It had been five days since the incident, and Justin still had said nothing to Fi. He didn't want to say anything unless he was certain of these doubts, but he had been observing her for a few days. More than he should have because he wasn't proud of it.
He was very well aware that it was not for the right reasons.
He was confident that Fiona had not been using their kitchen since the day she stepped into their house. However, with each passing day, she appeared to be at ease as they both worked together to prepare dinner from time to time.
Although being around Justin had become considerably easier with each passing day, Fiona noticed a change in his demeanor. He appeared to be quite calm and silent, which was unusual for him. She has seen a carefree Justin. And suddenly, she was seeing something altogether different. Something seemed to be keeping him back.
Fiona couldn't resist but asked him as he was pulling bread from the fridge, "Are you alright?"
"We are asking that a lot to each other, aren't we?" Justin asked her.
"I... I don't understand what you mean." Fiona told him. She was confused by Justin's implication.
"Don't you, Fiona?" Justin could not hold it in any longer. "I will come straight to the point. What was the first dish you made here?"
However, Fiona's eyes widen. She had no idea what to say to him.
"I don't remember. It was a long time ago." Looking down, she told him. Fiona couldn't look him in the eyes.
"Emily told me that you are a terrible liar, and now that I've seen it for myself. I am not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing." He remarked.
"What do you mean?" Fiona asked him hesitantly.
"I know that you haven't prepared a single meal here. In fact, I know that you have hardly used anything in here." This made Fiona purse her lips.
"Justin. You don't..." But he interrupted her.
"Don't even think about denying it or covering it up. I had my suspicions during the night I made the lasagne, but it was confirmed when I saw the grocery bill."
"Bill?" Fiona asked him with a frown.
"For the past three months, I have been asking Grace to stock the supplies for the kitchen. To my utter surprise, there was no increase in the expense. We are the only people living here, and the cost isn't justified." Justin told her. "So, just answer me, whether I'm correct to conclude that you haven't used the kitchen since the day you came here."
"Yeah," Fiona said, closing her eyes for a few seconds.
She didn't want Justin to find out, especially since things had just begun to mend between them.
Justin drew his eyelids closed as a result of her response. He felt some rage inside him. It was one thing to think about it and completely another to listen to her. He prayed that his theory was wrong, even if it meant another fight with Fiona. He didn't want his conclusion to be proven correct, even if he came out as the worst person.
"What the hell, Fiona? What in God's name were you thinking?" He asked her angrily.
"Justin," But he was so enraged that he wouldn't let her talk.
"Goddamit, Fiona! Please tell me you didn't skip a meal?" He asked her, praying that she didn't because God only knows what he would do if she did.
"I..." Fiona didn't want to tell him the truth, but her silence was a clear answer.
"You have got to be kidding me. Did you starve yourself?" He was flabbergasted.
"Justin, listen. Please, calm down. You are getting it all wrong." Fiona attempted to keep the situation from escalating.
"No, Fiona. You took it a step further than you should have. What the hell were you trying to prove? Or you just want to show that you are more independent than everybody else in the world."
"Excuse me? I was not trying to prove anyone anything. What I was doing is called self-respect." Fiona said angrily to him. She was not going to take nonsense from Justin.
"Self-respect? So starvation is referred to as self-respect?" He retorted.
"Not throwing a pity party for myself is called that. What right do I have to use your home, Justin? When I came here, I was a bloody stranger. Do you really think I am the type of person who parades around someone else's house like I own it? And for the record, I was not starving myself. I just don't eat breakfast sometimes or have light brunch."
"I never stopped you from using anything in this house, and I am not just someone. I am your husband." He tried to justify himself.
"It took you long enough to realise that. And for the record, you didn't exactly welcome me into this place. And I hate to be in a place where I am not wanted." Fiona was about to leave the kitchen, but Justin stopped her.
"Where do you think you are going?" He asked, trying to keep his temper under control. He wished he could punch something, anything, as a matter of fact.
"Work." She said one word and walked out of the kitchen.
He took a deep breath and exited the kitchen. He grabbed Fiona's car keys just as she was ready to take them.
"What do you think you are doing?" He asked her, locking his eyes with hers.
"Going to work, as I said before." She replied to him.
Justin was not going to let Fiona escape from him this time. He didn't give a shit if their quarrel got out of hand, but they were going to sort it out. There had been enough silence between them.
