Brad, what is this?” Melanie exclaimed, holding her husband’s latest credit union statement.
Brad frowned. “What is what?”
Melanie passed him the document. “Here, see for yourself.”
“Where did you get this? Were you rummaging through my desk?”
“No, I was looking for a black marker, and I just so happened to see it.”
“Do I search through your things?”
“I wouldn’t care if you did. I don’t have anything to hide.”
“Neither do I, but I also don’t like stuff moved around in my office.”
“Normally, you lay your mail on top of your desk. But not this, though.”
Brad ignored her. “What would make you rummage through my stuff like this?”
“You know what, that’s neither here nor there. I just wanna know what you needed ten thousand dollars for.”
Brad sighed. “I can’t believe you went through my desk and opened my mail.”
“We’ve been married for, what? Three years? So as your wife, I have a right to see everything. And until now, you’ve never had a problem with that.”
“Whatever, Mel.”
“Why aren’t you answering my question? Are you doing something I need to know about?”
“No, I made a bad investment, and I lost some money.”
“How?” she said, folding her arms. “Playing around with the stock market again?”
“I wasn’t playing around with it. I read about a couple of hot items, and they didn’t pan out.”
“But ten thousand dollars? You lost ten thousand dollars, and you’re acting like it’s no big deal?”
“I never said it wasn’t a big deal.”
“But you’re sounding like you lost ten pennies. Not to mention, it’s bad enough that you lost more than thirty thousand a year ago for the same reason.”
Brad rolled his eyes. “Oh, here we go. Bringin’ up the past again.”
“I’m simply making a point. It’s not like we’re getting any younger.”
“Are you serious? Mel, you’re only twenty-eight years old.”
“But you know how careful I’ve always been when it comes to money. I was cautious and saving as much as I could before you ever asked me to marry you. And since you’ll be forty in a couple of years, I would think you’d start being a lot more cautious, too. Especially when it comes to your savings account.”
“Look, baby,” he said, calming his voice. “I’m sorry. I hear you, and I promise it won’t happen again.”
“You said the same thing last year.”
“I know, but I mean it this time,” he said, leaning against his desk. “I traded some pretty high-risk stocks online, and it was only because I thought I could make a lot of money from it. But I’ve learned my lesson.”
“So this wasn’t even done through a broker? You did this on your own?”
“Yeah, but I’m done. I know you don’t believe me, but losing all this in a matter of days really opened my eyes.”
Melanie spoke in a softer tone. “You can’t keep doing this.”
Brad’s cell phone rang, and he pulled it from his blazer. “Baby, it’s the office. Just give me a second, okay?”
Melanie sat down in the supple brown leather wing-back chair and waited for him to finish his call. She was trying not to be angry, but she couldn’t understand why Brad did this kind of thing. She was just the opposite, so it didn’t made sense to her. She could never blow that kind of money unnecessarily, not from her individual savings, checking, retirement, or any other account. They had two joint money market accounts as well, and for the most part, she pretended those didn’t exist. She just couldn’t see spending money so frivolously like there would be no tomorrow. There were times when she knew she might have gone to a bit of an extreme with her vigilant money-management philosophy, but who knew what the future held? Anything at all could happen. Loss of employment, illness, or even death.
Then, to think how hard they’d worked to get where they were professionally. Brad was the newest senior partner at the firm he’d been practicing at since graduating law school—a firm that was known statewide—and Melanie was a nurse practitioner at the most highly recommended internal medicine office in Mitchell. Also, last year they’d built a six-thousand-square-foot home and furnished every room with all new furniture and accessories. Melanie had thought they were spending way too much money, but once Brad had convinced her that they could afford it and that he wasn’t working all his life for nothing, she’d gone along with it. Of course, that had been well before she’d known he was going to throw away thirty thousand dollars only three months after breaking ground. She certainly hadn’t known he was going to lose ten thousand more last month. It was common for the stocks and bonds that made up their retirement portfolios to fluctuate, but the idea of buying risky items for no reason was uncalled for.
