Episode 695: My Happiness

"Yeah, this is exactly the vibe I was hoping for when I found it on the internet." Adria gestured to the fairy lights sparkling above them. "It’s so quiet and mellow."

"Perfect for wife kissing." Ryley pulled her in to him and did exactly that.

Adria smiled after the kiss, but it was nervous. "I hoped it would be the perfect place for something else," she said, "for something I need to talk to you about."

She looked so serious. The only thing Ryley could think was that maybe she was pregnant. He wasn’t in any rush to be a dad, but he wasn’t opposed to it, not at all. She didn’t need to be nervous. "It’s okay. You can tell me anything. It’ll be good."

"I bumped into Dustin before Christmas," she said, "you know, that director."

"I do know. Why would you wait so long to tell me?" It had better not be about preserving her damn reputation, so the casting directors wouldn’t see her as trouble. "I know how much you love to act, but some things like your safety and your emotional wellbeing are more important. I wish you’d said something right away, but at least you’re saying something now. We’ll get a restraining order," he said, fishing his phone from his pocket. "We should have done this to begin with, now he’ll never bother-"

"He didn’t bother me. He asked me to reconsider taking the lead role."

"So, you said no, and that’s that. Thankfully." There wasn’t any call for alarm, she was just telling him because that’s what they did, they told each other everything.

"I didn’t say no."

Ryley bowed his head. He kept it bowed as he said, "I’m a good husband, right?"

"The best."

He looked up. Angry. Fuming. "So then at what point do you stop putting me through hell? The divorce threats, the shutting me out, the single-handedly trying to hold us together, maybe all my efforts through that nightmare felt romantic to you, but on my end, it was a living hell. And now you’re going to work for the guy who harassed you? What a blast that’ll be, wondering day and night if he’s hurt you, or if he’s somehow seduced you into…" Ryley rubbed his eyes, just thinking either scenario, stung.

"That wouldn’t happen," she insisted.

"Neither of us know what will happen, Addie. I just know I’ve been there for you through a lot. I have been a good husband. I deserve better from my wife."

Episode 696: The Hardest Thing