"I am not going to let you run away, Fi. We are going to figure it out together." Before she could argue, he grabbed her hand and made her walk with him outside the house.
"What the hell, Justin!" Once they got inside the lift, Fiona exclaimed. He chose to ignore her despite her annoyance. He was furious.
They both went to his car when they reached the ground floor. Fiona sat in the passenger seat, mimicking his rage. Both of them drove to work in silence. Once they reached their destination, they left for their cabin without glancing at each other.
Adrian could sense that something was wrong with Fiona, but she assured him that it was just a headache. Whereas Justin was concerned, he locked himself in the room and engaged himself in work. Justin and Fiona didn't bother to interact with each other for the entire day.
Emily tried to dig out what the hell happened between her boss and her best friend, but Fiona didn't say anything. Even James attempted to learn more about the situation, but Justin refused to share any information with him.
When he returned to his cabin, Emily greeted him, who looked at him with hopeful eyes. "Did you find anything? What happened between them?"
"Nope. I tried, but Justin simply ignored me. He looked pissed." James stated while sitting in the chair in front of her.
"I really hope your friend didn't screw up. Or else... " However, Emily was cut off by James.
"It could be Fiona too, you know. Justin couldn't always be at fault." James stated.
"I highly doubt that." Emily gave him a frown. "I am going to speak with your stupid friend."
Emily got up from her seat, and was about to walk past James, but he stood up and stopped her. "Don't. We should leave it to them to sort it out. If things get out of hand, then only we should step in.
"What? That's dumb!"
"No, Em. Those two are mature adults. They must learn to solve their problems. What good is their marriage if they can't even get over trivial matters? As friends, we should just support them and intervene only when absolutely necessary."
Emily was drawn into her thoughts by James' comments. He was shocked when he didn't hear any counter-argument.
"Nothing to say against my statement?" He asked her with wide eyes.
"No. You are right. For their marriage to work, they need to learn to resolve their own issues."
This made James smile.
He didn't expect Emily to understand his perspective this easily. She isn't as dense as people make her out to be. But he knew that Emily was worried about her friend like he was about his.
"Emily, they will be okay. Don't worry too much." He tried to comfort her with his words.
"I hope so. Fiona looked upset and hurt. She isn't telling me anything." Emily pouted.
"Fiona will share when she wants to. Let both of them calm down. And I know my stupid friend Justin. He is not one to give up easily, so give them some time." His words assured Emily, and he even earned her chuckle by calling his own friend stupid.
"If you say so," Emily said.
James took a step closer to her and softly touched both of her shoulders. "Emily, trust me. They both will be fine."
Emily acknowledges his words with a nod and a small smile.
Later in the evening, Justin arrived at Fiona's cabin at seven o'clock, hoping she hadn't gone home or run off somewhere else.
Fortunately, she didn't.
"You done?" He asked her softly. He looked around, but Adrian was nowhere in sight.
"No. You should go home. It will take me another thirty minutes." Fiona told him, trying not to sound rude. She was surprised that Justin didn't revert to his previous conduct of ignoring her.
"I will wait." He said firmly and sat in the chair in front of her desk.
"You don't need to. I will be fine..." But Justin cut her off.
"I am waiting, Fiona. End of discussion."
Fiona chose to respond to him with silence.
After a few minutes, he asked her, "Where is Adrian?"
"He left a few minutes ago." She told him.
"Okay," Justin stated.
He was browsing through his phone to pass the time. About twenty minutes had passed when he noticed Fiona turning off her computer.
"I am done." She said to him, to which he nodded.
Their travel home was once again spent in quiet. Fiona got out of her car in the parking lot and waited for Justin to do the same. He, however, did not.
"I have something to do. I will be home in a few." He told her and drove right in front of her eyes, not looking back. She stood there in shock.
Fiona hurried upstairs and into her room in silence. She couldn't hold back the tears any longer and poured them out. She knew she needed to speak with Justin, and she hoped it wouldn't turn into a fight. So she sat on the couch and waited for him.
An hour stretched into two, three, and finally four. Justin had not returned home after an entire night had passed. She was terrified on the inside. She tried calling him, but he didn't answer. She even left a message for him, but he did not respond. She knew that he had seen the message because of the blue tick, but he didn't bother to reply to her.
She felt as if something had broken within her. Along with that, perhaps their slim prospect of sorting out their relationship did as well.