Tainted Love (5 page)

Abbi lay still in the dark, listening to Ben snore. The evening had been quiet and relaxing despite her earlier ‘guilt attack’. They ate cold Chinese food, and Ben had fallen fast asleep within the first ten minutes of
The Green Mile.
She should have known better. But, he had picked last time, and she had fallen asleep before
Transformers
8 or 9, even began.
I guess we’re even.
She looked over at the shadow of her sleeping husband. Watching him sleep, Abbi sighed softly. What was making her so unhappy? Why was she thinking about someone else whilst Ben made love to her?
Because it’s not the same anymore. We’re not new. The time spent touching, kissing, turning each other on, and learning about each other’s bodies…doesn’t happen anymore.
The sex is okay, she admitted. But it’s not like it was. How it should be?

That’s kind of why she had tried the ‘fiancé comes home to hot and horny fiancée’ impromptu porn play. But in the end, once Ben had climbed on top of her and had started kissing her, it was the same routine, same style, same time frame. They used to spend hours just sitting on the sofa and making out without ever having sex. Nowadays, they were done with teasing, foreplay, kissing and orgasms in about ten minutes. Okay, maybe fifteen.

To be fair, Abbi didn’t really want hours and hours every night. Who had the time and energy for that? She knew that was a Hollywood movie fantasy and didn’t exist in the real world. But, sex shouldn’t always be routine and feel like a box checked off on the ‘to do list’.

Abbi sighed. She was torn between thinking that she was being unfair and that she had a legitimate right to feel hard done by. She also knew that if she was starting to fantasise about another man, she needed to figure out why and talk to Ben. Not about the fantasies. That would be stupid. ‘Hey honey, guess what I spent the day thinking about? A hunk of a man having his way with me.’  No, but rather about what it was that was bothering her.
And exactly when will he have time for that conversation?
Or energy?

She could picture that scene in her mind too. The ‘Let’s talk, honey’ conversation would have him passed out faster than
The Green mile.
Maybe she was presuming too much? Maybe she was overthinking and worrying about this too much?
Damn, maybe I’m turning into my mother?

Abbi rolled out of bed and went to the kitchen. She thought about finishing up the bottle of wine they had opened earlier. She checked the clock and saw that it was almost midnight.
Well why not? It’s not like I’m employee of the year, or anything?
Then she remembered, her parents were gone and she actually needed to be on time and open the shop. The wine stayed in the refrigerator, and she opted for a mug of hot chocolate with some sugar in it. On the kitchen table, she noticed her phone flashing. Picking it up, she saw she had a message.

I definitely will. Looking forward to working with you.

Taylor had replied to her text.
It’s a business relationship,
she said to herself, and people text now. That’s all. It doesn’t mean anything. At all. Abbi tipped the hot chocolate down the sink then grabbed the bottle of wine and took it with her to the living room. She turned on the TV, plopped down on the sofa and took a long sip of wine.

The alcohol started to ease the tension the day had brought and half way through the film she was watching, Abbi fell asleep. She woke up to a cold nose and tongue on her lips.

‘Eeewwww…Buddy!’ Abbi jumped up. She was lying on the sofa, and her face had been in the perfect position for a smooch. She had been dreaming something wonderful. She couldn’t remember what it was but if the moistness between her legs was anything to go by she could certainly hazard a guess.

Buddy stared at her with his beautiful brown eyes. He was up on his hind legs still trying to lick her.

‘You are so damn cute aren’t you?’ Abbi said as she pulled him up on the sofa with her. It was 6 am. Ben was going to be up any minute. The coffee pot had auto brewed at 05.45 and the odour of coffee filtered through the apartmen
t–
it smelt heavenly. Sad to say her head did not. She definitely should not have finished that wine on her own so late. The shower came on and ten minutes later Ben emerged at the living room door.

‘Hey, baby. Why are you on the sofa?’

‘I fell asleep watching the film.’

‘Oh good.’ He grinned, coming over and kissing the top of her head. ‘So it wasn’t just me that movie killed.’

‘Ha ha,’ Abbi replied sulkily. Why couldn’t he just leave her in peace until she’d had at least two cups of coffee? How could she possibly have married a morning person? That was the real question that needed answering.

Two hours later, she was showered, dressed and out the door for work. An ecstatic Buddy walking beside her. He loved going to work with Abbi.

