My Saving Grace

I was in a daze the entire time I got ready for work, trying desperately to shake off the memory of Antonio's...rage. Was that even the appropriate word to describe his demeanor earlier? He normally wasn't short-tempered—jealous, yes—but this was a side of him I didn't know existed.

Veronica, a small voice in the back of my mind reminded.

I suddenly remembered the story he'd told me about the argument they'd gotten into, which ultimately resulted in her falling down the stairs. There had been a reason behind their fight, though—she'd cheated on him.

And just now, he'd also had a legitimate reason to be angry. God knew how professional he was when it came to punctuality, and with his tenure approaching, he was more invested in his job than ever.

But, I wouldn't excuse him for the way he'd lashed out at me. So what if I accidentally moved his electric shaver? It wasn't like I had intended to complicate his life by cleaning and organizing our bathroom. He could've just nicely asked where I'd moved it instead of verbally threatening me with a death grip around my wrist.

I threw a light gray cardigan over my white blouse then pulled on a pair of dark blue jeggings to complete my outfit. There was still a faint red mark on my wrist, and I didn't want to be reminded of the cause, so I went in search of my watch to put on.

By nine, I arrived at work and met Ella at the employee entrance. She had her usual Starbucks in one hand and phone in the other, a huge smile on her face.

"Happy Monday, Soph! May I say, you look great in jeans. I've never seen you in them before," she greeted.

"They're jeggings. And thanks."

She frowned.

"Everything okay?"

"Yeah, I'm just tired. Work kept me busy all weekend," I responded with a sigh.

"I bet. Darren was telling us about the huge projects your team is working on. Here, I got you a caramel macchiato." She handed her cup over to me.

"Oh, I thought it was yours."

"I already finished mine in the car."

"Gotcha. Thanks, El."

"Anytime. Ready to go save some lives with your fancy defibrillator?"

I plastered on a smile.

"Yeah."

My morning was filled with meetings with my R&D team and the manufacturing engineers to discuss the progress of our projects, which kept my mind off all things Antonio and electric shavers. When lunch hour came, I headed down to the cafeteria to grab a chicken salad.

Peter spotted me from the hot entrée station and waved.

"You joining Ella and I?", he asked.

"Not today. I'm gonna eat in my office and continue writing my report."

He gave me a sympathetic look.

"That doesn't sound like fun."

I shrugged.

"It's whatever. I'll see you tomorrow?"

He furrowed his brows.

"Yeah...See ya, Soph."

After paying for my salad, I walked back upstairs to my cubicle then immersed myself in my report for the next two hours. Now, with fresh eyes, I was able to catch several errors I'd made, mostly grammatical, over the weekend.

Around four, my stomach began to growl loudly, and I realized I hadn't even touched my salad yet. Grabbing my fork, I devoured the whole bowl in less than ten minutes then decided to call it a day. Besides, I'd managed to finish all of the main sections—just the conclusion needed to be written.

On my way to the parking lot, I encountered Darren, my former manager, and we made small talk, sharing our plans for Christmas. I'd always be grateful to him for letting me transfer over to R&D. The next step in my path towards a leadership role, I'd decided, was to pursue an MBA. In fact, I planned on starting my application for UCLA's program during the holiday break.

I hadn't told Antonio about it yet, but I knew he'd fully support my decision to go back to school.

When I got home, I set out ingredients to make beef tacos while watching yet another Christmas movie; this time, it was Home Alone 3. As per the usual these days, Antonio didn't make it home for dinner, so I ended up eating by myself in the living room at seven. Of course, I saved some tacos for him. I wasn't that greedy.

But then I remembered that he'd been a dick this morning. So, without a trace of guilt, I ate his three tacos.

I immediately regretted my decision an hour later and found myself lying on the couch clutching my stomach in pain.

To distract myself from my self-induced dilemma, I turned on the Bluetooth speaker and played some Christmas music. I was singing aloud to Mariah Carey's, "All I Want for Christmas is You," and didn't even notice when the garage door opened.

It wasn't until Antonio stood over me that I realized he was home. I instantly stopped singing at the sight of his furious expression.

"Are you mad? Why are you mad?", I asked anxiously.

"Thanks to you, I got my first ever speeding ticket this morning," he replied with a scowl.

Fuming, I abruptly sat upright then groaned in pain, remembering that I was currently suffering a stomachache before lying back down. I swore, there was steam coming out of my ears.

He glanced at my stomach and raised a brow in confusion.

"My fault? How is it my fault?", I exclaimed.

"What the hell is wrong with you right now?"

I ignored him.

"Was I the one speeding? No."

"You made me run late to my meeting, and I had to speed," he retorted.

"Well, if you didn't know where your electric shaver was, you could have woken me up sooner instead of waste time trying to find it!"

The muscle in his jaw twitched.

"If you hadn't moved the damn shaver, we wouldn't be having this conversation in the first place, and I wouldn't have gotten fined for speeding." His voice was eerily calm.

I was absolutely seething.

"Forgive me for cleaning our entire bathroom and organizing our belongings." I also managed to sound calm despite my internal rage.

"I didn't ask for you to organize my belongings."

