I couldn't help but chuckle at Martha scurrying away. The tint of pink that keeps flushing her cheeks reminds me of when we were kids. It's become more frequent the more we spend time together. Though I can't go around making assumptions, this all very well could be her just seeing me in a new light and a harmless crush till she gets over it.
But I don't want her to get over it.
Pushing the thought aside I head to the laundry room. Just like Martha said my clothes were currently being washed. It had only been about 20 mins since she put them in so I still had quite a bit of time before being able to put them into the dryer. The set of extra clothes she gave me were clenched in my hand as I held onto them. By the feel of the fabric and a little further investigation I was able to tell that these were some extra scrubs she had in her closet. The shirt looked a bit smaller than what I was used to, so I decided to start with the pants instead. I checked around quickly before allowing my towel to drop in the laundry room and proceeded to get dressed. When I went to put on the shirt I heard the fabric rip. Pulling it back off I saw where the seam was about to burst. I shrugged as I looked at the torn fabric.
Well at least I tried.
It's not my fault, a simple wardrobe malfunction.
The growl taking over my stomach made me realize how hungry I really was. I took out my phone and got the one thing that I knew Martha couldn't say no to. Making sure to get all of Martha's favorites; the guy said the food should be here in a half hour. I then took that opportunity to grab a bottle of wine and set up the living room.
It was coming up on the time when the food should be getting here and Martha still hadn't come down yet.
Did I push it too far earlier? By admitting that I checked her out and saying she could do the same.
God damn it I feel like an idiot.
Just as I was on the verge of beating myself up, a set of footsteps coming down the stairs caught my attention. Martha's hair was slightly wet dripping onto her night shirt and shorts. The shirt was baggy and long so it would sometimes cover the shorts she was wearing. Almost making it seem like she wasn't wearing anything underneath there.
"What's all this?!" She asked looking around the living room taking in the scene before her.
"Oh, uh I figured I would set up the living room for dinner." The living room wasn't only pristine in being clean, I also dimmed the lights and had two glasses of wine ready to go.
Martha was obviously surprised but also seemed a bit nervous by the blush that was creeping up her neck and on her cheeks.
It occurred to me that this looked like a date, though I'm not going to say anything.
"So...what's for dinner?"
As I was going to answer, the doorbell rang, "Excuse me." I did a light jog to the door. When I opened the door I saw the delivery guy gathering the bag. I tossed him some money telling him to keep the change. Turning around I saw Martha still standing where I left her except her eyes weren't here they were on my torso.
"Mar?"
She licked her lips quickly before snapping her attention to what I was saying, "Y-yes?" Her cheeks were getting worse, and an annoyed look came over her as she saw me smirking at her. "Um, is there a reason you aren't wearing the shirt I gave you?"
"Hey I tried but it started to rip, it was too small. So unless you have something else for me to wear?" I said as I swayed the bag back and forth in her eye line as I made my way to her. The way her eyes sparkled when she saw it told me she couldn't resist.
Martha shook her head rolling her eyes with a small grin. "Whatever... You know you're spoiling me, right." She said, referring to the food.
"Always." I gave her a quick kiss on the cheek. She sucked in a breath, I've seen this reaction on her before, "Everything alright?"
"Huh?... Oh uh yea, everything's fine. Just really looking forward to the food." We both know that she's lying but I don't point that out.
We both sat on the couch as I laid all the food out on the coffee table. She picked up the chopsticks and grabbed the lo mein. I couldn't help but notice the cute way she bounced in her seat. I grabbed my set of chopsticks before grabbing the fried rice. When I sat back on the coach I looked in her direction with her looking at me expectantly, "What?"
She held up her chopsticks waiting, I chuckled and hit mine against hers. A little tradition we had before every meal we shared together.
A moan came from my side making my head turn. I saw Martha's eyes closed and her savoring the taste. The audible gulp that came from me made her halt. Her stare was intense and I had to stop my thoughts from wandering.
Clearing my throat I looked back at my food pushing it around.
"Sorry, I skipped lunch today so yes I'm hungry." She chuckled to herself.
I shook my head, "No I'm glad you're enjoying it. Uh... I noticed Paige wasn't around".
"It's actually Jonathan's weekend with her."
"Right, I almost forgot how the scheduling works." Sometimes these visitations get confusing, remembering when Paige was supposed to go to Jonathan or when she was supposed to be home. I could only imagine how Martha keeps up with it all.
"Yea it gave me the opportunity to take an extra shift going into Monday."
She works too hard. "You are gonna run yourself into the ground."
"I'm fine, this is a single income household now, remember."
My brows furrowed as I continued to tunnel rice into my mouth. "Is Jonathan not contributing anymore?"
