No matter how many times he said he was sorry he knew he would never make it up to Shana. Bill thought about checking his balls to make sure they were still attached. Not that Shana had physically assaulted him. No, her tongue-lashing was enough to leave him smarting for weeks.



Thank God she had the presence of mind to wait until they were alone to save him some embarrassment. If only he'd kept his family's money a secret. They'd been happy that first two years. Normal too, as normal as any well off couple could be. They had friends who were normal back then and their apartment was mostly normal, just a bit bigger than their friends. They even had an average car. Now everything was changed. Friends, the apartment, the car, all of it spoke of obscene wealth.



Below, the door clicked closed. Great, Shana was back and now he'd have to do something to keep the peace.



"I'm tired of this crap." Her impeccably manicured nails flashed through her hair.



"I'm taking the day off tomorrow."



"Just the day?"



"Yes, just the day and we can make plans for the summer."



"South of France. I demand it."



His brother owned a small chateau outside of Nice. They could spend a few days in Monaco. He wished he had his real wife back. Maybe a week in France would help her get back to her normal self.



"We can do France. Reggie will let us use his place."



"His place?" Her voice cut through his backbone like fingernails on a chalkboard.



"Yes, darling. Reggie owns a small chateau in the countryside."



"What if I want to stay in a hotel in the city?"



"We can do that if you like." Really, he would do anything just to please her.



"I'll talk to Reggie about the place. If I agree to stay there it will have to meet certain standards."



She spun around and stalked away. It felt as though she'd sucked every ounce of air out of the room with her exit. This couldn't go on. Her attitude needed to change. This summer he would talk to her. Make her see that they could be happy again. Maybe it would work.



Bill flopped down on to an expensive Queen Anne replica, unhappy that Shana had taken away his comfy lounge chair. Something needed to be done. He couldn't continue living this way.



He heard Shana's feet on the tile outside the living room. He'd agreed to dinner tonight with the Amberhursts even though he thought Walter was a total stuffed shirt. The evening would be incredibly boring.



"Are you ready to go?" Shana called through the closed door.



"Yes." Bill hopped to his feet, determined to have a good attitude even if he did want to run screaming in the other direction.

Copyright Sara Thacker 2011