Isaac rubbed the back of his neck as he entered his condo later that evening. He’d worked nothing but long hours since coming back to MEEG, and he knew that was what his future held for him as long as he worked with or for his father. Those were Abraham’s rules. Owners worked longer, harder, and smarter than everybody else combined. There was a time when he had lived by that motto in his need to gain his father’s approval. Those times ended when he found out about his father’s other children. Approval from a liar and adulterer didn’t seem to mean much. He tossed his briefcase on the kitchen counter, loosened his tie, and opened the refrigerator.
“This is stupid, Isaac,” Rebecca said.
He looked up over the refrigerator door and saw her leaning against the frame of the entranceway to the kitchen. “What’s stupid?” he asked, pulling out one of the covered baking dishes.
“This,” she said, moving away from the wall and toward the island where he’d placed the baking dish and a can of diet soda. “You come in late each night after I’ve gone to bed, sleep in the guest room to ignore me, yet you eat the leftovers I leave for you. Now that’s stupid.”
He pulled down a plate and forked some of the casserole onto it. He then covered the plate with a paper towel and put it in the microwave. “Not stupid,” he said, after he punched in the cooking time. “Practical. No need to let the food go to waste.”
She sat on a stool at the island. “Neither is there a reason to let our marriage go to waste.”
He popped the tab on the soda and took a long swallow. “Let’s not get into this tonight, Rebecca,” he said, feeling a headache coming on. He reached into his pocket for his pill bottle and remembered he’d tossed it after he’d taken the last pill at work earlier today. He needed to call in a prescription.
“If not tonight, when?” she asked. “You ignore me, don’t talk to me. When are we supposed to talk?”
The microwave sounded, and he walked over to it and took out his food. He grabbed a fork, came back to the island and sat. “This is good,” he said after one bite. “You’re a very good cook.”
“What? A compliment from you? I can’t believe it.”
He eyed her. “Cut the sarcasm, Rebecca,” he said. “I’m trying to be cordial.”
“I don’t want cordial,” she said. “I want a long and loud fight where we air all our grievances, and I want to follow it up with a lifetime of never hurting each other again.”
“You don’t want much, do you?”
She met his eyes with hers, held them. “I love you, Isaac. I want it all.”
He didn’t say anything. What was there to say? He was tired of words. Words brought expectations and he was tired of trying to meet the expectations of others. His father expected him to lead MEEG with his arms open to a brother and sister he hadn’t known existed until a few months ago. His mother expected him to bunker down in war formation and hold the fort against the infidels. His wife expected him to forgive the unforgivable. He’d lived all his life meeting the high expectations set for him, and now he was tired. All he wanted was rest. He didn’t have the energy or the will to even try to be what his father, his mother, or his wife wanted. He finished his meal, rinsed out his plate and glass, and put them in the dishwasher.
“Don’t walk away, Isaac,” Rebecca said, when he would have left her sitting at the island.
He turned back to her. Though she had hurt him terribly, he didn’t take any pleasure in hurting her. “I don’t have anything inside me to give you, Rebecca. I can’t fight for our marriage because there is no fight in me. I’m so tired of all of this. All I want is peace.”
“I want that, too,” she said. “Peace between us.”
He shook his head. “Have you seen a lawyer?”
“I don’t want a divorce so I don’t need a lawyer.”
He rubbed the back of his neck. “There’s no value in drawing this out. If your lawyer doesn’t contact me in a week, I’ll have mine contact you. Let’s get this over as painlessly as possible.”
“That’s impossible,” Rebecca said. “I still love you.”
“Words again,” Isaac said, as the voices of his mother, his father, and Rebecca battled each other in his head. He raised his hands and covered his ears. Instead of blocking out the sounds, the action seemed to confine and intensify them in his head.
“Isaac,” Rebecca called. “Are you all right?”
He opened his mouth to tell her that he wasn’t sure, but slumped to the floor as darkness overtook him.