

It was solely my decision and I blame nobody for my mistake.

We would quibble over the smallest of matters and soon fierce arguments got into our routine. At times, I would cry myself to sleep, hoping my troubles would soon evaporate away.