Willfully Blind

CHAPTER 20 A Little Sumthin, Sumthin

Courtney parked himself at the kitchen table with a stack of mail in search of his car insurance invoice. He couldn't believe the silly insurance company still didn't have the online capability. If the rates weren't so much cheaper, he would have bailed years ago.

The fear of paying a late fee was the rationale he used when he decided to open the American Express statement Daryn was supposed to be responsible for paying. Who was he kidding? She probably didn't even know when it was due. Courtney opened the statement. Whoa, two thousand dollars. Turning the statement over, he scanned the transactions. Then he saw it. Neiman Marcus. $723.00. Confounded, he did a double take. Had Daryn blatantly downplayed the amount of her Niemen Marcus shopping spree by over $200? Could it be some kind of billing error? Knowing his wife... more than likely, it was accurate. So much for open, honest communication. Courtney knew he would have to address it with her. No way could he let it slide.

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That night, Daryn called from her office to say she would be working a little late and suggested they consider ordering out.

"You wanna do Zenwich?" he'd asked, knowing she would.

"Oooh! Can we?" The high-end sandwich spot was located not far from their home. It was one of her favorites, and as he expected, she was super excited. Maybe it would soften the blow of what he had to say.

Courtney headed out to pick up dinner, trying to think of the best way to broach the issue. He didn't generally mind conflict but certainly preferred not to have it with Daryn. Maybe he was being unreasonable. She was pulling down a decent salary. Was it really so outrageous that she occasionally went on an irrational shopping spree? Hell, it was her money she was spending. But still...they had a plan.

Courtney had laid out the best way to achieve their goals before they got married. They would save, invest and limit irrational spending. She was receptive, and they both agreed to hold each other accountable. He had gone easy on her, but now with the half-truths and blatant disregard, it was time to rein her in.

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"How's your sandwich?" Courtney asked. They had been sitting at the table chit-chatting about possible weekend plans, including a trip to a nearby farmer's market.

"Mmm...wonderful," she said, mouth half-full. "Thanks for letting me pick. I know you aren't a huge fan."

"Yeah, no problem." After a brief pause, he eased in. "So, we got the American Express bill today."

"Mm-hum." She used her napkin from her lap to wipe her hands and glanced over at Courtney.

"I was a little thrown off. I thought you said you spent $500.00 at Nieman. Did I hear that wrong?" He knew he hadn't since he remembered cringing at five hundred; he would have surely gasped at seven.

"Actually, I said it was over five hundred." She stabbed her fork at the cucumber salad they shared, not missing a beat. Like the word "over" gave her all the elasticity she needed.

"Yeah, but you said it was a little over five hundred. I mean, I don't wanna split hairs about it, Dee. What's done is done. But remember we talked about this. When we bought the house, we talked about excessive spending."

"Wait, Courtney, are you upset about my little shopping excursion?" The irony was, Daryn had just been sitting there trying to decide what shoes to wear with one of her new suits to work the next day.

"Little, Daryn? I don't think spending that much on clothes at one time can qualify as being little. Not to mention you led me to believe you had only spent around $500 when in actuality it was over $700. I kinda feel like you downplayed it purposely."

"Oookay..." Daryn placed the fork down on her plate. She folded her arms and sat back in her chair, mouth slightly agape. He hadn't said anything the day she walked into the house with her manifold of bags. His interest piqued maybe, but certainly not hot and bothered by it.

"So, do you think I should return some of it?" She pressed her lips together, trying hard not to allow her irritation to ooze out.

"I mean, no, I'm not saying that, but I do think you need to be mindful. No offense, but you seem to forget that we have a lot of expenses. And really more debt than I'm -– we should be comfortable with. The time to start our family will be here sooner than you think."

"Point taken, Courtney. Although I work every day, and we are what I'd consider financially stable; our situation still won't allow me to splurge on an occasional shopping trip. Got it."

"Hey now, don't get all defensive about it, Dee. I work every day just like you. We have a plan, and we both know how easy it is to get off track. We agreed to hold each other accountable, right? We agreed."

"You said that already. I know we agreed. Maybe I should take some of it back then. If I thought it was going to cause our financial ruin, I never would have gone shopping in the first place." Daryn jumped up from the table and walked over to the sink. She picked up the waterspout and sprayed the remaining food off her plate down the drain and flipped on the disposal.

Courtney sat at the table glaring at Daryn from behind. There he was trying to take it easy on her, barely even touching on the issue of her purposely deceiving him and this was her response? She could be so damn materialistic at times. Like a teenager unable to defer gratification. She had responded like he had gotten on her case about eating out for lunch and it unnerved him.

"Whatever, Daryn. In fact, whatever makes you happy."

Daryn spun around in time to see her mild-mannered husband leaving the kitchen. She placed the plate in the sink and caught up to Courtney just as he was walking into their bedroom.

"Is it unreasonable to think I can occasionally splurge on myself, Courtney? I mean, I do all I can to be a good wife. I don't deserve to treat myself every now and then?"

"Daryn, you deserve the whole world, baby. But again, the reality is we don't have it like that, and if you -– if we don't curve our excessive spending...let's just say, our plans will definitely have to be altered. We don't want to be like those people who put off saving and then find themselves scrambling at fifty-five, trying to piece something together for retirement in the next ten years. Nobody sets out to be in that position..."

Daryn listened to his financial consultation, trying not to feel like he was overreacting. She goes on one silly shopping spree and all of a sudden, they're destitute? If she couldn't afford to splurge every now and then, what was the purpose of working so hard? Nope, I'm keeping my garb.

"I mean, you get what I'm saying?"

"Umm...yeah, yeah, I do, baby." She was hoping he wouldn't catch on that

she had been entirely disconnected from his drawn-out lecture.

"You weren't even listening to me, were you? I can tell just by the way you responded."

"Yes, Courtney, I was. I may have drifted off for a moment, but I was listening."

"Yeah, okay. Well, I'm done talkin' about it."

Courtney flopped down on the bed and grabbed his iPad from his nightstand. What was worse than a long drawn out soliloquy? The infamous silent treatment. Good job, Daryn.