So, I may or may not have spent the entire nine days my husband was away mapping out a plan on how to get him to pay more attention to me and me alone and guess what amazing plan I came up with? Nothing.
It wasn’t that I didn’t come up with anything, in fact, it was quite the opposite. I had come up with a billion plans and I was starting to look like a federal agent about to carry out an important task so why did I have nothing in the end? It was because I liked none of the plans.
With every plan I had come up with, the other part of me had managed to find something wrong with it. Either it was not well detailed enough, felt like a route to total failure or I felt it made me look pathetic and like an attention whore.
So now I lay on my bed, my mind reeling from the aftermath of being stressed to its limit without a plan and my husband was due home in five hours. I scanned my head through the various plans that I had previously made to see if there was one approach I could use but they all left a bitter taste in my mouth.
My phone dinged beside me and I picked it up to see what the notification was for. I scoffed and was about to drop my phone when I saw it was for an article but I caught a glimpse of the heading and it had me bolting up straight.
It seems as though the universe took pity on me and decided to give me an easy way out. The heading of the article was ways to welcome your husband home after a long trip. The picture attached to the article did not apply to me and Atticus but I was hopeful I would see something to do for him tonight.
Who knew love and marriage were so much work?
I sat with my back against the headboard and opened the article properly so I could read it properly and digest everything written there. I made sure to take my time in reading the article and at the end I was a little disappointed because it was not what I was expecting.
The article was just filled with doing things straight out of your heart because it wasn’t possible for all men to like the same things, blah blah blah. So basically, it was an inspirational post with the wrong title.
There was some advice though in the post, the writer had mentioned somewhere in the article that the wife should try as much as possible to give the husband a warm welcome even though she didn’t have anything grand planned.
It sounded easy to someone who had a happy home and not me. How do I suddenly embrace someone who didn’t talk to me? We slept in two different rooms for crying out loud and I had never been in his room.
Speaking of bedrooms, how had I never thought of going into his bedroom all the time he hadn’t been around? I checked the time and saw that I still had time to carry out my mission.
I jumped down from my bed and tiptoed out of my room barefooted. I chuckled to myself at how silly I must look and what someone would think when they saw me tiptoeing like this.
I got to the front of the door and turned the knob. I breathed out in relief when I saw the door was unlocked. I wouldn’t have been surprised if I had found it locked.
I wasn’t anything, to be honest, but I was a little bit surprised at how plain but classy the room looked. It had a black and grey colour theme and it was honestly so cool. The room had a lot of space and there was barely anything lying around.
I entered the door to my right and found myself in a large walk-in closet that was twice the size of the one in my room. It was to be expected since it was the master bedroom. However, one side of the closet was empty.
“That should be for me” my greedy subconscious thought. It was a space for his partner or wife but I guess I may never get to use it unless I am successful, which I am not so confident in.
Next, I ventured into the bathroom and almost moaned at the sight of the jacuzzi in the middle of the room, calling my name but I knew how to resist because it would not be good for me if I was caught in there.
I walked back into the room and moved towards the table on the side of the room. There was just one picture sitting amid the lot of files on the table. It was a portrait of Atticus and his family. He wasn't smiling but his parents and sisters were and to be honest they didn’t seem like bitches.
I dropped the frame back on the table and made my way back to my room. I almost screamed when I saw someone standing behind the door the moment it opened, but my eyes caught sight of Lily and my scream lodged in my throat.
“What are you doing here? Do you want me to get a heart attack and die?” I whisper-yelled before I grabbed her arms and dragged her into my room.
‘I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you. I wanted to knock when the door opened” She apologized.
My hands were still against my chest and I tried to will myself to calm down. I sat on the bed and tried to pull myself together. I thought Atticus had come home early and I think I would have died on the spot if he was still the one.
“How did you even know I was in there?” I asked baffled that she knew to come straight to Atticus' room and I was certain no one was in the hallway when I went to his room.
“I just entered the corridor when you entered the room. I saw the hand of your top before you locked the door” She scratched the back of her head and gave me a sheepish smile.
‘I thought you were him. What did you want?”
“I came to drag you out because he is on his way and would be in the house in ten minutes. I know you wouldn’t want to get caught in there”
“What!!! I thought he wouldn’t be home for another two hours?” I shrieked in panic as realization set in of the potential soup I would have been in if I had been caught.
“Sean said he took an early flight. He was eager to come home” Sean was the head of Atticus' security detail and was also Justin’s boss.
“I could kiss you right now for the early save. Thank you” I let out a shaky breath. That was so close.
“It wasn’t an early save if you were already on your way out” She argued and I rolled my eyes at her.
“I still have some chores to do so I’m going back down she told me before leaving me alone in the room.
I quickly scanned my closet for something presentable that Atticus might like even though I had no idea about what was attractive or non-attractive to my husband.
The sound of a car pulling up front had me rushing to my window to see whose car it was and just like I suspected, it was his car. I don’t know why but I waited a bit to see if he was alone and not with one of his women.
I sighed in relief when he exited the car alone, not alone but his bodyguards were not my competition so they didn’t matter to me. I rushed out of my room and down the stairs, careful not to fall but fast enough that I got to the front door just as it was opened.
I caught sight of the surprise that flickered across his face at seeing me standing at the door. He stood still and we both waited till we were alone to speak but I beat him to it
“Welcome back, how was your trip?” I reached for the Jacket he was holding and he was hesitant to let me take it.
“It was fine. All went well. May I ask what you are doing standing here?” He asked sceptically.
“Can’t a woman welcome her husband who has been away on a trip?” I fired back before I remembered I was trying to get him to like me and not the other way around.
“You don’t have to do any of this. Like I told you before this marriage is on paper only” I don’t know if he intended to hurt me but if it was, then he succeeded.
“And I don’t remember agreeing to such a term. I am your wife both on paper and in reality so you better get used to seeing me in your personal space hubby”
“What do you mean by that?”
“Exactly what you heard. Now go shower and put on a fresh outfit. I will have Lorenzo bring something up for you to eat. You must be tired after the long trip” I gave him a small smirk before I turned and started my way towards the kitchen. I could feel his stare on my back until I took a turn.
The moment I was out of sight though, it was a different thing entirely. Once I was sure I was the only one in the small passageway, I felt my legs give out and I had to reach for the wall to stabilize myself.
I let out a large breath that I had been holding. It was so much scarier than I had imagined and the conversation did not play out the way I had imagined it would be in my head but I would like to think this was a success.
The plan was already in notion and I could not stop now so forward is the only option and I am determined to see it through.