The Marriage Counselor

4. I Didn't Take You For A Little Rule Breaker.

Samantha

Before dinner begins, she excuses herself to the ladies room to compose herself; fixing some stray hairs and adjusting the silk dress. When she returns to the private area they found, Henry remains sitting there, holding her black heels in his hand while he looks over the crowd of people.

"Here," She says, her voice breaking him away from whatever he was thinking. She takes the heels from him and slips them back on her feet. "Thanks for holding onto them for me."

"Of course."

"Sam!" Someone calls several feet away. When she looks over her shoulder, she sees Cody gesturing for her to come over. The head table reserved for close family members and friends is now being seated for appetizers.

She nods and holds up a finger before turning her gaze back to Henry. "If we don't sit together, promise you'll say goodbye before you leave?"

His jaw tenses for a brief second but he catches it. He didn't plan on staying very long, just long enough to make an appearance and give Stephen the cigars. But the way she looks at him right now is like a hopeful little kid. He can't say no to her. He doesn't want to. "Promise."

"Pinky promise," she says, extending her little pinky towards him with a teasing look.

The gesture itself is completely adorable and innocent. He can't help but extend his pinky to hers, twisting them together. Her finger is so tiny compared to his that it practically disappears. "I pinky promise."

She smiles, proud of herself for tricking a grown man into making a pinky promise. "Don't forget." She warns before she leaves him to join her husband.

Cody watches this exchange from the floor, narrowing his eyes when she approaches. "Where have you been all night?"

"Drinking," She says simply, not meeting his eyes. Hopefully he just leaves it at that. She can tell he's had a few drinks too; he's removed his blazer and now just sports his white button up without the bow tie.

"Well don't stop on my count." He gestures to one of the waiters carrying a tray of drinks. He grabs a glass of champagne for both of them and hands it off to her. "Drink up, my love."

You don't have to tell her twice. She empties the contents of her glass and places it back on the waiters silver tray, thanking them with a polite smile.

"How about you bring a bottle to our seats, buddy?"

The waiter nods and takes off without a second thought. Samantha takes this chance to look back over her shoulder at where her and Henry were sitting. He's no longer there and she tries to stop herself from scanning the crowd for him. Instead, she looks back to her husband and in her hazy state, she takes this opportunity to really look at him. He still looks like the boy that asked her to prom all those years ago, although he's gotten better at styling his jet black hair and adopted a businessman wardrobe. She bites her lip. There's so many things she thinks about saying right then. So many things she wants from him. A dance. A kiss. A "good job." She just wants him to see her. She opens her mouth to say something, not even sure where this is going, "I want-" I want this to work. I want us to make it, Cody. Can't you see that? I'm still the quiet girl from high school madly in love with you.

Her eyes drop down to his neck. And then she sees it. A red lipstick mark. Right there below the edge of his jaw. God dammit, he's not even trying to hide it anymore. It's so fucking obvious! She can't even play dumb or act ignorant. She can't pretend it isn't real and feed herself another Bull shit excuse or justification. It's right there in her face, mocking her.

"You want what?" Cody raises an eyebrow.

I want to cry. I want to run. I want someone to hold me. I want to go home. I want a divorce. I want to be loved. I want the last 7 years of my life back. I want you to see what you've done to me. Her thoughts are screaming out at her and she bites down hard on her bottom lip to keep back the word vomit. She can feel her nose start to prickle and her throat tighten. Please don't do this now. Not here. You can cry later, I promise. Just get through this dinner and then you can leave. You can do it. You've done it plenty of times before...