Contracted To Love

“Please… David we both know what this is. This arrangement between us.”

“Michelle!” It wasn’t a loud, rude yell or anything. It was the command in his voice. The look in his eyes that made her actually pay attention to the little emotion that was on his face. “I do care,” he said in a soft voice.

Michelle took a long, deep breath and shrugged.

“Fine,” she said in a defeated tone. “I’ll go tomorrow.”

“I’ll take you. You are not driving until the doctor clears you.”

She nodded reluctantly.

“Have your soup before it gets cold.”

David inhaled deeply and Michelle noticed a half smile playing on the corners of his mouth.

“Smells familiar,” he said under his breath.

“What? The soup? It’s just tomato soup,” Michelle said.          

“It tastes familiar…. Something about it makes me think back to my childhood.”

Michelle rolled her eyes.

“Really? That’s what we’re doing? Clichés?” she asked and he shook his head.

“No, seriously. My mother had this recipe that tasted much like this. Maybe even exactly like this.”

“Well, it’s my mom’s recipe and our mothers have been friends since they were kids…. Maybe they shared recipes or something?”

Michelle had a smile on her face.

“Maybe,” he agreed as he nodded.

                                                            *****

David didn’t know what it was about that particular dinner but his whole demeanor changed after that evening. He was no longer looking at Michelle as a mere housemate. She was so much more now. He just didn’t know what it was exactly that had changed. The meal that evening… that had been the turning point for everything.

For starters, that soup didn’t just taste like his mother’s recipe. It was his mother’s recipe. Or was it possible it might have been Marilyn Smith’s and that maybe, just maybe, the two women had been friends so long that they’d swapped recipes?

Whatever it was, David felt drawn to her. So much that for the first time since they’d gotten married, he was actually looking forward to their dinner conversations. The only normal part of their sham marriage. Over the following days, he began noticing something different. He was actually looking forward to getting home. Looking forward to seeing Michelle. It might have been something as simple as talking about the weather over a bowl of soup and bread or an engaging political topic over a roast chicken and some vegetables. Sometimes, it was boxes of Chinese food or a slice of pizza…whatever the meal. David found himself looking forward more and more to those magical two hours with his new wife.

It was on a Tuesday evening when he walked into the unusually quiet house. He knew that Michelle was already home because he’d seen Michelle’s car in the driveway. He was particularly excited about an invite that he’d received earlier that afternoon. An invite to the New York Mayor’s ball. The invite was no new thing to him, but he’d always found a reason not to attend. His father, on the other hand, was the public face of Favre Securities. So, while his father attended the balls and other events, he chose to jet around the world instead. But things were different now. He was no longer David Favre: billionaire playboy and party animal. He was David Favre: businessman and husband. He couldn’t wait to tell Michelle about their opportunity to attend a New York high society function as a couple. A few weeks ago, he wouldn’t have thought of it but here he was, excited about future prospects.

“Hello?” he called as he walked down the hallway.

Silence.

“Michelle? I’m home,” he said again.

He loosened his tie and made his way to the kitchen and then living room. He was about to walk into the hallway when he saw Valeria walking into the kitchen with a laundry basket.

“Mr. Favre. Good evening.”

“Good evening, Valeria. How was your day.”

The middle-aged woman smiled. Her smile had some warmth to it. David had never been able to really understand what it was about her that was so warm but she always brought some joy when she smiled.

“Perfect as usual Mr. Favre.”

“Is Michelle upstairs?” he asked. “I saw her car outside.”

He noticed her smile fade.

“She’s home. She has been up there for the last two hours…. She is a little upset.”

David shook his head.

“Why? What happened?”

“There was a phone call earlier. From her ex-husband.”

David exhaled loudly. He almost immediately knew what it was that had her so upset. He’d tried avoiding the Jean topic as long as he could but he wasn’t so sure how much longer he could last. At first he thought that he could handle it, but lately everything between them was different. The dinner conversations got longer, as did the whole dinner process. She was beginning to occupy a part of him he didn’t know he had. He’d even found himself being empathetic. He’d never known himself to care this much about someone’s feelings. That explained a lot about why he had always messed up every good thing he’d ever had. But he was beginning to feel differently about Michelle. She was hurting and he found that when she hurt, he hurt too.

“Thanks Valeria,” he said as he began walking towards the hallway.

“Mr. Favre?”

David turned around and looked at her.

“She was really upset… I’ve never seen her like that. I gave her something for her headache a while ago but maybe we should ask a doctor to come over?”

The concern om his housekeeper’s face told him more than he could tell.

“What happened, exactly?” he asked and she shook her head.

“Honestly, I cannot tell you but I passed outside the room earlier and there was yelling…. A conversation, but heated…. Then suddenly silence and then screaming.”

He frowned.

“Screaming?”

Valeria nodded.

“She’s not herself,” she admitted and he nodded.

“Bring me a bottle of Chateau Blanc from the cellar. A 1964 should do.”

“But she just took an aspirin,” Valeria said and he shrugged.

“When did she take the aspirin?” he asked.

“An hour. Maybe more,” Valeria said and he nodded.