Mari woke slowly, a kink in her neck from her head leaning against her shoulder. She was still curled up in the chair in the living room but someone, obviously Joe, had covered her with a soft blanket. A light burned softly from the lamp on the end table and the ceiling fan whirled leisurely creating a slight breeze to keep the room cool. She carefully straightened her neck, working the kinks from her tight muscles, then uncurled her legs and sat up. Though she strained her ears, Mari did not hear any sounds other than the normal settling sounds around the house. Glancing down at her watch she noticed with dismay that it was past nine. She had been asleep for hours.
Pushing herself out of the chair, she walked through the hall and into the kitchen. A half full pot of coffee was in the coffee maker, but there was no sign of Joe. There were no dirty dishes in the sink to indicate that he had eaten here and other than the coffee there was no indication that he had even been in the kitchen. Mari’s stomach rumbled and for the first time in what seemed like forever she actually felt hunger. Rummaging through the refrigerator she grabbed some eggs, cheese, and ham and set about preparing an omelet. Turning the heat down on the burner, she went into the hall to get her cell phone from her purse. Flipping it open, she noticed a new text message. Letting out a huff of frustration, she pressed okay and the message popped up on the tiny screen. “At work, home late.”
“Avoidance mode,” Mari mumbled as she walked back to the kitchen to check on her omelet. It was the one characteristic her husband possessed that really bothered her. The few times they had had a serious argument he would avoid the conflict, which usually just compounded the problem. He would either clam up or try to move on to another subject. It was a trait Mari had a hard time dealing with since it had never been acceptable in her home to avoid a problem. Growing up the daughter of a State Trooper and a high school administrator she had learned early on to face the cause of the conflict and work towards a solution. Both Gordon and Susan Thompson had instilled in their daughter the consequences of avoiding dealing with a disagreement. Delaying tactics were not tolerated by the “general”, the nickname Marilee had affectionately given her father.
When her omelet was finished Mari slid it onto a waiting plate, grabbed a glass of milk and took both upstairs. The house was too quiet. Although it had always been just the two of them, they did seem to make a lot of noise when they were home together. Even on the nights when Joe worked late and Mari was home alone the house did not seem as quiet as it was tonight. The house was eerily hushed, she thought, shivering. She hated the silence, feeling it wrap around her, trying to smother the life out of her. I have to stop watching those scary movies, Mari thought as she shook her head to clear the images out. There were times an overactive imagination was not a good thing, she grimaced as she set her plate and glass on the small table by the window.
Mari grabbed the remote and switched on the television, channel flipping until she found a comedy. She settled into the chair to eat, hoping the absurdity of the movie would dispel the gloom that pervaded the room. When her eyelids became heavy enough she felt she would be able to sleep, she shut off the movie and got ready for bed. Am I always going to be this tired, she wondered as she crawled into bed and turned off the light.
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