The smell of smoke lingered in the air as she blew out the last candle. Darkness draped around them both as she moved about throwing away the cold food.

“I am guessing you are pissed off at me again,” he said with irritation like she did something wrong.

She never answered because she knew there was no point.  It is not as if he honestly ever listened to her. Just like she didn’t ask why he was hours late once more. She could predict what he would say and what was worse, now he didn’t even try to make excuses.  Just come home and stomp about.

She moved across the room and sat by the window, staring out at the stars. Her thoughts wandered to how did she get here. This really couldn’t be all there was.

“Do you know how damn exhausting you are?” he raised his voice trying to get her to respond. Instead, she turned on a small lamp and opened her book.

“That’s it…ignore me. You are pissed off because I didn’t make it home to dinner. You know I have a stressful job and there are times I just can’t up and leave. What am I suppose to say? ‘Sorry my wife will get pissed off if I am late, so really gentlemen, I need to go’. I don’t think that would go over too well.”

She continued to look as if she was reading but she really was keeping an eye on him. When he gets angry she doesn’t always know how he will act. In her mind she began to pray. Pray for peace, quiet and a home without fighting. That was interrupted by him pushing everything off the side table.

“Fuck! Why do you do this? I really think you get off on making me this angry.”

She gently put down the book and started to clean the mess he created. She got down on her knees to pick up shards of glass from a picture frame that held a family picture. Faces smiling through the shattered remains. He came up from behind and got so close to her ear she stopped moving.

“Why the silent treatment now? We all know you are far from quiet. Always running your mouth about this and that. So I guess the way to shut you up is to throw things? Maybe I should try it more often.”

She could feel the anger dripped words come through his whispers.  She started cleaning once more.

“Oh gawd you are so damn exhausting and I say that over and over. You tire me with your words and plans. Like I knew you had a big dinner planned for us. Would have been nice to know but of course out of all the times you ramble on, you leave out that you wanted to have some damn romantic dinner. Why? Honestly, why? Half the time you act like you don’t even want me around. When I even touch you, it is like you are repulsed by me. You jump if I even raise my hand wrong. I can’t even read you. You are impossible.  I really should be given a medal for tolerating all of your shit.”

Trying to hold back tears she threw away the damage he caused. Thoughts of why she even tried kept running through her mind. She caught her dark reflection in the mirror and for a second didn’t know it was her. She recognized the face, the hair but the eyes were empty. A body remained but the heart and soul had left years ago. This was all that was left of her.

As she started to leave the room, he reached out and grabbed her arm. As he pulled her near she flinched expecting the worst.

“That is exactly what I am talking about. What wife jerks away when her husband puts his hand on her. I really do not understand you,” he paused as if calculating what he wanted to say next. “You are lucky I love you. No one would put up with half of what I do.”

She looked up at him now tears streaming down her face. His eyes stayed hard even at the sight of her crying.

“You have nothing to say?”

She pulled her arm from his grasp, slipped off her ring and as she placed it in his hand, she leaned in close, “Goodbye,”