"It isn't always about you, Zoe" Nick raged, stomping down the stairs out of her way. His incredibly selfish wife was once again starting an argument.
"I don't know why you're shouting" Zoe replied, in a more hushed tone aware of the sleeping infant upstairs "All I said was that I didn't think we were ready for another baby. I mean, you're always at work, we barely see each other and you hardly ever touch me. Our marriage isn't brilliant at the moment and I think another baby would make things even more complicated" she tried to reason with him. She moved to sit on the sofa across from where he sat and looked him dead in the eye "Sometimes..." she whispered, not wanting to admit to herself what she was about to say "Sometimes I think you don't love me anymore"
Nick looked at her, stunned "What?!" he choked incredulously "I tell you I love you every day" he couldn't believe what his wife had just said, surely she wasn't that wrapped up in herself. "The whole world doesn't revolve around you" he argued back "just because not everyone is interested in doing exactly what Zoe wants and keeping Zoe happy in her perfect Zoe land." he continued, a viciously sarcastic edge to his voice.
Zoe smiled sadly "No Nick, you only tell me you love me when I say if first and even then all I get is 'you too' you're always at work, you never stop thinking about the place, which would mean it would be me left on my own raising two children and trying to work at the same time and keep our marriage from falling apart, I'm not super woman"
Nick stood up, in a huff "You're so selfish sometimes, there are two of us in this marriage, not just you"
"Well you could have fooled me" Zoe yelled, her temper raising, she moved from the room, heading back upstairs before turning around "How dare you call me selfish" she hissed "everything I do is for our family, for you, and for our little girl" she left the room, heading upstairs, leaving Nick to sulk. All they ever did was argue these day, there was no family time with all three of them anymore; no intimacy between her and Nick. That man sitting on the couch downstairs was not the man she married, she knew she had married a man who loved his job and worked all hours god sent but now it was different, he brought work home with him leaving in the middle of the night to deal with emergencies. That was not the man she loved, that was a stranger.
Zoe walked into her daughter's room, sitting on the edge of her bed and stroking her hair gently. Their little girl was a miracle, if it wasn't for her Zoe often wondered whether she and Nick would have ever gotten married or stayed together for as long as they had. She pulled the covers over her daughter, tucking her up and placing a kiss on her forehead before pulling the door shut softly and heading to her room. She sighed softly, noting the mess in their room; pyjamas and underwear lay on the floor, a pile of Nick's socks sat at the edge of their bed. She looked at the picture of her and Nick on their wedding day and felt a tear slip down her cheek, they used to be so happy. Her eyes then moved to the picture of her and Sofia, they day she had been born. She loved her little girl more than anything else in the world and she knew Nick felt the same; she was their ray of sunshine. Zoe quickly wiped the hot tears from her cheek and cleared up the mess of their room. She moved to her wardrobe, pulling her shirt and skirt off and changing into one of her shortest dresses, one she hadn't worn since before her daughter had been born; slipping on her highest, most expensive heels and a slick of lipstick before grabbing her bag and going back downstairs.
"I'm going out, Sofia is sound asleep" she called into the living room from the hall way.
"Where..." She heard Nick call before she pulled her front door shut and hailed a cab that sat at the end of her street. She knew Nick was watching her from the window, she acted recklessly when they had an argument, and she loved to make him squirm.