Brad ended his call and reached out his hand to Melanie. “Baby, come here.”
“Why?”
“Just come here. Please.”
She got up and walked over to him.
Brad sat back on the top of his desk, drew her closer, and wrapped his arms around her waist. “I’m really sorry. I got a little carried away, and I messed up. Can you forgive me?”
Melanie looked at him but didn’t say anything.
He caressed the side of her face. “You know you can’t stay mad at me forever, right?”
“I just wish you wouldn’t do things like this. I mean, if you’re just dying to give away money, I’d rather see you give it to families or organizations in need. Because to me, when you throw away money that God has blessed you with, you’re being ungrateful.”
“I agree. But do you forgive me?”
“Do I have a choice?”
“Not really,” he said, wrapping Melanie’s arms around his neck and kissing her.
Melanie hated arguing with him, and it felt good holding him and trying to get past what had happened.
“I was planning to wait to bring this up, but now is just as good a time as any,” he said.
Melanie wondered why he looked so serious. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing. But I do want us to think more about starting a family. I want you to stop taking your birth control pills.”
“I don’t know,” she said, and although she wanted a child, too, she wasn’t sure this was the right time anymore. Not with Brad’s latest financial move. She wanted to believe him when he said this would never happen again, but she needed to see it. Another thing that had started to concern her quite a bit was the fact that he worked a lot of hours. She clearly understood what his job entailed, but for the last few months they’d sometimes barely seen each other except on Sundays. They’d had words about that very thing a couple of weeks ago, and she didn’t want to be the kind of mother who raised her child alone.
But then there was her other reason, the one she didn’t have the courage to tell Brad about. She was terrified of gaining a huge amount of weight from being pregnant. As it was, she was already struggling to lose the same ten pounds she’d been trying to get rid of for more than a year. She was sure ten pounds didn’t seem like a lot to most people, but the last thing she wanted was for her mother to start harassing her again—spewing some of the same hurtful comments she’d dished out for years. Melanie had been a chubby child, and her mother had been repulsed by it.
“Why aren’t you saying anything?” he asked.
“No reason. I just wanna make sure we’re ready.”
“Baby, how much more ready do we need to be? We have more than enough room, and we can definitely afford it. Plus, you know it’s still my dream to be able to give our children what my parents weren’t able to give me. When they were alive, they took care of me the best they could, but they barely made ends meet, and I went without a lot. Even in college.”
“I know. Why don’t we talk about it more tonight?”
“Fine. And hey—are you losing weight?”
“I wish.”
“Why? Because it’s not like you need to. You look perfect.”
“I’m glad you feel that way,” she said, wondering how he could possibly think she’d lost even a few ounces, let alone enough weight that was noticeable enough to see. Especially since she weighed herself every single day, and not much had changed. Although maybe working out six days a week without fail was helping her lose inches.
Brad kissed her again, this time with more passion. “Make love to me.”
Melanie gently pressed both her hands against his chest. “Baby, I can’t. I have to get dressed so I can drive over to Schaumburg. I’m meeting Alicia, remember?”
“Oh yeah. Well, I guess I’ll let you off the hook this one time. I expect you to make this up to me tonight, though,” he said, smiling.
Melanie was relieved, because her plans to drive over and meet Alicia weren’t the only reason she was putting him off. Truth was, she had long stopped wanting to make love to him in broad daylight because of how pathetic she looked when she was naked. At five foot nine and 165 pounds, she wore a size ten and looked like Miss Piggy, which was one of the many names her father had called her when she was a child. She wasn’t nearly as heavy now as she’d been back then, but she was still a size ten for heaven’s sake. Just the thought of it made her want to burst into tears. Brad deserved so much better. A wife he could be proud to have on his arm—just like her mother regularly told her. And if it was the last thing she did, she would make that happen. She would do whatever was necessary to drop those ten horrible pounds she was parading around with. That way, she could fit back into her size eights the way she was supposed to. She wouldn’t be happy—and neither would her mother—until she did.