"Well, you haven't complained about it in the past."

He exhaled sharply, rubbing his temples.

"My god, you won't give up, will you? You're giving me a fucking headache."

If words could light a fire, his did.

"Fuck you, Antonio!"

"Excuse me?", he sneered.

"You fucking hurt me this morning!", I yelled as I bolted out of the couch, standing face to face with the source of my inner turmoil and wrath.

"What are you talking about?", he spat.

I thrust my watch-covered wrist in his face, fighting back tears.

"You grabbed me so tightly. It hurt!"

His features were frozen in place, and I spun on my heel to leave, grabbing my keys from the kitchen counter with one hand and clutching my stomach with the other.

"Sophia, come back here!", I heard him call.

I continued storming to the front door. I needed to go on a very long walk right now.

Unfortunately, his footsteps rushed past me, and he stood in front of the door, blocking it.

"Where are you going?", he demanded.

"A walk. I don't want to argue with you right now."

"Are you serious? It's dark out! And you're in pain. What's wrong with your stomach?"

"Nothing."

"Don't lie to me."

"Why do you care all of a sudden? You certainly didn't care this morning when you made my wrist turn red!", I exclaimed.

He winced.

"I didn't mean to, I swear. My anger and frustration got the better of me, and I took it out on you. I was so scared of being late. I'm not that kind of guy, Sophia. You've got to believe that."

His eyes bore into mine, and I swiped away a tear from my cheek.

"Well, now, I don't think I ever wanna touch any of your things again, let alone move them," I said coldly.

His face fell.

"Don't say that. What's mine is yours. Forget all the bullshit I said."

I took a step back.

"Are you sure? And what about the speeding ticket? Do you still blame me for that?"

He exhaled slowly, shaking his head.

"No. All this could have been avoided if I'd just gotten up earlier. Or shaved yesterday."

"About time you realize that," I stated bitterly.

He gave a remorseful smile.

"I'd take a speeding ticket over seeing you cry any day. God, I'm a piece of shit for putting you through all that this morning."

"You are. Don't you know I had a rough weekend, too?"

"I know. I saw you passed out on the couch last night."

With a sigh of resignation, I wrapped my cardigan tight around me.

"I'm gonna go brush my teeth then lie down."

He looked at me with concern.

"Is your stomach okay?"

"I just ate too many tacos is all," I replied.

"Of course you did." His expression grew tender. "Did you save me any?"

"I did. But then I remembered I was mad at you, so I ate them all."

He chuckled softly.

"No worries. I deserve that. I'll eat something else then."

I nodded then turned to head upstairs to our bedroom, changing out of my clothes into a pair of candy cane sleep shorts and matching T-shirt. After brushing my teeth, I crawled into bed and picked up the current book I was reading from the nightstand.

I just wanted to put this entire day behind me.

Two chapters later, Antonio strolled in as I was getting ready to sleep. He came over to my side and sat on the edge of the bed.

"Feeling better?", he asked gently.

"Yeah."

"I'm totally digging your pjs, by the way," he said with a grin.

"Thanks."

"How's the report going? I hate that we haven't had the time for proper conversation these days."

"I'm almost done. And me, too."

"That's awesome. I'm so proud of you. We should celebrate as soon as you finish it."

"We don't have to if you're busy."

"I'll make time to."

"Promise?"

"Promise."

His gaze drifted to my arm which was resting above the blanket—the same arm he'd grabbed this morning—as regret clouded his features. He hesitated for a moment before reaching out to caress my wrist with his thumb.

"Does it...still hurt?", he asked in a pained whisper.

I shook my head.

He brought my wrist up to his lips and placed a tender kiss on the inside of it. It was his form of an apology, which I accepted, because he'd admitted his wrongdoing. And because in my heart, I knew the incident had been a one time thing—Antonio wasn't "that kind of guy."

I watched as he stood up from the bed before tucking me under the covers.

"Do you have to work tonight?", I asked.

"Nope. I'm gonna go brush now."

"Then you'll come to bed?"

I hated how needy I sounded, but to be fair, my husband and I hadn't fallen asleep together in over a week.

"Yes. Go to sleep." He brushed the hair away from my face with his fingers then dropped a kiss on my forehead.

After turning off my bedside lamp, he went into the bathroom, shutting the door, and I was immersed in pitch dark. I snuggled under the covers and lay on my side waiting for him.

Eventually, I felt the bed dip as Antonio crawled in next to me, smelling of mint mixed with faint traces of his cologne. I draped my arm across his bare abdomen, cuddling against the solid warmth of his body.

"You're awake?", he murmured.

"I won't be for long," I replied with a yawn.

He chuckled, wrapping his arm around my lower back as our legs tangled together.

"I miss this. Not having to fall asleep alone," I whispered.

"You're killing me, mia bella," he rasped.

"Sorry, didn't mean to. It's not your fault work keeps you up late. Speaking of which, how was the meeting today?"

"As much as I love hearing your sweet voice, you and I both know you need to get some sleep. And I'll tell you about it tomorrow."

"True. I'll shut up now. Good night, Antonio." I kissed his chest right above his heart.

"Good night, my love."

And sleep like a baby, I did.