7 I Noticed That

Maya got Martin to make her some popcorn and she settled down in the home theater to watch some TV. She never got to pick what they watched at the women's shelter. It was primarily kids' movies to keep the kids living there happy and entertained.

Personally, she preferred action movies. They were far superior to sappy romances that would literally never happen. Spy movies were her favorite if she had to pick. She liked imagining herself as the powerful female characters in those movies rather than what she actually was. A tiny, weak woman incapable of defending herself.

Maybe she could talk Vincent into letting her hire a self-defense instructor. She may have married him but she still had her guard up. No one in this world was trustworthy and it would be nice to be able to defend herself without a weapon. They weren't always available when you needed them.

Maya accepted his insane proposal because she was desperate. She weighed her options between the devil she knew and the devil she didn't and chose the one she didn't because the one she knew would suck the very soul out of her before long. Nothing she got herself into could be worse than where she had already been.

She was a practical person. She needed food, shelter, and basic amenities. She got a lot more than that out of this deal!

Vincent hadn't come looking for her once and it was nearly 7 PM. If she got to live her life out here largely without interacting with him, that was even better. She wasn't the type that needed human companionship. She was better off alone.

After a while, she got hungry and headed down to the kitchen to see if there was anything to eat. She found her husband absentmindedly eating an apple leaning against the counter.

Maya was feeling generous after the lovely afternoon/evening she had by herself and decided to try and strike up a conversation. "Hey, have you eaten dinner yet?"

"No. I realized belatedly that we're rather short on groceries. This is to tide me over until the takeout arrives at the gate," Vincent said with a shrug. "I figured getting back to work until I've had proper food would be pointless since I forgot to have lunch. What have you been up to?"

"Swimming and watching movies. I may have ruined one of your bathrobes by dragging it behind me on the ground. It was way too big for me. Sorry."

He didn't seem bothered. "Cassandra, order a few robes of the same brand in Maya's size would you? I believe she's an extra small."

"Yes, sir," the AI responded. "Anything else?"

Vincent looked at Maya expectantly and she was a bit hesitant to bring it up because it would show how bad her situation truly was. "Um…could I get a phone, tablet, and laptop? I had to sell my old ones to try and pay off some of the debt."

His eyes widened fractionally. "You don't even have a phone?! Take care of this right now, Cassandra. Top of the line models."

"Yes, sir."

"I don't need anything fancy—" she tried to say but he forcefully shook his head.

"No wife of mine will ever have outdated technology. It goes against everything I believe in."

Maya supposed it made sense. He was probably the type of person to replace something the second a better model came out. She would worry about that rule applying to her as well if he hadn't included a no-divorce clause in the agreement. It appeared that applied only to technology not to people.

Thank goodness. If she got to live a carefree life like this every day, she never wanted to go anywhere else. There was absolutely no reason to.

"So, what did you get us for dinner?" she found herself asking since the subject had been declared closed based on his tone.

Vincent relaxed slightly. "Steak dinners and cheesecake from the Cheesecake Factory. I hope you don't have any dietary restrictions; I should have asked."

"I'm good. I'm not picky."

It would be hard to be considering the rations she had lived on as a child. Any food was better than no food and she didn't have any allergies either. Steak and cheesecake sounded delicious.

They settled into an awkward silence after that. Geez, did this guy not know how to hold a conversation at all? Standing here with nothing to say while they were in the same room was going to get old fast, even if she wasn't much of a conversationalist herself.

"What were you working on?" Maya found herself asking as she internally kicked herself for sounding needy.

Vincent blew out a frustrated breath. "Trying and failing to build something. I doubt it would interest you much. I tend to get lost in technical terms when I try to explain things. But I'm sure I'll figure it out eventually. I always do."

She bristled at the insinuation that she was too stupid to understand but had to admit he probably had a point. She knew nothing about robotics or machines at all, really. All she knew about cars was that they needed gas and occasional oil changes to run.

If he thought she was too dumb to understand what he was working on, why did he insist she was the best possible partner for him? A partner for what?

If he wanted someone to help him with his work, wouldn't it make more sense to marry a mechanical engineer? Did he need an architect specifically? She was too afraid to ask. She was already benefiting more than he was less than twenty-four hours into this unorthodox marriage.

"I'm more interested than you might think," Maya said sourly. "You don't have to use technical terms just to tell me what you want to build, do you?"

"It is a bit hard to explain without them. I'm sorry. Did I offend you in some way?"

She may as well admit it. "Yeah, you basically implied you thought I was stupid."

To her surprise, he reached out and grasped her hands earnestly. "Not at all! Anyone who managed to get an architect license couldn't possibly be stupid. I don't always word things correctly but I swear I meant no offense."

Maya was placated for the time being. His apology seemed sincere. "Then what were you—"

Martin interrupted her by appearing out of nowhere and sticking a bag of food directly above their clasped hands. She completely forgot what she was going to ask because of his sudden arrival.

"Oh look, the food is here," Vincent said mildly. "Take it to the dining room please, Martin."

The robot did as he said. The dining room was huge and had an incredibly ornate chandelier. The long mahogany table looked like it could seat twelve people yet they were the only ones there.

He sat at the head of the table and, rather than awkwardly be positioned all the way at the other end, she chose to take the second chair on his left. At least that way she wouldn't have to crane her neck to look at him if he talked to her.

He seemed slightly surprised by her choice but didn't say anything about it. Was he expecting her to sit all the way at the other end?

They both dug into their meals, which were still warm, if not piping hot, thanks to the insulated bag the deliveryman had no doubt used. Maya couldn't remember the last time she had a steak dinner either. It was probably before she got blacklisted.

The food was delicious but she was even more excited about the prospect of cheesecake. Rather than individual slices, Vincent had ordered an entire thing just for the two of them. She liked the way he thought.

"Dish ish abshowootwee dewishish," she said with her mouth full after taking the first bite of cheesecake.

Vincent was miraculously able to understand what she said. "I agree. I am rather fond of sweets but only if they are balanced out with something bitter."

Was that why he got Martin to bring over what looked suspiciously like kale to add to his existing salad? It would explain his usual coffee order too. Interesting. But hey, his weird habit resulted in lots of cheesecake for her so she wasn't complaining.

"I noticed that," Maya admitted. "Your coffee order is the same way."

"Ah yes. I nearly forgot about that. How do you take your coffee?" he asked mildly.

Any way she could get it these days. But if she had a choice… "I like cappuccinos topped with cinnamon."

Vincent nodded, absorbing this information. He finished off his cheesecake not long after and that was the last she saw of him for the rest of the night. He headed back to the garage as Martin cleaned up the remains of dinner.

Maya headed back to the home theater full and happy. She watched one more movie before heading back to her room and locking the door behind her, pushing something heavy in front of it to be safe. She had no idea if he had a key or not.

The mattress on the king-sized bed felt better than any she had ever laid on before. The pillows too. Despite her reservations about what sort of person she had married and what he expected her to do, she had the best night's sleep of her life.