Sunday evening, 7pm – Levesque Household
He had to leave in twenty minutes or he was going to be late for the flight. But, he was livid. Staring into his wife's face and waiting for an answer he was stern and had to put his foot down this time.
"Steph…" he prodded for an answer "Why did you have to say that to your Dad answer me!?"
He looked into his wife's face and it sort of softened, she never backed down – ever. However, she was in the wrong and he almost felt bad for her. It showed across her face. It wasn't really until that moment Stephanie herself realised that she had overstepped the line a little bit. She should never meddle in her husband and father's business relationship. The lines just crossed over so much sometimes she got lost in it herself. He was looking at her so angrily it made her feel a little emotional. She was too old for this and she was not about to break down like a little girl. She was not about to apologise either, she was too stubborn and proud for that.
"Seriously, don't look at me like that, whatever…!"
She stomped downstairs to the living area while hearing her husband make a noise of frustration behind her. She just needed a little bit of space, it was getting pretty heated in there and they had been bickering all day. This was the main problem for the Levesque's, bickering and fighting was normal for a couple who were married near ten years. However, they never had the time to resolve anything. So he was going to leave mad and nothing would be resolved again. They would see each other two days later, by which time they couldn't even be bothered to bring it up again. It may seem ideal, but truly it meant they always had this niggling anger and resentment in the background.
Stephanie heard the door in the background and for a few moments thought he had left without saying goodbye. She really began to well up now. Surely he wouldn't leave without a proper goodbye…she was too angry to get up from the large padded couch. Paul walked in unexpectedly and sat beside her. Their bodies were hot but rigid from the anger. Paul put his arm around her and gave her a kiss on the lips nonetheless…
"Bye….I will see you in a couple days"
Her resolve sort of broke down at that moment. It was such a sweet gesture when she really didn't deserve it at that moment. She got a little chocked up and her face was getting a bit puffy and red. Oh screw being right this time!
"I'm sorry….I love you!" she said as she pulled him into one of her famously affectionate hugs.
They needed a cathartic moment before he left or he would have left her seriously worried. They embraced and he left. They were still in love, still angry, still busy.
Monday Night- 11pm - Levesque Household
Stephanie always felt strange in the few days that Paul was away during the week. It was as if she was missing out on something. Not only that she missed her husband, but personally she was missing out on a lot when she couldn't travel to the live events. It meant a lot for the way she performed her job, she missed out on creating new relationships with colleagues and having fun with them, she missed out on witnessing the relationships her husband made with their colleagues. There were countless times when he would be friendly with one of their employees and she hadn't even had the chance to meet them yet. It made her feel like there was a whole part of Paul's life that she wasn't seeing. She loved being there for her kids, but the whole scenario left her feeling deflated and insecure at times. Especially on a week like the one they had just experienced, she did not want to send her husband off mad, for a few days, with very little communication. There were plenty of Diva's out there waiting to pounce the minute there was a weak moment.
She walked past her daughter's rooms to see if they were settled and got ready to train to take her mind of things. Paul had not replied to her all day, and she was getting worried. They usually make time to have a quick chat at least once a day, they even had a code text during busy days where they would just send a simple ": )" or "x" to show that they were thinking of one another during the day. She certainly wasn't receiving any of these tonight and this combined with her long list of things to do at work tomorrow left her feeling anxious and stressed. She sent a final message for the evening,
"Miss you : )))))…" .
Tuesday Morning 3am - Hotel Room
Paul got into his huge comfortable bed in the hotel room. It had been a typically long evening and he barely had the time to catch up with his own thoughts. It was times like these he appreciated a few moments to himself, no kids, a big bed to himself so he can get a good night's sleep. He checked on his phone, Steph had called and messaged him a few times in the day and he didn't have the chance to get back to her. He couldn't call her now, the time differences would mean he would wake her up way too early. Travelling around makes communication difficult at times. He replied to her previous text,
"Miss you too…"
He logged on to twitter as he routinely did before shutting off for the night. The first thing he noticed is that of his wife and his friend Joe DeFranco getting ready for a training session. He suddenly felt a pang of jealousy. He knew nothing would ever happen, obviously. Just the fact that she was out there in the world having a good time, and he wasn't there with her. She could make him so mad and worked up to the point where he just wants to be away for a while, yet the moment that he was getting upset about the fact that she was having fun without him. Go figure. He shook his head and made a comment on the tweet just so that he would feel involved and went to sleep.
Wednesday 3:40 am – Levesque Household
He was home; the air was chilled and dewy as he walked through the front door. The sky was that deep grey you see before the sun begins to rise. He walked straight up the stairs towards the bedroom door. As he creeped through he could see his wife fast asleep on their large bed. There was just enough light for him to see her outline. He gently dropped his bag and began to change, but despite his efforts she began to stir. "Baby…."
He gave her a faint smile as he changed into a pair of boxers and gently got into bed. Every Wednesday when Paul got home at these very early morning hours, there was something about their mood that shifts. Maybe it was a mixture of a lack of sleep, low lighting, and the fact that they hadn't seen each other regularly, but everything felt tender and more emotionally honest than at any other point in the day. They couldn't resist crawling into an embrace. Steph by this point was mid-sleep and could barely be bothered to control what was coming out of her mouth,
"I missed you…are you still mad at me?"
She sounded so fragile and exhausted and lovable. He couldn't help but pull her in and kiss her. He pecked kisses all over her face ending with a longer kiss on her mouth.
"I'll get over it…" he replied, "…I love you"
This really tugged at her stomach, she was half asleep, emotional and she had a gorgeous man practically grinding on her at the moment. It was a dizzying mixture of sensations and she was happy for it. In that lazy, fumbling and relaxed atmosphere it felt so natural to melt into one another and release the tension that had built up for the last few days. They didn't have to speak, but just let it happen. When finished it would be a new day to face new challenges, and most likely to repeat the whole cycle again.