Unhappily Married ✓

23. Awkward

"A marriage is not a noun; it's a verb. It is not something you get. It's the way you love your partner every day."—Barbara De Angelis

"Here you go."

Carefully, I take my cup of chamomile tea from Todd.

"Thank you."

Steam rises from the cup and as I bring it close to my lips, a rich fragrance fills my nostrils instantly. The tea is refreshing with hints of apple and floral sweetness. As I take another sip, the quirky lemongrass flavor leaves a cooling sensation in my mouth.

Todd plops down on the couch beside me and nudges my elbow.

"How does it taste?"

"Heavenly."

He smiles wide, dimples appearing on his cheeks. "Thanks. I think there is nothing like honey to put a zing into this drink."

"I love it, Todd."

It is unbelievable that we've spent three weeks in the same house because when Caroline first proposed this idea, it seemed unpalatable.

Earlier today, Todd and I had to pay a visit to Caroline and it was just like every other time we've met her. However, for the first time, I was able to sense her nervousness and I bet she's annoyed with us because we never tell her what's actually going on between us. We just sit in front of her and answer as vaguely as possible.

I feel bad for her though, because she's trying her best to unite us and we're pouring cold water on her plans. To be honest, I didn't really like her in the beginning, but now I respect her for what she does. It's not a cakewalk to help two broken people realize their love for each other. If Todd and I hadn't decided to meet her, we probably would've been divorced by now and I wouldn't have gotten the opportunity to spend some more time with him.

Needless to say, I'm very grateful to Caroline for what she has done for us.

Only six more days are left and frankly, I had no idea we'd come this far. All of this is making me feel a little daunted right now and I'm not really happy with the whole idea of leaving this house, but I can't stick around here forever.

My eyes revert to the TV.

"Oh, no, no, no, please change the channel."

Todd shrugs. "Why?"

"Because it's almost my bedtime and I don't want to watch the evolution of reptiles."

He smirks, "Oh, well, that's bad for you."

I snatch the remote from his hand and as soon as I press a button, the TV makes a loud buzzing sound and all the lights go off.

As the whole place plunges into darkness, my hearts begins to hammer inside my chest and my mouth goes dry.

Shifting closer to Todd, I take his hand in mine and squeeze it hard.

"What the hell just happened?" he muses.

"I-I don't know."

He slowly runs his thumb across the back of my hand. "Hey, are you okay?"

With my other hand, I take a fistful of his shirt and straight off bury my face in its soft fabric.

"No."

"I don't think it's a power outage. We should go outside and check if our neighbors have the same problem or not."

I nod against his chest, my eyes shut tight.

"Come on," he says, wrapping an arm around my shoulders.