Unhappily Married ✓

17. Promise

"Chains do not hold a marriage together. It is threads, hundreds of tiny threads which sew people together through the years."—Simone Signoret

As I turn the knob, I stick my head in and peek at David.

"Did you call me?"

He turns around, stuffing his hands in the pockets of his leopard print blazer.

"Oh, yeah, come on in."

I clear my throat. "What is it?"

He adjusts his orange bow tie and gives me a slight nod. "I just wanted to know if you have finished writing your latest articles."

"I'm almost done."

He quickly says something in Spanish and it goes completely over my head.

Soon, he notices my confused expression and starts chuckling. "I mean, I need your articles ready by tomorrow."

I nod. "Sure."

Sunlight streams into his office through the large glass window ahead of me.

"Why are you still talking in Spanish? I think it's been a few days since your father-in-law's birthday party."

He scoffs, "Yeah I know that, sugar puff, but I just can't contain myself, you know. I think I've fallen for this beautiful language."

"I remember you were a nervous wreck in the beginning," I muse.

"Yes, I was and honestly, it was a burden on me, but everything happens for a reason, right. And I'm glad my wife asked me to make a speech in Spanish," he says, lifting his chin.

"I thought you were annoyed with your wife's request?" I raise my eyebrows at him.

He quickly nods. "I was, I mean, we all have our own fair share of marriage problems, but over the time, I've come to realize that a marriage is like broccoli—"

I cut him off.

"What? Come again."

"You see, Stella—broccoli tastes bitter, but if you season it with garlic and cheese, its taste becomes heavenly. The bottom line is I'm very happy in my marriage and that's only because I'm willing to make some efforts," he says, tilting his head to a side.

I swallow hard.

I don't think I want to discuss marriages with David, even though he doesn't know about my situation.

"I should go."

He frowns. "Did I scare you?"

"No, absolutely not," I say, half-smiling.

"Ahem, then get back to work, Stella."

I don't know why I feel David's remarks are specifically directed towards me. Either this or I'm just over-thinking again.

David has been happily married for more than ten years and it surprises me because I don't believe in happy marriages anymore. Todd and I don't rub along well most of time, so I'm liable to think that most marriages end up like ours will...in divorce.

I wish I had a happy married life, but I know why my marriage didn't work out. It's because unlike David, Todd has never bothered to make little efforts and if he had, I bet things would've been different between us. But...not everyone has the ability to sail the ship of their marriage successfully.

It's been two days since that embarrassing incident and as much as I try to forget it, I just can't get it out of my head. It was a terrible mistake to lean in for a kiss and now it's just eating me up on the inside.