Chapter TeN:Xavier -Wanted More
1439 Words
I knew I was being unreasonable.
I knew it.
I simply didn’t care.
For two weeks, I had watched Avi go to work every single day as if the man had signed a lifetime contract with his law firm.
Monday through Friday.
Early mornings.
Late evenings.
Sometimes past midnight.
And whenever he came home, he had the same excuse.
I’m tired.
I have work.
I have a client.
I need to prepare for court.
At this point, I was convinced Avi would eventually try to take his laptop to his own wedding.
Our wedding.
The one he had already been attending for three years without me.
That thought irritated me more than it should have.
So, on Saturday morning, I made a decision.
Avi was staying home.
I wasn’t asking.
I was making sure.
Was it crazy?
Absolutely.
Was locking the front door technically illegal?
Probably.
Did I know that?
Yes.
Did that stop me?
No.
We were married.
We needed to spend time together.
That was my reasoning.
It might not have been good reasoning, but it was mine.
⸻
At breakfast, I watched Avi walk into the dining room wearing a suit.
A suit.
On Saturday.
I looked at him.
Then at myself.
I was wearing a comfortable T-shirt and slacks.
Avi looked at me.
“What?”
“Why are you dressed like that?”
“Like what?”
“Like you’re going to court.”
“I have work.”
“It’s Saturday.”
“I know.”
“Who has court on Saturday?”
He gave me a look.
“I might have work to do.”
“Not today.”
His eyebrows pulled together.
“What does that mean?”
“Nothing.”
He continued eating.
I asked him several questions throughout breakfast.
What did he want to eat later?
What movie did he like?
Whether he wanted to go out.
Whether he had plans.
His answers were short.
One word.
Two words.
Sometimes a shrug.
He wasn’t interested in conversation.
He was simply answering because he wanted me to stop asking.
I noticed.
I didn’t like it.
But I didn’t say anything.
After breakfast, Avi stood, picked up his laptop bag, and walked toward the front door.
He reached for the handle.
Locked.
He tried again.
Nothing.
He frowned.
Then he tried a third time.
Still nothing.
He turned around.
“Sarah?”
A few moments later, Sarah appeared.
“Yes, sir?”
“Why is the door locked?”
Sarah looked toward me.
Then back at Avi.
“Mr. Falcon locked it.”
Avi slowly turned his head toward me.
I said nothing.
Sarah looked uncomfortable.
“I don’t know why, sir.”
“Thank you, Sarah.”
She left.
Avi walked toward me.
“Xavier.”
“Yes?”
“Why is the door locked?”
“Because it’s Saturday.”
He stared at me.
“And?”
“We’re spending the day together.”
His expression was priceless.
“You can’t force me to spend time with you.”
“I can.”
“No, you can’t.”
“We aren’t going to work today.”
“I am.”
“No.”
“I have work.”
“I know.”
He pointed toward the door.
“You locked me inside.”
“Yes.”
“Do you understand that this is a crime?”
“Yes.”
He stared at me.
“You know it’s a crime?”
“I do.”
“And you still did it?”
“Yes.”
He looked completely speechless.
I stood.
“We’re husbands, Avi. We’re spending the day together.”
He stared at me for several seconds before walking back toward the door.
He tried it again.
And again.
Eventually, he gave up.
He sighed heavily.
Then went upstairs.
I smiled.
Victory.
⸻
Twenty minutes later, Avi returned wearing comfortable clothes.
I looked at him.
He looked at me.
“You happy now?”
“Very.”
He walked toward his office.
Then stopped.
He tried the door.
Locked.
He turned around slowly.
“Where’s my laptop bag?”
“In your office.”
His eyes widened.
“You put it in there?”
“Yes.”
“You locked my office too?”
“Yes.”
“Xavier!”
“I told you. You’re not working today.”
He stood there for a long moment.
I could see the frustration building.
Then he walked over to the couch and dropped into it.
He didn’t sit beside me.
Of course not.
He sat on the opposite couch.
There was practically an entire country between us.
I looked at him.
“You know, there are other things we could do.”
He frowned.
“Like what?”
“We could watch a movie.”
“Okay.”
“Eat.”
“Okay.”
“Relax.”
“Okay.”
I paused.
“Cuddle.”
His face immediately changed.
“No.”
I laughed.
“I was joking.”
“You weren’t.”
“Maybe I wasn’t.”
He rolled his eyes.
Eventually, we agreed on a movie.
A romantic movie.
I wasn’t expecting much.
But halfway through, I noticed something.
Avi was crying.
I stared.
He quickly wiped his cheek.
“You are crying.”
“I’m not.”
“You are.”
“I’m not.”
I smiled.
He glared at me.
“Don’t.”
I turned back toward the television.
I didn’t tease him again.
But secretly, I found it adorable.
⸻
Dinner was peaceful.
More peaceful than I expected.
Avi wasn’t checking his phone constantly.
He wasn’t talking about work.
He wasn’t trying to escape upstairs.
He was simply eating.
Afterward, I looked at him.
“How was dinner?”
“Good.”
“Everything?”
He nodded.
“Everything was nice.”
Then he said something I hadn’t expected.
“Thank you.”
I looked at him.
“For what?”
“For today.”
My chest tightened slightly.
“You enjoyed yourself?”
He nodded.
“For the first time.”
I smiled.
That was all I had wanted.
One day.
One day where my husband wasn’t running away from me.
One day where he actually stayed.
One day where he laughed.
Even if it was only once.
Even if he cried over a movie.
Even if he still sat several feet away from me.
It was progress.
⸻
That night, we returned to the bedroom.
We got into bed.
Avi was quiet.
Then, after several minutes, he spoke.
“What did you think about the movie?”
“It was good.”
“You actually liked it?”
“Yes.”
He was quiet again.
Then he asked,
“What did you think about spending the whole day together?”
I looked at him.
I knew what he wanted to hear.
So I answered honestly.
“First of all, locking someone in the house is probably not the best way to make them spend time with you.”
Avi looked at me.
“I told you.”
“I know.”
He smiled faintly.
“But…”
He waited.
“I needed the rest.”
His expression softened.
“And?”
“I enjoyed the movie.”
Avi smiled.
A real smile.
Small.
But real.
And something inside me shifted.
Because suddenly, I realized that today hadn’t been about keeping him inside.
It had been about getting him to stay long enough to see me.
To see that maybe I wasn’t just the stranger who disappeared for three years.
Maybe I could be something else.
A husband.
A companion.
Someone he could trust.
I turned toward him.
“Goodnight, Avi.”
“Goodnight.”
He closed his eyes.
I watched him for a moment.
Today had been a success.
But it wasn’t enough.
Not even close.
I wanted more.
I wanted him to choose to sit beside me.
I wanted him to call me first.
I wanted him to tell me about his day without me asking.
I wanted him to laugh with me.
I wanted him to stop looking at me like I was an interruption in his life.
And most importantly—
I wanted the day to come when I wouldn’t have to lock a door to keep my husband from running away from me.
I wanted him to stay because he wanted to.
That was the part I hadn’t figured out yet.
How to make Avi choose me.
And for the first time in my life, I realized that wanting something wasn’t enough.
I was going to have to earn it.
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