Contracted To Love

Chapter 7

Life is about second chances.

That was a statement that Michelle had never really believed. Why should anyone be given multiple chances while others hardly ever got the one? As far as men were concerned, Michelle felt like she was all tapped out. She could see the clear difference between her exes and the men she’d married: Jean and David. She found herself wondering why she’d chosen to focus on her career instead of settling down with one of the guys she’d dated earlier on in her life. One of her exes, Adam Geller, was especially great. She knew in her heart of hearts that he would have made a great husband. From the photos she saw on social media, she could tell that the woman who ended up with him was luckier than most, and there were days she wondered how different life would have been if she’d married Adam. It might have been a struggle at first but the Smiths were well off. Besides, Michelle wouldn’t have minded supporting Adam through accounting school. But no, she had to end up with Jean. The gold digging gigolo. The wife beater. The insensitive man-child.

You’d would think she would have learned from her past ,but no. Here she was again, married to David Favre.

Well, he wasn’t violent or anything like that, but he was so distant. Their house, everybody’s dream home, felt more like a prison than a home. They might have been husband and wife to the world but it was far from that when they were inside the house. Michelle felt more distant from him in that house than she ever thought possible. Especially since they slept in separate rooms. She’d tried to think of ways the two of them could have a normal relationship, or at least something close to normal, but it was like the more she thought about it, the more she felt like it was an impossible uphill task. There were days she thought of leaving the prison she called home but there was so much at stake. Too much.

It was a little after two in the afternoon on a Monday afternoon when Michelle got home. She walked to the kitchen and smiled at her housekeeper, who had just finished wiping down the counter.

“Good day, Mrs. Favre,” Valeria said when Michelle put her bag on the counter.

“Hi, Valeria. How was your day?”

“Good. Great really.” Valeria smiled at Michelle. “Can I get you something? Some tea or maybe some juice?”

Michelle shook her head.

“No, actually… I was wondering, do you mind if I made dinner tonight?” she asked and Valeria’s eyes grew wide. “It’s just that I’ve always made my own meals and I’ve never even made myself a cup of coffee since being here.”

Valeria shrugged.

“Of course. Would you like me to help you?” she asked and Michelle shook her head.

“No. You can just have the afternoon off. I’m sure your family will appreciate the extra time you spend with them.”

Valeria frowned.

“I don’t know, Mrs. Favre.”

“Please, Valeria. I’m afraid if I don’t at least make an egg, I’ll lose my kitchen skills.”

Valeria grinned.

“Okay. I’ll see you tomorrow, then?”

Michelle nodded.

“Sure.”           

Michelle waited until Valeria had gone before she took her bag upstairs and changed out of her black pencil skirt and pink loose-fitting chiffon blouse and got into a comfortable black sleeveless maxi vest dress. She held her hair up in a ponytail and made her way back down to the kitchen. She wasn’t sure what she was going to make for dinner. She sighed loudly as she opened the fridge and looked inside. She wanted to make something simple but delicious at the same time.
Delicious enough to make one think that she’d spent hours in the kitchen.

“Chicken breasts… broccoli…” she walked to the pantry and smiled when she saw the pasta on the shelves. “Of course,” she thought as she grabbed the linguine. “Fettucine Alfredo. Chicken fettucine Alfredo.”

It was one of her all-time favorite dishes. She could easily make some of her mother’s tomato soup that she could serve with garlic bread. That was it. Dinner was complete.

Her marriage might not have been a happy one but they tried to have dinner together every night. It was the only normal thing about their marriage. It took half an hour for the soup and another half hour for the pasta. A smile was playing on her lips as she set the table. Dinner was the one part of her day that she looked forward to. The one part of her day that she felt like she was in a normal situation. She didn’t know if David knew it, but those dinner conversations were everything to her.

Everything.

She’d just poured herself a glass of wine when David walked in.

“Hey,” he said as he walked into the kitchen. “Something smells great. What did Valeria make tonight?”

Michelle shrugged. “Actually, I made dinner. I sent her home early.”

David looked at her, an eyebrow raised.

“You cooked?”

He sounded surprised. He looked even more surprised.

“I have a daughter, you know. Cooking is something I had to master. Otherwise, my life would be all KFC, MacDonalds and Pizza Hut dinners.”

A smile played on David’s lips.

“Well, everything looks great… smells delicious too.” He looked at her for a long time before he spoke again. “I’ll just get out of these clothes and join you shortly.”

“Or you could just loosen your tie and take off your jacket,” Michelle said.

He looked at her for a long second before he shrugged again.

“Sure.”

Michelle got another glass and poured him some wine as he walked towards her.

“So, how come you got home so early that you even had time to cook?” he asked as he sipped on his wine.

Michelle had just put some garlic bread on the table.

“I’ve been having these headaches since the accident… I was just a little out of it and Paul Garza was there… he saw me and asked me to take the evening off.”

Concern was written all over David’s face.

“We should have gone to hospital.”

“Come on, it was just a fender bender.” She served the soup into two bowls. “I hardly bled.”

David shrugged. “You could have a concussion. Those are pretty serious.”

Michelle put the tray on the table and then walked to the kitchen counter before she came back with the pasta.

“Don’t act so concerned, Favre. Someone might think that you actually care.”

David looked right into her eyes.

“I do care about what happens to you.”