_OceanofPDF

“Sure.” She put in two more pieces. “I’m headed into the studio early.
So butter them yourself.”
That explained why she was eating breakfast before I left.
“Cool, hey, Loge, my buddy and I were playing volleyball and lost the
ball on my roof.”
“Your roof?” I went to the island, leaving Ella where she was.
“Like, over on that side. Maybe one of your guys can grab it when
they’re up there? Gardeners or whatever?”
“You can ask them where the ladder is and go yourself, or you can wait
until the gutters are cleaned.”
“Damn, dude.”
“Tough being a Crowne,” Ella said, patting his shoulder as she passed.
“Got that right, sister.”
She went upstairs with her breakfast without kissing me goodbye.
I didn’t think about her all day, except during the morning drive when
the thought of kissing every stud in her ear gave me such a hard-on, I
almost rear-ended a delivery truck. And the morning status meeting with
London, when I spaced out on the quarterlies because someone in the room
wore the same perfume as her. And lunch. And the rest of the afternoon
passed in a blur of fantasies. Ella on her back. On her stomach. Naked.
Fully clothed. Everything in between. I jerked off in my office bathroom
before my afternoon meetings.
She’d asked why this was so hard.
Good question.
She wasn’t happy being the wife I wanted, and I couldn’t be happy
knowing she was faking it. I had to wonder the same thing myself.
Why was this so hard?
I walked into the sixth floor of the club early for the reservation. The bar
was crowded, and the club area was full of professional creatives making
small talk and big plans.
The graffiti reminded me of Ella. Everything did these days.
Mandy was already there, wearing jeans and a yellow sweater. I greeted
her with a hug.