‘If you actually did work, believe me you wouldn’t be so excited about it,’ she said to him on the way down the stairs.

Ben had left a little after seven and had thanked her for last night. ‘It was amazing,’ he’d said sweetly as he kissed her goodbye. His eyes had lit up looking at her.

‘I love you,’ she had replied hugging him warmly back. She did love him. That was the easy part. Not feeling very close to him that was the hard part.

Abbi arrived at the Antique shop with Buddy around 8:30am. It was the earliest she had ever been there. Unlocking the front door, she stepped in and left the lights off. She walked through the front show room, and to the back. Turning on the light to her office, she let Buddy off the lead and he immediately went on the hunt for his stuffed rabbit that was normally left on his bed for him. Finding the rabbit under Abbi’s desk, Buddy bounded onto his bed and began chewing on an ear.

‘You’re so funny.’ Abbi laughed. ‘Now I want you to be good for five minutes. Mummy is going on a coffee run.’ Since she had actually made good time this morning, Abbi figured she would go to the little coffee shop at the end of the street and pick up some good stuff, and a muffin or two.

The shop smelt amazing, and Abbi’s stomach growled as she entered. There was nothing like the smell of good rich coffee and fresh baked goods to make even a non-morning person like Abbi glad to be up. She was standing in line flipping through the news headlines on her phone when a deep voice behind her said, ‘Well, fancy meeting you in here. Are you stalking me?’

Abbi turned and there in front of her stood Taylor. He was dressed similar to what he had on yesterda
y–
blue jeans and a black shirt, and he had a freshly shaven look with an incredible sexy after wash smell. He grinned at her, and she smiled back. Her stomach was in knots, but at least her face worked.

‘Well, since I got here first, I would suggest the opposite,’ she replied.

‘Ah yes. I suppose you’re right. Good thing I am not a detective,’ he said with a wink.

Abbi laughed. He was so unbelievably handsome and sexy. He also just seemed like a nice guy. He was not at all what Abbi would have pictured as an accountant.

‘I come here almost every morning,’ he continued. ‘I am surprised that we haven’t run into each other before. I know I would have remembered you.’

Was that a flirt?
It sounded like it. ‘Well, to be honest this is a little early for me,’ she answered trying to sound just as casual and nonchalant as she could. ‘I normally roll in a little later and Mum and Dad open the shop. But for the next few days, I get the pleasure.’

‘Ahh well the coffee here is good, and the muffins are to die for. So it’s definitely worth it.’

‘I agree. Everything smells wonderful.’ Abbi smiled to herself at her little secret.
Yes, and I do mean everything smells wonderful.

‘Hey, listen. I know it is kind of early for shoptalk, but I’m going through those files most of this morning. Could we meet up for lunch, and I can let you know where I’m at?’

Abbi hesitated. She had the shop and Buddy to watch. ‘Um, well…’

‘Just a business lunch. You can bill me if that makes you feel better.’ Taylor laughed.

‘I really can’t. With Mum and Dad gone, it’s just me at the shop. And I have Buddy with me too.’

‘Buddy?’

‘Oh, yeah, sorry. He’s our dog.’ That’s right ‘our’ as in mine and Ben’s, my fiancé, she reminded herself.

‘In that case, since it’s a working lunch anyway, how about I bring it over to you?’

Wow, he really doesn’t let up
. Abbi weighed up her options.
I could just say no but wouldn’t that just be plain rude especially as he’s helping us
. Abbi did not want to be rude. No one liked rude people. Hmmmm…was she justifying herself or just being polite.
Of course, I’m just being polite. It’s nice to be polite.

‘Well alright then,’ she said. ‘Lunch sounds just fine. You know where our shop is?’

‘I do. How about midday?’

‘That works for me. Thank you.’

‘Oh, it’s my pleasure. By that time I should have a better idea of what’s going on with your accounts too.’

It was Abbi’s turn at the counter so she ordered a tall Americano and two blueberry muffins. She turned back after paying and told Taylor, ‘I’ll see you later then.’

‘Looking forward to it.’ He smiled warmly as she took her coffee and bag of muffins.

