His Selfishness Fated My Wish

"Richard, this is all your fault, if you listened to me it wouldn't get this bad. "His request is such an expensive thing to ask for, what do you suggest we do?" "If you listened to me, this business would not go this badly, but I'm always foolish to you, yet, the intelligent one keeps driving us into problems." Laura complained, pacing the room up and down and taking breaks to sit on the bed. She stood up again after a few seconds with a clenched wrist while biting her upper lip, she let out a heave, expressing her disgust and wondering how that could have happened. Richard stood at the end of the room with a wild gaze, speechless but rather calm. "Well, I guess this is the end of the road for us because this demand is too expensive, obviously something that can't be provided" she swears, still pacing around the room, then stops, gazes at Richard for a while, then yells "Richard, say something, your unusual calmness got us this far". "Do you expect to hear something different?" Richard retorted with open hands as though he was begging for something. "We are going to fulfill their demands. We have to do this for our brand, for our family, and for you". Laura throws herself on the floor and cries profusely, she gently waves her hair out of her face and stares worriedly at her husband who is now making his way to the kitchen to grab a glass of water. "This is not fair, nothing else matters to you. Please, there has to be another way. That is unbelievable." She mustered the remaining strength she had and hastily went after him. While pleading, she tripped on the rug and fell face flat to the ground. While trying to stand, she noticed a shiny object under the bed which left her more devastated than she was, but what she saw was evidence enough to console her through the plight. She stood up and stared at it for some time, trying to figure out where she had found something similar. In the absence of any memory of such, she hurriedly hid the item on the handle of her brazier. She went after Richard, still bent on changing his mind. Although she knew he wouldn't yield, she still had to try. Richard does things his way without caring for the other person provided it is not directly affecting him. Laura was always at his mercy. Richard greedily swallowed his glass of water while looking out of the window. Loosening his suit and tie, he suddenly remembers the board meeting at 8 o'clock. He rashly drops the glass inside the sink and makes his way to the bedroom to have a cold bath. Paying no attention to his wife's whimpers, he makes his way to the bathroom, removes his shoes and clothes, and turns on the shower. The water trickled down his hair while he let out an "ugh" sound of satisfaction. Laura lifts herself from the floor and reaches for her phone to call Andra, her sister and confidant. She dialed her number continuously and it refused to go through. She was tempted to check Richards's phone, which was lying on the bed, but she resisted the temptation, bearing in mind how fast his rage kicked in. The last time he was pissed, he left the house for days and rejected her calls. She dialed her number one more time and it rang, and her face brightened a little bit. "Hey, Laura, you are good?" Andra enquired. "I'm fine," Laura tells Andra about the situation with Richard, especially the demands. "Never in the history of "I'm fine" have you ever been fine. You just go on to list a truckload of problems after saying you are fine. Don't worry Lau, we will work through it, but how can he agree to that? It's ridiculous". "Richard is a workaholic, the kind who's indifferent about every other thing except work. This attitude has not always been present but has developed over time for various reasons". Laura bemoans reaching for a tissue to dry her tears. "Well, I guess the cheating scandal made him so, it affected his company. Remember, and the audience does not care whether it's true or not, they just run with it?" "Cheating scandal on whose part? We both have it, plus I did not cheat. By the way, where are you?" "Jacuzzi, baby. Having fun, no husband, no problems" "Yeah, that's why I called a million times before you answered my call." "Girl, you are lucky I answered. I wanted no disturbance, so I usually keep my phone away when I'm having my time. You know what, come over let's talk this out" "Laura!" "Richard just called, I gotta go" She hung up and made her way to the bedroom. Andra dropped her phone and sipped from a bottle of Amarula wine. "I am going to a board meeting. I want my food served when I'm back, okay?" "What's your conclusion about the demand?" "Now you are being very selfish, I thought you would understand. This is for us and your family as well" Richard moved closer and placed his hand on her arm trying to convince her even though her opinions aren't needed. "My family has nothing to do with it" Laura retorted, pulling Richards's hands away from her arm. "They have stakes with us, remember, I'm running late. Their demands are already met, so make my food. Don't forget." Laura stared out of the window waiting for him to go beyond eye shot. When the driver took him out, she brought out the earrinng she found under the bed from her brazier and tried as much as she could to remember where she saw a semblance of it. "Is it at the market, church, company meetings over the week which wore her out, the office workers date' night in celebration of valentines day or at grandmas funeral. She couldn't place a hand on it. she snapped the earring and scanned it using google scan, she screamed at what she discovered.