The dinning table was scattered with sheaves of paper, but one, currently, consumed his attention.
Daniel was a thirty one year old writer, in a town that was new to the business of publishing. To say the least, it was a hard-nut endeavor to be a published author and so it required his full concentration, to wipe out an irresistible material which was sure to capture the interest of the few publishers in town.
He was so concentrated that the soft, singing voice of his seven year old daughter was lost to him. And there fore, he couldn’t have heard when his wife of six years walked in.
“Mummy welcome,” Stacey said, leaving her teddy at her play corner to rush to her mother’s side.
“Hmm,” Susan replied, giving the little girl a perfunctory hug, before shifting her thin body out of the way and proceeding into the recess of their home.
“Daddy, mummy is angry again,” Stacey said, standing by her father.
Daniel grunted and turned to his daughter, he hadn’t heard what she’d said but smiled at her nonetheless, squeezing her to his side in a loving hug. He even tickled her a bit, eliciting a giggle from her.
“Go and play, bunny. I’ll soon be through, okay?” he said, rubbing the tip of his nose on her little temple. The seven year old nodded, promptly forgetting why she’d gone to her father’s side in the first place.
Few minutes later, Stacey was back to her play corner on the carpeted floor, while Daniel was totally engrossed in his writing, and Susan began the preliminaries of a quarrel.
She flung things around loudly, banging the ones she could, all in a bid to get her husband’s attention. As usual, it was a failure, only Stacey looked up nervously and called her daddy in a small voice, but he didn’t hear.
“For how long,” Susan griped, “For how long will I continue living like this?” her eyes roamed the parlor of her home for the past seven years.
Her anger at the moment, stemmed from her visit to her friend’s home. Since she was from a rich home, Susan had always been the shinning girl in her group of friends. She had been that girl that was first to have the latest styles in fashion, travel out of the country for summer holidays and just plain stand out as a rich kid who got whatever she desired.
So, to be out shun by one of her friends that couldn’t have measured up to her back in her single days, was rubbing her the wrong way. And the fault was all Daniel’s.
“Kai, of all people, Julia, that just married a few years ago. Today she has totally changed the whole decor of her sitting room, after just two years, just because she didn’t like the last one. But, Susan Grant, me, I’m still stuck in staring at the dull color of ‘hand me down’ furniture from centuries of old, just because my, so called, husband…,” Susan stopped at this point to check if Daniel had heard her.
She was sorely disappointed; the man was in a world of his own. Hate bloomed in her heart at the man she’d married; she wished she could wish him dead.
“Daniel!” she shouted crazily.
“Hmm, honey. Did you say something?” Daniel replied without even looking up.
“I’ve been talking for the past ten minutes, from your response I might have been a ghost. Did you even notice I had returned?” she snapped waspishly.
“Did someone annoy you out there?” he asked perfunctorily, he knew his wife, very little got her anger off, and she always needed a listening ear to vent her frustrations.
“Besides, as for not hearing you talk, you probably weren’t loud enough. You know how it is when I work,” he added, scribbling on the plain sheet in front of him.
Susan scoffed, not caring that her young daughter was close to tears. “Yes, I know how it is, I’ve been living with you for over six years!” she screamed, finally getting Daniel’s attention.
He was shocked to see how worked up his wife was, and instinctively knew this was more than a simple need for a listening ear. This was possibly the head of all the quarrels and disagreements they’d been having this past week.
“Are you okay, honey?” he asked calmly, hoping to divert a storm.
“I’m not okay! I’ve been married to the most, foolishly, resilient man! You are the only one that has still not realized that writing in this state doesn’t pay. It’s time to get a job, Daniel!”
“But, I have a job,” he replied slowly, wondering what must have brought on this mood in Susan.
“Not that paltry thing at the local government council,” she snapped.
Daniel sighed wearily, ideas for his current book swirling in his head, but he knew without calming Susan, he wouldn’t be allowed to write. His eyes caught the nervous expression of his daughter and his heart melted.
“Darling, Stacey, come here,” he called softly, watching his daughter walk to him, tears already sipping from her eyes.
“Shh, it’s okay, bunny. Mommy and daddy are just struggling toys, okay?” she nodded, allowing her father to wipe her eyes.
“Now, go to daddy’s room and turn on the stereo like I taught you. Can you do that?” Stacey nodded. “Are you sure? This is a test, and daddy will have to reward you with biscuits if you get it right.”
“I can do it,” Stacey’s small voice chirped excitedly, blessedly over shadowing Susan’s scoff at the mention of biscuits.
Daniel gave her a dirty look over their daughter’s head before smiling at the girl and pushing her towards the room. He waited, the door to the room closed and a few minutes later, music drifted to them from the stereo.
“Aren’t you ashamed? Your mates are treating their daughters with ice cream, your own is biscuit,” she huffed.
“Susan, we’ve been through this sort of insults several times, I get it, you aren’t satisfied with our lives. And like I always say, why don’t you get a job?” he asked calmly, already knowing her reply before she answered.
“With what certificate? If only you hadn’t impregnated me, I would have completed my degree!”
