Chapter 1: So Much For Happily Ever After

You look like the kind of man who has a beautiful wife at home, and loving children that you interact with twice a day just to make sure they are doing well…

The kind of man who knows nothing about what is in the fridge or where the new boxes of cereal come from…

The kind of man whose only role in his home is akin to that of an ATM machine, and you seem comfortable with it.

Why are you okay with all of that? Well because it's now routine, your life is so timetabled that you've become accustomed to how unexceptional it is.

Your children are grown now, so they don't need you as much as they used to. Your work is something you can do with your eyes closed, so not much effort is required at the office. And your wife, oh your beautiful darling wife, she isn't as in love with you as she was when you asked her out the first time.

But you don't seem to mind all of this, do you? Why? Because you believe there's no use fixing what's not broken. This routine, this timetabled life, this lack of exhilaration, it's almost normal to you now.

But then slowly, it starts to get to you, day by day you start to wonder, when did your children stop needing you? When did your dream job - owning your own graphic design firm - become so monotonous? And most of all, when did your wife's beautiful face stop lighting up whenever you walked through the door after a long day

You didn't know… it had been eight years since things became stagnant, eight years you had been starved of any emotional connection… a whole eight years… and you only noticed it now.

You recently hired a new employee to join the firm. A young woman in her early twenties with a knack for creativity, her portfolio was surprisingly fleshed out for a woman her age, you would have to be utterly mad not to recruit her.

She was a lively young woman, contagiously enthusiastic, and friendly... maybe a little too friendly sometimes. Or maybe, you were just reading into things too much, like you always did. Or your lack of feminine affection led you to mistaking kindness for flirting. Either way, she was a great addition to the firm.

As time went by, you found yourself looking forward to going to work for the first time in years. Because you know that when you got there, you would be greeted with a bright smile and the occasional coffee and homemade muffins.

At some point you were worried that your wife would wonder why you had stopped having your breakfast at home, but she really couldn't care less, it seemed she had more important things to deal with rather than your fluctuating eating habits.

Aya, that was her name, full name Ayaka Fischer. You hadn't noticed it yet, but she was slowly becoming the reason you looked forward to going to work.

The two of you seemed to have a lot in common, you were both creatives after all, so your conversation and office banter flowed effortlessly. Earning the occasional 'get a room' comment from a co-worker or two.

You would often dismiss the passive comments about you and Aya as mere jokes;

'You two look good together...'

'If you ever get a divorce, we'll definitely know who caused it...'

'What happens in the office stays in the office huh boss...'

All a bunch of ridiculous nonsense, you and Aya were nothing but co-workers who enjoyed each other's company. I mean it's not like you were having an emotional affair with her or anything like that…

Or were you? Was that even a thing? Having an emotional affair?

Hey, at least it wasn't physical, right?

Physically, your wife satisfied you. I mean she was an extremely beautiful woman, with an unbelievable body, the face of an angel and she dressed like one of those models from the cover of Vogue.

Your wife, she's soft spoken and respectful, even though having pretty privilege on her side, she is as modest as they come. That's why your family loves her, and that is why you married her, she is the epitome of a good wife.

But emotionally, oh dear lord, she is about as supportive to you emotionally as the letter 'g' in lasagne. Especially during the past eight years, being married to her was like being married to robot, everything was so programmed and lacked pizzazz.

You almost felt trapped in your own marriage, and even though you couldn't admit it, you sometimes dreaded going home to her, because the feeling of being lonely when someone was laying right next to you, was worse than being alone entirely.

"How was work today?" She asked, as you placed your coat on the coat rack.

"It was alright," you responded, immediately knowing what she would say next. She was going to ask you if anything interesting happened at the office, and after you gave her an answer, she would say, 'that's nice dear, dinner will be ready in a minute.'

"Did anything interesting happen at work?"

You stifled a chuckle, oh this routine was becoming painful to witness, is this how far off you had fallen?

"Well... I missed you today," you responded trying to spark up the dull conversation.

She paused her vegetable dicing and glanced back at you, her perfectly shaped eyebrows pinching together in what looked like shock and confusion.

"What did you just say?"

You shook your head and proceeded to the hallway that led to your bedroom. "It was nothing, let me know when dinner is ready, I'm going to take a shower."

When you closed the bedroom door behind you, you sighed heavily. What the hell was that? Words of endearment were now so foreign to you both that they sounded awkward? Your marriage really was in shambles, wasn't it?

You grabbed your towel and headed to the bathroom, as you walked into the tiled room, you caught a glimpse of your wedding photo hanging on the wall beside you.

"So much for happily ever after," you mumbled to yourself before closing the bathroom door.