Abbi smiled and walked past him. Once out on the street, she took a deep breath. What was it about that guy? He was gorgeous that’s what was with him. Absolutely gorgeous, and smart. He was also a little forward. That’s not really a gentlemanly quality she thought walking down the street.
Or maybe I am totally off track and just hoping this guy is flirting with me?
Hmmm. She thought about that as she dodged people on the pavement fiercely protecting her coffee from spilling like it was the crown jewels.
Even if he is flirting, what’s the harm in that? Hey, even if I flirt bac
k
–
still no harm, right? It’s just flirting. It doesn’t mean anything does it?

***

Abbi reached the shop and set down her coffee to unlock the door. She glanced at her watch, and it was just about 9:00. It was now opening time. The ‘fierce and mighty’ Buddy barked madly on the other side of the door when he heard her opening it. ‘Quiet, Buddy,’ Abbi hissed through the door. When she opened it up, out ran Buddy like he hadn’t seen her in years and yep, there came the little squirt of pee. Right next to her coffee cup.

‘Buddy! Oh my God, really?’ Abbi snatched up her coffee before it either got completely peed on or knocked over.

Flipping the lights on in the shop with her elbow, she went back to her office. Grabbing the mop they kept in the cupboard, she went back to the front step, and cleaned up the welcome present from Buddy.

That dog has issues. I don’t care what the vet says
. At least he was only a small dog. She imagined what it would be like if she had a hundred pound St. Bernard that peed every time it got excited. Abbi laughed out loud at the thought of that.
I guess that puts my little puddle of drips back into perspective.

After mopping up the little puddle, Abbi flipped the sign on the door to OPEN, and returned the mop to the cupboard. She listened to the messages that had been left on the machine since yesterday. Most were either requesting estimates for a piece they had or wanting status updates on the progress.

Her dad had even left her a ‘Good morning, baby. We love you’ message. Abbi rolled her eyes. She would always be his baby. Deep down, Abbi was fine with that. After some of the stories she’d heard about bad parents she thanked her lucky stars for having normal sane ones. She knew that she had it pretty good, that’s why she couldn’t understand why she felt so empty inside most of the time. She would have thought having Ben would be enough to complete her to fill the void that was like a constant shadow. She knew any woman out there would take him off her hands in a split second. Her parents adored Ben and they got along great. Ben’s parents lived in Dorset and were both retired. His dad had been in the army and his mother had worked for an insurance company. Now they spent their time travelling and seeing the world.

Abbi liked Ben’s parents, but she also knew that they didn’t really approve of her. They were polite, not friendly. She usually got the impression that they felt their son had ‘settled’ by asking Abbi to marry him.

Once, she had tried to talk to Ben about it, but he had dismissed her concerns. ‘That’s nonsense. Mum always asks how you are. They love you, Abbi. Besides, who cares? They’re not the ones having sex with you.’

‘Oh my god, Ben! That’s terrible…Eeewwww.’ And she had playfully smacked him.

Now every time she thought about them, she thought about saying to them, ‘Well at least I’m not having sex with either of you.’

Somehow that did put the whole tense in-law situation into a weird perspective. Besides, Ben was their only child. Probably the Queen of Sheba would not be good enough for his mum’s baby.
Is there a Queen of Sheba? Who is that? What does that even really mean?
Yes, see
, said Abbi to herself. This is why I didn’t do well in school. I spend most of time thinking about absolutely random and meaningless things. I’m probably the only person on the planet that would ask herself who the Queen of Sheba was and why she was a good comparison to herself as Ben’s wife.

Abbi sat back in her chair and looked over the list of messages she would have to return. She really wasn’t in the mood to listen to customers tell probably made up stories about how their desk was really used by Queen Victoria or their chair still had Winston Churchill’s backside imprint on it.

To be honest, Abbi never really understood the antique business which was strangely ironic considering that was what her family survived and lived on. Abbi just saw old things that needed to be replaced.
Maybe I’m just shallow and have no appreciation for culture and history.
Well, that’s harsh. Maybe I just like my stuff new. Nothing wrong with that either
.

She did admit that some older things had more creative design and intricacy than modern desks or tables. But in the end, you just needed something to write on or sit on. Did it really matter if it was a hundred years old? Most of that just escaped Abbi. But she was always polite and listened to the long history lessons, and endured the stories. Recently she had been thinking about her future with the company once Ben started practicing. They wouldn’t need the extra money anymore, and Abbi could actually sleep in once in a while. She knew it would absolutely kill her parents if she left the business completely, but maybe just one or two afternoons a week would suffice. That’s if she was still with Ben.