“Nobody was stopping you, Susan. And for the record, that excuse is becoming lame. I see pregnant women everyday at the campus. Besides, you should have gone on to complete your degree after giving birth,” he pointed out reasonably.
“We aren’t all as shameless as you are. How could I have strutted around school with a heavy protrusion in front of me, messing up the style of my dress? How could I have returned to school, when all my mates had finished? Having to answer the uncomfortable questions about what set me back,” she huffed in disgust.
“I know you were invisible at the campus, Daniel, but I was well known.”
“Yet, you still managed to find me,” Daniel mocked with a smile that was more a sneer. He was tired of trying to calm Susan, the best thing was to have at the quarrel, clear the air and return to writing.
“I curse the day that had happened,” she spat, and folded her arm under her small chest.
It wasn’t the first time she was saying it, but every time she did, Daniel felt the hurt, deep down. He couldn’t curse that day right along with her, because, then, he’d be cursing the situation that had led to having his daughter.
Daniel loved his daughter too much to spit out careless words like, unfortunately, her mother did. Susan was right he’d always been invisible, preferring to be in the background, enjoying the anonymity of watching others.
It had been one of those rare days his sparse circle of friends had managed to coax him to the club. And as usual, he’d been sitting quietly, sipping his beer and enjoying the luxury of observing others.
Mike had noticed the group of girls at VIP and declared that they needed a man like him to thoroughly enjoy the party. The guys had all laughed, he included, and watched interestingly as Mike made his way to the group of girls, of which, Susan seemed to be the leader.
The scene had quickly bore him, Susan had been the type of girl that he’d usually avoided, all beauty and no brain, he’d known she’d fall for Mike. But, surprisingly, just as he was finishing off his beer, she’d appeared before him, startling him out of his aloofness.
From the onset, she’d been in control of the relationship, pushing him, even when he was reluctant, to have an intimate relationship. And, later, he’d found out that she’d planned it all.
Susan always wanted to remain the alpha female in her group of rich friends. Apparently, she’d blithely informed them that she would be the first to be married in the group. And had proceeded to put her declaration in motion, she’d told him that first night that she didn’t want anything to do with Mike, because he was a play boy.
This invariably meant that Mike wouldn’t have fallen for her ploy. Susan got herself pregnant on him and proceeded to guilt trip him into marriage. Over six years later, here they were, in an impasse, Susan was, once again, in need of an image lift.
“What is really the issue here, Susan?” Daniel asked wearily, moments after her curse statement.
“I can’t live like this anymore. I’m still well known, but can’t invite anybody to my home because it’s not up to par.”
“What’s wrong with our home?” he frowned, looking at the patterned velvet covered seats, the rug carpet that still maintained a bit of its cushion, the sturdy coffee table and stools, the giant box, National television …to him, his house was comfy.
“Everything is wrong with this house!” she snapped. “It’s not our building for starters, the furniture is from my grandparents’ era, and we don’t just measure up!”
“To what; measure up to what?” Daniel huffed, his calm swiftly dissipating.
“We’d live better, and I’d be less ashamed if you’d agreed to work for my…”
“Not happening.”
“Stacey would have better clothes and her treats would be ice creams and decadent pastries, not…cheap biscuits,” she sneered derogatorily.
“The one thing you won’t take away from me is my pride, Susan. If you’re really desperate for these things you’ve mentioned, find a job, or better still, tell me any business you’re interested in, and I’ll…”
“You’ll what?” she scoffed. “Scavenge for the money; from your paltry salary?”
“Well, there’s nothing we can do about it, we’ve got to live according to our resources. When I married you, I promised to be responsible for your welfare; I’m not asking your mother for help, unless in dire straits, we’ve not reached that point.”
“Yet!” she cried, her shoulders shaking with her sobs.
Daniel really would’ve loved to give her everything she wanted, but he wouldn’t do it to the detriment of his pride. He really did love his wife, and his daughter most, and he was doing everything he could to better their situation, not that it was bad now, they lived comfortably, all their bills paid on time.
It’s just that Susan wanted the life she’d lived as the daughter of a wealthy woman and working under his mother-in-law was against every fiber of his being. He didn’t judge people who could do it, but he believed in paving his own way in life, through hard work.
He stared at her svelte figure, she was a beautiful woman, and he was proud that she was his wife. But sometimes, he regretted having let down his guard with her, and allowing her to marry them off. He regretted over looking his first judgment of her character, the fact that she was all beauty and no brain and only interested in showing off an ostentatious profile to society.
She hadn’t anticipated that her husband would be a stiff neck and wouldn’t allow her interfere in the finances of the home with her mother’s wealth. She hadn’t anticipated that he’d still prefer anonymity and would maintain his strict policy of self sufficiency.
With a little pity and understanding of what she might be going through, Daniel hugged her from behind. But, Susan shrugged off his advance and turned, her fair complexion, mottled to an angry red.
“This isn’t over,” she managed to spit through her heaves, before matching away.
Daniel sighed, but was actually grateful that she’d given up the hopeless conversation. He immediately returned to his writing and was almost, instantly, engrossed.
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