Chapter 18. Twiddle my thumbs

Elizabeth rocked back and forth slightly, she buried her face in her hands. Her system was simply out of whack as a result of the gut-wrenching events of the previous 48 hours. She would naturally feel sick after going so long without eating.

Everything made sense.

She simply overreacted.

She had finally made some progress toward separating herself from this marriage, so she couldn't be this unlucky. Her period had been affected by recent stress, so she tried to remember when her last period had been, but that was not the most accurate way to make a judgment. She stood carefully and was relieved when the motion did not throw her off balance. As she made her way to the kitchen, she braced herself for another wave of nausea, but thankfully her stomach remained as steady as a rock. She exhaled a sigh of relief and headed for the stove, picking up the pan. She kept her eyes closed as she threw the congealed mess, which had been her meal, into the garbage disposal. Instead, she chose black tea and dry toast, putting her irrational fear of becoming pregnant out of her mind.

After finishing the unappealing meal, she went to the bright, sunny attic that she had turned into a workspace and turned on some music while she immersed herself in her work. She loved the peace that usually overcame her while working and would frequently get lost up here, but today she was unable to focus. Though she was aware of what she desired and had an image in her head, she was unable to express it in words. She sat in front of her drawing board, staring at the fifth blank sheet of paper in half an hour, resting her elbow on the tilted board and holding her delicate chin in one hand as she willed the image onto the paper. She raised her pencil and set the nib down on the paper before heaving a dejected sigh and shaking her head angrily in frustration. She put down the pencil and cupped her eyes with her hands.

"Elizabeth"

She was startled out of her seat and crouching in a defensive position when she heard her names called from behind her. Before she realized it was Anthony she had half-turned and was still crouching. Of course, that didn't make her feel any safer than a random intruder would have. To calm her down, he raised both of his hands, palms facing her.

"Relax. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to frighten you," he said, apologizing.

She shot back angrily, "Well you did, Normally you don't get home until seven or eight, so why on earth are you skulking around at home at this time of day?"

He regularly arrived home well after the typical time that most "normal" husbands would get home from work.

"I thought that we could spend the afternoon together." He murmured distractedly

His sharp eyes took in everything in the room. Elizabeth eventually lost patience with him as he continued to move around paying her little attention. She watched as he lifted objects and fiddles with her tools.

When he lifted a pair of pliers that had been extremely expensive to import, she yelled impatiently, "Don't touch that!".

Elizabeth's own gaze fluttered away as she felt her cheeks swell with embarrassment as he finally lifted his eyes to meet hers and he whispered in awe

"You design jewelry,"

She had a drawing board for designing, a work table for actually making the jewelry, a small cutting table for cutting wire and shaping semi-precious stones, and her desk, which housed her laptop, for paperwork and correspondence. She looked nervously at the large portfolio he had lifted from one of her other workstations.

"I am aware that I shouldn't be wasting my time on it. However, it's only a hobby" Elizabeth nunneries under her breath.

He kept flipping through her portfolio with an absorbed frown, occasionally pausing on a page before moving on. She waited for the inevitable harsh comment as she fidgeted nervously. The open book was suddenly turned in her direction by him.

He pointed to the image of the diamond and white gold earring, pendant, and ring set she had created for Justin a few years earlier and said, "This is your cousin's engagement set.".

"Yes, but they were designed by Justin, I only created them."

"I can see they aren't your creation. Yours are more…"

Elizabeth braced herself as he paused

"Refined, Instead of working with semi-precious stones, why don't you use real gemstones?" Anthony asked

"Uncut precious stones are insanely expensive. Semi-precious stones are cheap and easy to find and if they're damaged in any way while I'm setting them, it's no big deal. "

He grunted again, obviously barely hearing her as he went back to flipping through her portfolio.

"And this is what you do all day?" He looked back up at her for confirmation.

"Well I can hardly sit around and twiddle my thumbs all day, can I?" She challenged and his eyes flickered slightly. That was exactly what he had assumed she did all day, and she snorted mockingly at the realization. He likely believed she spent her days shopping and relaxing in spas.

"Why did I not know this about you?" He asked quietly and she shrugged.

"Just one more thing you never bothered to learn about me," she said dismissively.

"Just one more detail you didn't offer about yourself," he responded fiercely and her eyes snared his in challenge.

"Would you have been interested if I'd told you?" He was honest enough to avert his gaze at the question and remained silent in response to it.