He was in an exuberant mood, full of positive energy, when he came home that night, freshened up, and settled on the living room sofa; the day in office is very productive. He didn’t want to waste time before sharing it with his wife. She called; he was in the kitchen putting the kettle on the gas fire while he arranged the plates on the tray and took out bites for a light snack before dinner.
“Hey you hear me?”
“Yes…but a little louder please!” the wife responded by allowing water, milk, powdered tea, sugar, and other ingredients to come to a most desirable boil before pouring.
“I told you…didn’t I…that we were going to launch a new project soon. Well… today we got going and had the first team meeting… The meeting went very well, all the team members recognizing me as the undisputed leader, you know? he relished the feeling of saying this to the person he loved and admired most in her life.
‘Wait a minute, I’m coming, my leader!’ he yelled as she came into the living room, placed the tray on the center table, and took a seat herself, offering him a cup of tea and encouraging him to take a carefully cut piece of the cake she made that day.
“Thank you…Everyone on the team is great, a mix of old and new,” the husband took a sip, accepted the cake, and continued excitedly. “Among the members there is a new one, a girl who joined recently, but she perfectly fit the mold…”
“New girl? Well, how is she? I mean, is she pretty?”
“Oh yes. She’s pretty and very young!”
“OK good for you!” she was getting in the mood to tease him.
“What do you mean ‘good for me’?”
“Why, you always love being around pretty girls, don’t you? Every time I visit you at the office I find you in those situations!”
“You know damn well, it’s always work oriented. Since I’m the passing guy in the creative department, they have to come to me for the final say. You also know that boys or girls aren’t the problem; it’s just the work and their demands”. . Don’t you ever notice boys hanging around me on your visits? I’m always focused and a bit emotional too. If someone does a good job, I feel very excited. I end up hugging guys a lot. , I have enough common sense not to do it with girls on similar occasions.” She exhaled in a relaxed manner now.
“Well, my dear gender neutral leader! Are you perhaps itching to tell me more about the new girl on the block?”
“She is very intelligent, well-dressed, and has the ability to respond immediately. Not only does she have good looks, but she also has a refined way of speaking with a lot of good humor. You see, I had played a role in her selection.” , And for that she is so grateful to me! The moment she entered my room for the meeting, she curtsied, she thanked me effusively and shook my hand continuously…”
She seemed a bit upset now. “Then she goes and hugs her first thing in the morning.”
He was surprised. From what to what, he mused. Had he talked too much about the girl?
“You guys are always biased. You can’t tolerate other women coming into your man’s life, no matter what.” He uttered trying to justify his feeling of offense and stifle the anger that little by little was growing in him.
“Shit! All men are like that! They want to brag about the women in their lives and display horrendous intolerance for any attempt at elaborate analysis!…I give you permission, okay, to hug all the girls in your office from now on.” forward…!” she was louder now.
“You think I’m some kind of leech? I always trust you with all my heart and you…?”
“Don’t keep bragging and bragging… How great and noble you are… just like everyone else in your family! Only I know… the troubles I faced coming to your main house. Everyone is so focused on advertising! How big are they!” the start of shrillness in his voice irritated him.
“Now you’re rambling, and it’s very deliberate, I know! Whichever way it happens, you’ll eventually fall on my people, needlessly targeting them! Your actions, your reactions are always justified…whatever you prefer to say AND If I say something about your male friends, fuck it…!”
“Damn my male friends. It’s you, essentially! You can’t even tolerate me talking to my old classmates! Hypocrites, swaggering family…” She jerked up from her chair and hurried away with her mug of unfinished tea.
He dropped his cup on the table almost forcing the remaining tea to spill onto the table. She could hear her making unnecessary noise in the kitchen fiddling with utensils as she continued her invectives against him and his in-laws. Pampered afternoon, he failed today as on so many other occasions to correctly track the lurking danger and anticipate it, he decided not to contribute anything else to the diatribes, and leaned back dejectedly on the sofa. Why the hell did he have to share it with his wife? There were so many things in office or elsewhere that were better forgotten than described to others, especially spouses, he thought. Few things were also going on in his mind. Why was he in such an exuberant mood and so eager to share it? Did the presence of pretty girls in office have any impact on that exuberance? I love good company, he reasoned, whether it be of any gender, and it is perfectly natural to love good company. When good company is combined with a good job done, why not react positively, he continued. However, some threads of doubt still plagued his mind and, meanwhile, his wife’s manifestations diminished.
Perhaps he fell asleep a little, because he did not notice that his wife came back into the room and took the chair. His words ended his reverie.
“What kind of fish preparation would you like for dinner?”
He did not prefer to respond by resuming his gloomy silence, slumped on the sofa. She continued however.
“I got the raw fish out of the freezer for the afternoon. Maybe you’d like to have fried fish before dinner?” Now she was smiling turning on the television.
That appealed to him immediately. She was planning to watch a live soccer game later that night, and fried fish for an appetizer would be nice. Yet he still didn’t respond, happy that normalcy threatened to limp back.
