Rainbow connection

Altercation

Joe stormed into his apartment after a tough day of meetings. Nothing had been signed, nothing finalised and everything had been a waste. Obviously he was aware that some days things won't go as well as desired by someone as driven as Joe, but there seemed to have been way to many bad days this week.

This month even, possibly this year.

He was spiralling. And he knew it.

Joe stormed straight into his office, hastily taking deep breaths to steady himself and hopefully clear his mind a little. Once he was sure he could trust himself not to punch a wall he walked slowly towards the landing.

"Ahhhh" he screamed as he stubbed his toe on the way out, and he carried on at speed walking to  the kitchen. Maybe Dianne would be able to calm him down and he hadn't yet said hello to her.

She'd also had rehearsals earlier that morning and had been on Skype calls all afternoon.

"You okay little one? I heard you shout." Dianne looked up from the kitchen table.

Joe took one look at the kitchen and sighed. He wanted to stay calm. There were piles of washing up in the sink, the cupboard and fridge doors were open, mugs were piled up near where Dianne sat and the table cloth was wonky.

"Dot, this rooms a mess" he whispered to the floor. Not allowing himself to look her in the eyes. He felt his insides bubble and for the first time ever, he wanted Dianne to know how angry he was. Maybe if she saw, she'd tidy up next time and then something would go right in his life.

"Sorry I've been busy," she hastily replied, ignoring how rude he was being.

"Well tidy it then." It seemed obvious to Joe. He walked out again in a huff.

"Joe wait!" Dianne called. "You don't have to be so patronising you know!"

"Dot please you're always so messy just sort it out" he scoffed. He was regretting saying anything, knowing he was now at risk of hurting her or saying the complete wrong thing.

"Joe what is up with you tonight?"

"I'm just stressed and anxious, and when it's messy I can even relax at home!" He shouted the last bit. Scaring Dianne slightly as she had never seen him this angry.

"Hey, I'll sort it, sit down and chill out a bit'" she said quickly jumping to her feet. She tried to put her hand protectively on her back but at the first point of contact, Joe had lurched backwards, clearly not properly listening.

"Urgh you know what, I can't be arsed anymore  I'll tidy up after you, it's as if you never grew up honestly"

Instantly Joe knew he'd crossed a line. Being immature or childish was one of Dianne's biggest insecurities and Joe had picked at it and thrown it straight in her face. The back of her throat burned and tears threatened to spill. She couldn't cry in front of Joe so swiftly ran past him upstairs, ignoring Joe who was blankly facing the wall now.

"Fuck off Joe!" She said just loud enough for him to hear as she walked past.

Sitting in their room, Dianne calmed herself down. In reality she should have tidied after herself, or at lest shut the fridge door. But Joe had actually really hurt her and he had to know that.

There was a knock at the door and Dianne tentatively opened it.

"Andrew," Joe said without making eye contact and handing her phone over.

"Hiya broski?" Dianne croaked despite trying to sound confident trying to hide her emotions.

"Dot what's up? Joe seemed upset too."

"Oh it's nothing really, we're just both stupid and tired."

"You sure?"

"Positive"

They caught up and made plans for Christmas and by the end of the conversation, Dianne had almost forgotten the altercation earlier with Joe. Until Andrew brought it up.

"Go speak to your boy Dot, you'll feel better when it's sorted"

"I know" Dianne sighed, arguing with Joe was her least favourite thing. Especially as Joe had admitted to feeling stressed and anxious, something she should be helping him with at home, not arguing about.

"Love ya Dot, see you soon"

"Love you too" Dianne was now crying again. A combination of missing her family and concern for Joe washed over her. She couldn't even go to Joe for a cuddle which made her more upset. As she sat on their bed she allowed her tears to freely fall and wrapped her arms around her abdomen for any kind of comfort she could get.

45 minutes or so later she headed downstairs in the hope that Joe would be gaming and she could tidy the kitchen a bit, to make it up to Joe. Her heart sank when she entered the kitchen, it was spotless and Joe was sat at the table. At first she thought he might be sleeping; his head was resting on the table. But it didn't take long for her to realise he was crying.

"Easy Joseph, easy" she tenderly took his hands, relieved when he didn't pull away.

"Do you want to dance?" Dianne whispered. It was the only thing she felt like doing right now with Joseph and she hoped it would distract him from whatever was stressing him out so much.

Joe nodded and instantly held his arms up in a near perfect frame. Dianne quickly pushed his arms back down and they swayed in a perfect hug for about half an hour.

"Im so sorry Dot," Joe said seriously, looking down at his red-headed girlfriend.

"I'm sorry too, I could've done a bit more" she exclaimed.

"No you've been so busy, it's wasn't fair on you"

"You said you were anxious, do you want to talk about it?"