She paused before she spoke again, "No he is, I guess...I guess I'm just preparing for whatever happens with the divorce. I know he'll still provide for Paige so I'm not trying to take him for Child support. I mostly want to make sure that anything we created together is divided equally."
Wait, did she?....
"I know what that look is." She caught my attention and I was confused at first till she explained. "Yes, I officially filed for divorce."
"When?"
"This past week actually, the day after our Family dinner." She said matter of factly as she took a sip of her wine.
"Are you okay?"
"I am, so enough about me right now, don't want it to get depressing here. What's going on with you?"
Oh right, my news. How can I tell her now? She's really going through it, I don't want to shove my success in her face.
"Ryan, it's okay you can tell me."
"Are you in my fucking head or something?" I said, blinking at her.
She laughed mid-chew covering her mouth as she recovered. "I might as well be, you're pretty easy for me to read."
I could feel my skin heat up and cursed myself, the little glint in her eyes confirmed that I was indeed blushing, Fuck.
I cleared my throat, setting my food to the side. "I had a meeting with the board of 'Precision Fixes & Tires'. Mateo, the owner I told you about, was obviously there. It was a meeting to see how well the location I have been running was doing. All the over time I had been putting in was to work on compiling a spreadsheet of the financials."
"Wow, that sounds overwhelming."
"It definitely was, I mean Garrett put me in a damn suit."
The laugh she let out warmed me inside, I could listen to that forever. "I think the last time I saw you try to pull off a suit was when your aunt tried to make you go to your prom."
I shivered at that memory, "I always preferred to get my hands dirty anyway."
"So how did the board like the numbers you showed?" Her genuine interest showed me just how different she was from the women I've gone out with.
"At the end of it all, Mateo told me that he just wanted to see how I presented myself in front of the board but that he already made the decision to pass the business along to me throughout the next five years while he gets ready for retirement. Though I feel if I really buckle down I could convince him to pass it to me in two."
Martha's eyes went wide, "Really?!"
"Yup."
"Oh, Oh my God that's awesome." Without warning Martha launched herself onto me making me lean back with her body weight on top of mine. When she pulled back, her face was still close and she spoke in a whisper but I still heard her, "I'm so proud of you." A sense of pride flowed through me knowing she recognized all my hard work.
I'm working hard to secure an amazing future. My future has always been planned out. The road to get there may change from time to time but the end result was always going to be the same.
My hands acting on their own accord as I enjoyed her presence in my arms as rubbed lightly down her sides. These scrubs were loose but I still felt them tightening with how hard I was getting. I felt her breath hitch as she started to sink further into me. "Martha..."
I was going to kill whoever it was that kept texting her. The damn thing wouldn't stop vibrating. It was like it sobered her up because she looked quickly at our position and sat back going to check her phone. She sighed and placed it back on its face away from my prying eyes. So instead I spoke up, "Who was that?" I tried to sound more curious than irritated. I think it worked.
"Oh it's nothing just um Jonathan."
"Is everything alright?"
She took a deep breath before speaking, "Yea he's just trying to convince me to go back to another session with the marriage counselor."
I cleared my throat, "I thought you said you filed for divorce?"
"Doesn't mean he took it well. He was so hurt and it seemed like he really thought we were going to work this out."
"Oh."
"Yea, then he..."
"He what?" I asked cautiously.
"He k-kissed me."
"Wait what?" What the fuck?
Martha sighed, "He kissed me and at first he thought I was enjoying it when I definitely wasn't."
"He forced himself on you?"
"I was finally able to get his attention and push him off but I just.. felt so...violated" When she looked at me her eyes were wide, "Ryan?"
I was furious at Jonathan, I wanted to beat the living crap out of him. "Ryan, please, I'm fine." She placed a hand on my arm before slowly stroking and calming me down.
Taking a deep breath I placed my hand on top of hers. I could see the look in her eyes; it was the same look from that night. When she was begging me to listen to her and I acted on my emotions and confronted Jonathan. The night that cost me two years with her. I needed to get my emotions in check.
"I-I know, I'm okay." I tried to be as reassuring as possible. "Are you sure you're okay?"
She gave a small smile before fading again, "It felt like forever since someone had kissed me, it made me so... sad. Like I craved that human connection with someone but it's like my body knew that I didn't have that connection with him anymore." Shrugging she took her wine glass and downed the rest of it.
"Okay enough about Jonathan and my depressing situation. It's time to pick a movie." I saw her trying to move on, wanting to enjoy the rest of the night and that's what I gave her.
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A/N: Obviously not what my characters look like but thought it was cute: 😊
My readers waiting for this filler chapter: