SkyGirl5
Cadet
:hi:
So this is a real short fic... only 10 chaps + epilogue.... its angsty... its xmas... yeah thats pretty much it :lol:
Chapter 1
Michael Vaughn opened the garage door to his house and shut it rather hard behind him. He mumbled his usual, “hi,” to his wife, Sydney, who was in the kitchen making their supper, before dropping his keys in the bowl next to the coat rack, where he hung up his jacket. Then, as usual, he walked up the stairs to their bedroom, unbuttoning the top buttons of his shirt and loosening his tie as he went. He hung his tie over the handle of his closet door and then took off his suit and neatly placed it in the laundry before throwing on track pants and heading back down to the kitchen.
As usual, when he reached the dining room table, Sydney was placing steaming bowls of food over onto the table. Michael sat down and grabbed the newspaper that was placed beside his plate; he leafed through it as he ate. As usual, the extent of their dinner conversation consisted of ‘please pass the salt or ‘oh look, gas prices are going up again’. Other than that, they didn’t speak at all, nor had they in months.
Michael wasn’t quite sure what the catalyst had been, but nine months prior, something had just stopped. Maybe it was that after ten years of marriage they were bored with each other, but he really didn’t think that was the problem, because the turn in their relationship had been so sudden. One day, Sydney had been her giggly self, talking to him, hugging him, kissing him at every opportunity. Then, almost immediately one day she stopped. She no longer touched him. She barely even looked at him, let alone spoke to him.
Michael was at a loss for what it was and he’d thought about it nearly every day for nine months. Occasionally, he brought it up, but it only led to a fight, so he kept quiet and lived out his life in the monotonous pattern it had fallen into. However, he was getting sick of it, especially since the holidays were coming.
Christmas was just around the corner and his birthday had been the previous week. What had he received? A card on top of his dresser stuck underneath his wallet the morning of his birthday. Inside was an amusing Hallmark card and a gift certificate to his favorite men’s clothing store in the mall. Nothing more. Not even a hug or any other sort of acknowledgment. That’s when his attitude towards their little ‘speed bump’ on the road to happiness had changed entirely. When he couldn’t even receive so much as a hug or a smile from his wife on his birthday, there was a serious problem.
Still, he hesitated to bring it up. The truth was, he was afraid that there was some huge problem he was unaware of that would end up being the ultimate demise of their marriage and thus their life together. At the end of the day, he’d rather have her in the same room as him being silent than not have her at all. That was how much she meant to him; that was how much he had loved her for nearly half of his life.
They had met their first day of college their freshmen year and they had hit it off from the beginning, immediately becoming inseparable. They grew together both as friends and more than friends and learned that they lived only two miles from each other their entire lives, but since they went to different high schools, had never met. By the middle of their junior year, they were engaged and only waited until the summer before their senior year to marry (much to their parent’s disapproval), but for almost ten years it had worked perfectly for them. They both had good jobs, a home and had even discussed starting a family.
Michael, a computer programmer, was in the middle of a large job transition when the idea of children was brought up the first time, so they decided it was best to wait. Throughout their late 20’s he became involved in massive projects at work and was working long hours, but Sydney didn’t seem to mind since she was busy herself. In fact, that time in their marriage was one of the best. It had only been in the previous nine months, when neither of them were especially busy with their jobs, that things had gone downhill.
Once their dinner was over, Michael did the dishes, as he always did, while Sydney retired to the couch and flipped absentmindedly through the TV channels. After everything was put away in the kitchen, Michael joined his wife on the couch. She offered him the remote control wordlessly, but he refused.
They sat in silence until around 10:30 p.m. when Sydney got off the couch, leaving the remote behind and went upstairs. A few minutes later, Michael followed her with a sense of determination. He waited in their room until she emerged from the bathroom and began placing her jewelry in the case on top of their chest of drawers like she always did. As she was doing this, he walked up behind her and slipped his arms around her waist; she didn’t respond. He leaned forward, resting his cheek against hers and kissing her softly.
She shifted uncomfortably. “Please don’t,” she told him almost sharply.
He sighed and stepped back, looking directly at her reflection in the mirror. “Sydney, what’s wrong?” he asked seriously. She just shrugged, giving a non-committal answer. “Sydney, do you know how long it’s been since we made love? Six months and it was three before that! And even then you.... you weren’t into it,” he added quietly.
Sydney walked away, not looking at him and not speaking a word.
“Please, Syd, talk to me,” he begged.
“I have nothing to say,” she said quietly as she sat down on the bed. He walked over behind her and placed his hand on her shoulder. As if she had been shocked with a bolt of electricity, she stood upright quickly and walked out of their bedroom. Michael hung his head and walked to the bathroom to brush his teeth.
When he returned, Sydney wasn’t on her spot in their bed, so he went downstairs to investigate. Downstairs, it was completely dark, but he could hear muffled sounds of sobbing coming from the couch. “Sydney, please just come to bed,” he requested quietly, but loud enough for her to hear.
She didn’t respond for a moment until finally she said, “No, I’ll stay here,” with a very hoarse voice.
Michael contemplated saying something else, but what was the use? He trudged sadly back up the stairs and climbed into bed. His marriage was broken and he didn’t know how to fix it.
So this is a real short fic... only 10 chaps + epilogue.... its angsty... its xmas... yeah thats pretty much it :lol:
Chapter 1
Michael Vaughn opened the garage door to his house and shut it rather hard behind him. He mumbled his usual, “hi,” to his wife, Sydney, who was in the kitchen making their supper, before dropping his keys in the bowl next to the coat rack, where he hung up his jacket. Then, as usual, he walked up the stairs to their bedroom, unbuttoning the top buttons of his shirt and loosening his tie as he went. He hung his tie over the handle of his closet door and then took off his suit and neatly placed it in the laundry before throwing on track pants and heading back down to the kitchen.
As usual, when he reached the dining room table, Sydney was placing steaming bowls of food over onto the table. Michael sat down and grabbed the newspaper that was placed beside his plate; he leafed through it as he ate. As usual, the extent of their dinner conversation consisted of ‘please pass the salt or ‘oh look, gas prices are going up again’. Other than that, they didn’t speak at all, nor had they in months.
Michael wasn’t quite sure what the catalyst had been, but nine months prior, something had just stopped. Maybe it was that after ten years of marriage they were bored with each other, but he really didn’t think that was the problem, because the turn in their relationship had been so sudden. One day, Sydney had been her giggly self, talking to him, hugging him, kissing him at every opportunity. Then, almost immediately one day she stopped. She no longer touched him. She barely even looked at him, let alone spoke to him.
Michael was at a loss for what it was and he’d thought about it nearly every day for nine months. Occasionally, he brought it up, but it only led to a fight, so he kept quiet and lived out his life in the monotonous pattern it had fallen into. However, he was getting sick of it, especially since the holidays were coming.
Christmas was just around the corner and his birthday had been the previous week. What had he received? A card on top of his dresser stuck underneath his wallet the morning of his birthday. Inside was an amusing Hallmark card and a gift certificate to his favorite men’s clothing store in the mall. Nothing more. Not even a hug or any other sort of acknowledgment. That’s when his attitude towards their little ‘speed bump’ on the road to happiness had changed entirely. When he couldn’t even receive so much as a hug or a smile from his wife on his birthday, there was a serious problem.
Still, he hesitated to bring it up. The truth was, he was afraid that there was some huge problem he was unaware of that would end up being the ultimate demise of their marriage and thus their life together. At the end of the day, he’d rather have her in the same room as him being silent than not have her at all. That was how much she meant to him; that was how much he had loved her for nearly half of his life.
They had met their first day of college their freshmen year and they had hit it off from the beginning, immediately becoming inseparable. They grew together both as friends and more than friends and learned that they lived only two miles from each other their entire lives, but since they went to different high schools, had never met. By the middle of their junior year, they were engaged and only waited until the summer before their senior year to marry (much to their parent’s disapproval), but for almost ten years it had worked perfectly for them. They both had good jobs, a home and had even discussed starting a family.
Michael, a computer programmer, was in the middle of a large job transition when the idea of children was brought up the first time, so they decided it was best to wait. Throughout their late 20’s he became involved in massive projects at work and was working long hours, but Sydney didn’t seem to mind since she was busy herself. In fact, that time in their marriage was one of the best. It had only been in the previous nine months, when neither of them were especially busy with their jobs, that things had gone downhill.
Once their dinner was over, Michael did the dishes, as he always did, while Sydney retired to the couch and flipped absentmindedly through the TV channels. After everything was put away in the kitchen, Michael joined his wife on the couch. She offered him the remote control wordlessly, but he refused.
They sat in silence until around 10:30 p.m. when Sydney got off the couch, leaving the remote behind and went upstairs. A few minutes later, Michael followed her with a sense of determination. He waited in their room until she emerged from the bathroom and began placing her jewelry in the case on top of their chest of drawers like she always did. As she was doing this, he walked up behind her and slipped his arms around her waist; she didn’t respond. He leaned forward, resting his cheek against hers and kissing her softly.
She shifted uncomfortably. “Please don’t,” she told him almost sharply.
He sighed and stepped back, looking directly at her reflection in the mirror. “Sydney, what’s wrong?” he asked seriously. She just shrugged, giving a non-committal answer. “Sydney, do you know how long it’s been since we made love? Six months and it was three before that! And even then you.... you weren’t into it,” he added quietly.
Sydney walked away, not looking at him and not speaking a word.
“Please, Syd, talk to me,” he begged.
“I have nothing to say,” she said quietly as she sat down on the bed. He walked over behind her and placed his hand on her shoulder. As if she had been shocked with a bolt of electricity, she stood upright quickly and walked out of their bedroom. Michael hung his head and walked to the bathroom to brush his teeth.
When he returned, Sydney wasn’t on her spot in their bed, so he went downstairs to investigate. Downstairs, it was completely dark, but he could hear muffled sounds of sobbing coming from the couch. “Sydney, please just come to bed,” he requested quietly, but loud enough for her to hear.
She didn’t respond for a moment until finally she said, “No, I’ll stay here,” with a very hoarse voice.
Michael contemplated saying something else, but what was the use? He trudged sadly back up the stairs and climbed into bed. His marriage was broken and he didn’t know how to fix it.
