Temptations

Chapter Two

The sun was high in the sky when I woke. His body's shape is pressed into the empty sheets next to me, but when I go to touch them they are cold. Work takes him out of the house by 7, and I never normally wake up before 2pm. Forcing myself up from the bed, I step downstairs. I'm about halfway down when I hear clattering in the kitchen and smell hotdogs cooking. Devon has the patio doors open and there's a trail of smoke pouring from the grill outside. He's inside running his hand under cold water. There's a pan of overcooked asparagus lying on the ground that the dogs sniff at but don't touch.

"Fuck!" I hear him mutter from my place on the staircase. Slamming the sink, he starts to run outside towards whatever is burning before he sees me watching him. "Neveah! Good morning! I was making breakfast, well, not really breakfast since it's so late I ate hours ago, but I'm making us some food. Just give me one second."

"You need help?"

Devon looks around at the mess.

"Uh, please," he says.

Handing me a plate, he has me follow him out the back where he uses tongs to throw a few extremely burnt hot dogs onto a plate. They were the cause of all the smoke. I go to throw the plate into the garbage when he stops me,

"what are you doing? I made that for us."

I purse my lips, looking down at the black, shriveled pieces of meat.

"It looks like dog food," I say, "no offense baby."

Dejectedly, he takes the hot dogs and throws them onto the grass. Instantly the dogs pounce on them as if they were still alive. Inside I begin picking up asparagus off the ground.

"Asparagus and hot dogs. Very interesting." I tell him, looking at a limp asparagus.

"Well, I would've made fries or something, but I know you don't eat that stuff."

I plant a kiss on his cheek, then take his hand into mine. There's a deep red burn across where his hand grabbed the hot pan from the oven.

"How about we order something instead? I could go for some Thai."

"Okay," he agrees. I lead him to the couch and smear aloe onto his palm.

"Why are you home anyways? No work today?" I ask, looking into his dark brown eyes.

"I stayed home. I wanted to hangout with you."

I look away from him, pretending not to see the sad hope in his eyes.

"You should've woken me then. I leave in three hours for work."

He shrugs.

"Three hours is better than none, which is what it usually is. Plus, I can always go to work with you. Watch what you do. It's always been a mystery."

The idea of him watching me at work makes me nausea, so instead I curl into his lap on the couch.

"Let's just be lazy for now."

We sit there together for the next few hours watching re-runs of an old sit-com and eating. With him here, everything is so comfortable. Familiar. The time reminds me of when we first started dating, before everything was complicated.

When it's time for me to go, I slip on a tight, nearly see-through black dress. I feel his eyes on me the entire time as I get ready.

"I can't visit you tonight?" he asks me, while I'm putting on a pale pink lipstick. I look at my reflection in the mirror. I'm a different girl than I was half an hour ago, already.

"No baby, I love you but having you there would throw me off my entire shift."

He props himself onto the bathroom counter, looking directly at me.

"You don't even need to work. At all. I make more than enough."

Looking up at him, I do my best to push down my annoyance. I've heard this a thousand times at this point.

"Even if you were the richest man in the country, I would still want to work. It's a part of who I am. It's fun. I don't know what I would do without it."

"I know," he answers, "but you don't think you could maybe work somewhere," he paused, looking for the word. I knew what he wanted to say; less slutty, less dangerous, less degenerate. It wasn't easy for him, I knew, to be so successful and have a wife who bar-tended at a nightclub. "that had better hours?" He finishes. Good save.

"I know it's strange, but I love my job. It reminds me of my life when I was younger."

"Okay," he tells me. "That's fine."

I grab my purse and close the door shut behind me. It's only when I make it to the car that I realize neither of us remembered to say I love you.