Happily Married [COMPLETE]

[17]

October 29th 2017

"What are you doing?" A voice called from behind, startling her.

Audrey spared him a mere glance before she turned back to her work. "Nothing," she mumbled quietly for his sake; her mind was on other things.

What with all the drama that came with a cheating husband who was constantly pestering her for a divorce, her brother calling her multiple times a day trying to get her to leave him, and her newly acquainted fever, Audrey had forgotten all about her big presentation that was due for the next day. It was for some app that she had been working on and she wished for it to be released into the market when it was done, but she needed to win over the people on the board first.

And to do that she needed to present it to them tomorrow.

But she hadn't even started. To say that she was stressed would be an understatement.

Calvin had dragged her to the doctors a few days and with some medicine that they had given her, she was starting to feel better. She wasn't one hundred percent just yet, but she was getting there.

"You should be in bed." Calvin was insistent as he took off the jacket from his shoulders and it on the back of her chair. He had looked for her all over the house when he couldn't find her sleeping on the couch. He should have known before that she would have been in her office, slaving away on her laptop.

Audrey ignored him. She was too busy for yet another argument.

Calvin sighed and crossed his arms over his chest. He was determined to stand his ground, but he knew just how stubborn Audrey could be if she wanted to. "If you don't rest then you won't get better." His voice was soft as he spoke, silently urging her to listen to him and get some rest.

"You can work later."

"No, I can't work later." She huffed, frustrated, even more so now that he was distracting her.

"Why not?" He asked, curious as to what had dragged her out of bed when she was ill.

Audrey shook her head, still facing away from him. "I need to do this for tomorrow, and I forgot about it." The desperation and worry was clear in her voice.

"Then ask for an extension." He stated simply as if that would just solve the problem.

"I can't."

"Why not?"

"Because this is my one chance."

He smiled, not that she saw it. "There'll be other chances."

She turned around this time and stared him in the eye. Her chin was lifted in defiance, daring him to carry on with his insistent questioning. "And if there aren't?"

"There will be." He assured her, but she wasn't having any of it.

Audrey scoffed. "I can't risk it." She turned around again, but turned her head to call over her shoulder. "Not everyone is their own boss."

Calvin clenched his jaw and ignored her snide comment. He had been trying his best to at least get along with and so far, it had been pretty easy, especially since she had spent the majority of the day in bed. But this morning, she had snapped at him when he called her down for breakfast and now that he was back from work, she wanted nothing to do with him.

Usually it was the other way around. This was new territory for Calvin, and he wasn't sure how he felt about it.

A part of him wanted to snap at her, to put her in her place for talking to him the way that she did. But another part of him, the bigger part of him, sympathised with her. This was obviously very important to her, and here he was, making this even more difficult for her.

He felt a pang of guilt. "Is there anything I can do to help?"

Audrey sighed and stood up straight, her back to him. She placed her hands on her hips for a moment and thought for a moment. And then she turned around. "I could get some help with the speech and the presentation." She told him, offering him an apologetic smile. "And I'm sorry for snapping at you earlier."

Calvin nodded. "It's okay," he found himself saying, surprising even himself. "I'll help out wherever needed." He promised, offering her a small smile.

And she took it. She took all that he had to offer, which was surprisingly a lot. But then what did she expect from the CEO of Paynter Industries, one of the largest hotel firms in the country, possibly even the world.

Audrey had first met Calvin when he was working for another firm, trying to work his way up with experience and hard work, wanting to earn his father's business instead of just having it handed it to him. And it had all paid off, it seemed seeing as the business had really flourished and expanded a whole deal since he had taken over a few years ago, a year before they got married.

She had been there for him them, helping out with the little stuff.

She was just glad that he was here now when she really needed an extra helping hand.

They worked all evening, and all night until it was a little past midnight and they were both feeling drowsy. They were pretty much finished, just making the final touched on the speech and checking over the slides for the presentation.

They had finally finished.

Husband and wife fell asleep that night with their laptops placed at the foot of the bed, with charts and diagrams surround them, and their hands placed in between their sleeping bodies, joined together as one.

-

Layla Knight

27.07.17