CHAPTER 6 (NEW EDITION AS OF 02-27-2022)

After spending another week away from home, Darian arrived home. The last few days, Darian and Andrea spent the weekend in Quebec. It was a great experience of taking more photos, food, touring, and having incredible sex. The city was such an impressionable experience, Darian decided to learn French.

On a Tuesday night, Darian returned home and found that Melissa was at home, to his surprise. Darian walked in and found Melissa sitting on the couch watching television. Darian gave a quick "hey," before darting towards the bedroom. Melissa followed Darian in the hope of reestablishing some line of communication with him, but Darian was not interested.

Darian was in the bedroom unpacking clothes when Melissa stood at the door watching him. Her demeanor had changed from demanding to a more humble attitude.

"Hey babe, how was your trip?"

"Melissa, you know it's against the rules to talk about our dates."

"Okay, well, um, how have you been?"

"I have been great. I am hungry though. Today is Monday; I guess it's my night to cook!"

"Don't worry about it! We can order take-out! What do you want to eat."

"I don't care."

"Chinese food it is then!"

Later that night, Darian and Melissa ate dinner together for the first time in a couple of months. Melissa was trying to engage in a conversation; however, Darian's attention was focused on his phone. Darian was admiring the pictures he took of Andrea. Melissa became upset when Darian was ignoring her. Melissa snatched the phone from Darian's hands.

"Hey, what the hell is your problem?"

"You are my problem, I am sitting here trying to talk to you, and you are looking at your damn phone. What the hell are you looking at anyway?" Melissa looks at the phone and sees Andrea in lingerie.

"SERIOUSLY," Andrea yells as she flashes the phone to Darian.

"Gimmie my phone!"

"You want your damn phone, fine!"

Melissa darts towards the living room; as Darian follows while yelling profanities, demanding his phone. Melissa walks over to the fish tank and throws the phone in.

"ARE YOU FUCKING CRAZY," Darian yell. Darian quickly submerges his hand in the tank to retrieve his phone.

"No, but you must be. How dare you look at another woman in my house!"

"It ain't like I fucked another man on the couch or something," Darian replied, reminding Melissa of disrespect weeks ago. Melissa lost words when Darian brought up the past.

Darian watched his phone screen flicker on and off before it went black.

"Are you happy now?"

"No, I am not happy. I feel like I am trying to save a dying marriage."

"This marriage is a joke, Melissa."

"Why would you say that?"

"WE ARE FUCKING OTHER PEOPLE INSTEAD OF EACH OTHER, WHY CAN'T YOU UNDERSTAND THAT!"

"Yeah, and we both agreed to it. Do you remember?"

"Yeah, at the behest of your threats of cheating."

"You are trying to blame me for our failing marriage; that is unfair. You are fucking another woman, so you are just a much fault as I am."

"Well, why should I sit at home and let you get all the action," Darian replied as he darted towards the kitchen. Melissa followed.

Darian went to the cabinet and grabbed a bag of half-used rice. Darian submerged his phone into the rice, hoping to save it.

"I don't get you, Melissa. Months ago, you were pushing me to sleep with other women. Now that I am, you have a problem,"

"That's because I did not think you would develop feelings for another woman beside me."

"If you are going to start accusing me of this cheating shit again, I am out that door for good. Remember, this Open Marriage shit is your idea."

Melissa quickly closed her mouth. Melissa saw the seriousness in Darian's face and decided to choose her words carefully.

"You are right. There were unforeseen problems when I proposed the idea, but we can fix this. Let's close the marriage and start over."

"No!"

"What do you mean no!"

"I mean, I enjoy being with Andrea. She makes me feel like I am the only man in her life."

"That's unfair, Darian."

"No, it's not. You don't get to decide when to close this marriage."

"Darian, you have to if we are going to save this marriage."

"I am not cutting off Andrea, and that is my final decision!" Melissa started to tear up as she sees the emotional grasp Andrea has on her husband.

"Melissa, I am not telling you anything about my relationship with Andrea. Those are the rules."

"Darian, we have to talk about this."

"This conversation is over! I will be sleeping in my office," Darian replied.

*****

Throughout the week, Darian stayed locked in his office. When Darian was not sleeping on his office couch, he would work on the computer to avoid talking with Melissa. Melissa spent half her day at work; however, Darian was locked away in his office during the evenings. Darian managed to get his phone working to contact Andrea. When he was not talking with Andrea, Darian worked on building his career as a freelance photographer.

However, avoiding Melissa was becoming difficult. Melissa started coming home from work, cooking, and cleaning every night instead of going out with random men. Darian was not paying attention to her efforts as he was focused on Andrea and building his photography website. Melissa was losing patience with Darian's lack of awareness. She decided to call for help. Darian was hard at work doing photo touch on the computer when Darian heard a knock on his office door.

"Go away, Melissa; I am busy," Darian demanded.

There was a knock at the door again. Darian was upset to have his demand ignored. Darian darted up from his desk and opened the door. Darian was about to tell Melissa off; however, he withheld his words of profanity. Darian saw an older African American male in his late fifties. He has salt and pepper hair and a mustache and wore casual clothes. His name was Hezekiah.

"Dad, what are you doing here!"

"Your wife said that you two were having problems. So your mother and I decided to come to see you two."

"Melissa did what?"

"Come on son, let go in the living room."

Darian sat with his parents and Melissa in the living room. Darian had a pissed look on his face, while Melissa sat across him with a sad look. Darian wanted to leave the house, but he did not have the heart to walk out on his parents. Besides, he did not want to be rude since his parents live in Toledo, Ohio. Darian just sat there as his parents talked.

"Son, Melissa has called us saying that you two have been having problems with your marriage. She has told everything that has been going on," Hezekiah stated. Monique, Darian's mother, decides to chime in just to berate them.

"What were you two thinking about having sex with other people outside your marriage. That is so filthy of you two."

"Mom, whatever goes in our marriage is between Melissa and me,"

"Well, she doesn't believe so, or we wouldn't be here," Hezekiah replied. "Now Melissa admits that she was wrong and you were two. Melissa said she wants to close this dumb idea of an open marriage, so you two need to do it and move on."

"Melissa wanted to sleep with other men…"

"And I am sorry, Darian. We can fix ourselves. I have been looking into Marriage counseling.

"You know what. I am not doing this." Darian got up from his seat and darted back into the office.