The Last Time

Good News, Bad News

The new working week arrived unwelcome after the perfect weekend that you and Mark shared. Spending the majority of it wrapped in each other's arms, neither of you could believe that it went by in a flash — you had both wanted to savour it, wanting to live in the bliss you had created as long as you possibly could.

To no one's surprise, Mark was the more reluctant one, considering that it was already the third week of the last four that he had with you. While he believed that he was making some progress in saving your marriage, time was still going far too fast for his liking. As always, he would work with what he had, not wanting to let you go so easily.

Monday and Tuesday flew past as usual but there was a change in the air on Wednesday, you could feel it. Whether it was for better or worse, you weren't sure yet, but if the past few days were anything to go by, you were ready to find out. You didn't have to wait too long though, with your boss asking for you to come and see her before your morning break even hit.

"Don't be alarmed," your boss laughed at your apprehensive figure. "It's good news."

Breathing a sigh of relief, you relaxed in your seat across from her. "Oh, that's good. What's the news?"

"I hear that congratulations are in order," she smiled proudly at you.

"I'm sorry, but I don't know what you mean."

"We're showcasing your work tomorrow at the exhibition."

"Are you serious?!" you gaped at your boss excitedly.

"Yes, we had been planning and keeping it under wraps to surprise you," she confirmed with a smile.

"This is amazing! Thank you so much."

With a proud smile, your boss grabbed your hand. "You deserve this," she assured you. "You've worked so hard. Now, go home. Buy a new dress and get ready for tomorrow."

Not needing to be told twice, you quickly thanked her before heading back to your office to grab your purse. After sending a quick text to Mark advising that you would be making dinner tonight, you headed out to make sure you had everything you needed for the exhibition before heading home to get dinner sorted.

xxx

Sighing, Mark massaged his temple as he leaned back in his chair. His day had been filled with back to back meetings because of the project and this was the first moment he really had for himself. Rubbing the tiredness away from his eyes, Mark reached for his phone just as his secretary came to announce that the takeout food he'd ordered for the company dinner had arrived and had been set up in the conference room.

As he got up from his seat, he turned to his phone and spotted your text messages.

ladybird: babe, i'm making dinner tonight
ladybird: i hope you can make it

"Sir? Shall we?" Mark's secretary garnered his attention once more.

"Actually, I'm skipping dinner," Mark informed her as he reached for his suit jacket. "My wife's making dinner at home so I'll be going now. You guys enjoy it!"

"Your wife?" she asked, confused. "Aren't you guys getting divorced?"

"Not if I can help it," Mark called out before heading out of the building.

xxx

A big smile adorned his face as he crossed the threshold of your home. The smell of whatever it was you were making wafted through the air as he removed his coat and shoes and it smelled so good that he couldn't help but quicken his movements. Hastily making his way to the kitchen, his smile widened further at the sight of you.

With fondness, Mark leaned on the wall and watched you in your element. The music blared in the background as you sang and swayed to the song whilst you were cooking. Eventually, he made his presence known by clapping after one of your renditions.

"Mark, you're home," you smiled warmly at him.

"I am," Mark returned your smile before approaching and planting a kiss on your forehead. "Smells good. Are we celebrating something?"

"I'll tell you all about it after dinner," you replied excitedly. "Do you mind setting the table for me?"

"Not at all," Mark answered and did as you requested.

Dinner was consumed rather quickly; not just because of the excitement from your impending announcement, but also because of how delicious your cooking was. Mark had missed it terribly, devouring them as fast as he could, as if it would disappear if he didn't. Once you had taken the tub of ice cream out of the freezer for dessert, you decided to ask the question that would allude to your announcement.

"What are your plans tomorrow night?" you asked before shoving a spoonful of the cold chocolate goodness into your mouth.

Mark hummed, swallowing the spoonful he just consumed before licking his spoon clean. You took a deep breath to calm your nerves as he prepared to answer — completely oblivious to the ball of nerves that was sitting across from him.

"I have an important business deal to tend to," Mark answered, unaware of your sudden fallen expression. "A bunch of architects are meeting up with that huge client I told you about at a dinner to offer their proposals. It's going to be a bloodbath..."

Uncontrollably, you ended up tuning him out as you tried to process what had just occurred. Disbelief washed over you as Mark's words started to sink in. Out of all the possible outcomes you tried to account for tonight, Mark saying that he had a work event was not one of them despite his previous track record of choosing work over you. With how the past few weeks had progressed, maybe you had tricked yourself into thinking that everything would be going right from now on.

Looking up at your husband who was just about to finish animatedly telling you about his proposal, you were just able to catch the question he directed at you. "Do you have any plans?"

Taking a few moments to collect yourself, you plastered on the biggest smile you could muster before telling him the truth. "As a matter of fact, I do."

"Yeah?" Mark asked, still completely unaware of the change of mood with you.

"The gallery surprised me today by informing me that they had spent the past few months secretly organising my own exhibition. They're finally showcasing my works and the opening night is tomorrow and... I was actually hoping to take you with me."

Mark never thought it was possible to go through so many emotions in such a short amount of time but you had proved him wrong. From curiosity to elation. To confusion. To realisation. To complete and utter devastation. Mark couldn't hide how torn he was about the whole situation so you decided to put him out of his misery.

"It's okay," you smiled sadly at him. "I informed you at the last minute so you don't have to make it. You can miss tomorrow and just come and see it another time."

Mark shook his head, especially after seeing the disappointment in your face. "Listen, let me try and sort something out," he tried. "I promise—"

"Please, don't try to make any more promises that you can't keep," you cut him off. "I'd rather accept that you can't make it than to hope that you could, only to bet let down."

Much like the state of this marriage.

Standing up, you cleared the table and washed the dishes as quickly as you could, leaving Mark to his own devices at the dinner table. Without a word, he sat there reflecting on how one thing could ruin all the good things that had happened in the past few weeks. As he tried to come up with a solution to put together the broken pieces of your marriage, you headed off to bed, leaving him there without saying a single word.

Mark was in deep trouble, without any sign of getting out of it.