Thursday night. Twenty-nine year-old Bebe Stevens stared at the clock on the wall of her home. Again it was seven o'clock in the evening and her wife, Wendy Testaburger was running late getting home from work. Bebe sighed to herself, caught between frustration and resignation. How had it come to this? How had a relationship that was once so magical become so dull, even strained at times? Five days a week, Bebe waited until late in the evening for Wendy to get home. And five days a week, Bebe was running a nice hot bath for Wendy while also juggling all the responsibilities of dinner and dishes. Bebe had given up her dreams of pursuing marine biology so that Wendy could have a clean and lovely home. A home she wasn't even present in for most of the week.

When Wendy got home, she could take a relaxing bath and unwind for the night. Bebe had to run that bath, make dinner, do the dishes, and clean up the kitchen every night. Then she had time for a quick shower and could collapse into bed exhausted.

Bebe remembered when she and Wendy had first confessed their mutual love in high school. So many nights spent texting or talking on the phone, always begging their parents to let them stay at one another's house. Then Bebe remembered their college years, where the two of them had gone to the same college and shared a dorm together. With Bebe studying marine biology and Wendy becoming a business woman, they never shared a class, but every moment of their free time was spent together. Their dorm had been just the two of them for all four years and they had spent so many romantic (sometimes naughty) nights together in it. When they eventually graduated college and pooled together enough money to buy a house, the tough decision had been made that one of them would have to give up their dreams and become the housewife. Bebe had volunteered readily for this. Wendy would make more money, Wendy would be more ambitious, Bebe told herself. Six years later, Wendy was no closer to a promotion and in order to make their desired amount of money, had to work fifty-five hours a week. The two of them were always tired and distant from each other due to the overload of stress and responsibilities.

And Wendy had now spent thousands of dollars to redo the bathtub and the bathroom. Bebe was infuriated at that, but she didn't say anything. She knew only Wendy would reap the benefits of a better bathroom. Bebe had no time to herself to take a relaxing bath.

Bebe was angry inside, angry and sad. Here she had made so many sacrifices for the person she loved the most and didn't seem to be getting anything out of it.

She sat and waited, minutes slowly ticked by until it was ten past eight and Wendy finally stumbled into the door, looking more even more tired than usual. A blustery autumn evening wind rushed into their warm abode.

"Bebe, I am fed up with the business world for good," Wendy said, collapsing on the couch next to Bebe.

"Really? You're fed up," Bebe scowled at her lover.

Wendy looked over, puzzled, anxious, and sad. It was unusual for Bebe to be acting like this. She was sometimes distant, but never cold.

"Bebe, I have good news though," Wendy tried to lighten her mood.

"I don't care what that news is Wendy!" Bebe snapped, "Will it relieve the monotony of being a housewife? Will it give me back my dreams, my chances?"

"Bebe, what's wrong?" Wendy asked, putting an arm gently around Bebe.

"Everything," Bebe said quietly, "This marriage, our roles in it. I don't feel like an equal!"

"But Bebe-"

"I'm just a lonely housewife! I work from sunrise to sunset and then some! And I get so little in return!"

"But we have nice things, I've bought you anything you could wish for-"

"Can you buy back the spark in our relationship, Wendy? Can you?" Bebe screamed through tears and ran upstairs, stopping at the top to exclaim one more thing at her wife, "If you wanna enjoy your huge goddamn bathtub, you can draw your own damn bath!"

"But Bebe-"

"You're selfish Wendy… Just leave me alone tonight!" Bebe exclaimed, before running into their bedroom and slamming the door shut.

Wendy turned from looking up the steps where Bebe had just thrown her tantrum and looked around at the silent and empty first floor of their house. Selfish, she thought to herself. She tried to think of a way to set things straight. And then it hit her. Wendy pulled out her cell phone and called her boss's office at the big corporation she worked for.

There was no answer, so Wendy left a simple message, "I quit."

Then she walked briskly out the door into the autumn night and down the street. Wendy Tetsaburger was no longer a business woman, but she was about to make the most important business decision of her life.

The following morning, Bebe woke up next to Wendy at seven thirty. Strange, Bebe thought, shouldn't Wendy's alarm have gone off an hour ago?

"Wendy, wake up! Time for work," Bebe shook her shoulder. Wendy's eyes fluttered open.

"No," Wendy said sleepily, "No work today."

"So what, you used one of your precious vacation days?" Bebe asked.

"Sure, let's just say that for the moment," Wendy replied, still sleepy, "Today we can spend some time together."

"Maybe," Bebe said coldly, "I'm still pretty pissed at you."

That hurt Wendy but she was too tired at the moment. Bebe got out of bed to do her morning work, but Wendy returned to the world of sleep for a few more hours. Yesterday had been truly exhausting, physically and emotionally.

At almost ten in the morning Wendy came downstairs for breakfast, which Bebe had prepared as usual. A rather large breakfast consisting of pancakes, bacon, and eggs, given that the both of them had forgone the luxury of dinner last night due to Bebe's bad mood. They ate in silence until they were both finished.

Then Wendy said "I love you."

"Come on Wendy, you'll have to do better than that."

"Bebe listen, about the bathtub-" Wendy began.

"It doesn't matter," Bebe sighed.

"Bebe I got it so that it would be big enough for both of us," Wendy reached across the table to take Bebe's hands and stare into her eyes, "What do you say we go take a nice candlelit bath together right now?" Wendy asked in a warm, mildly seductive tone.

"Well… alright," Bebe giggled, "I guess that makes up for being late last night."

Wendy had successfully softened Bebe with her romantic move, so now it was time for some sincerity and then she would drop the surprise on Bebe. The two of them made their way to the upstairs bathroom, where Wendy turned off the lights, ran a bubble-bath and lit some scented candles around the tub. Despite the lights being off, the room was plenty bright, thanks to the ray of autumn morning sunshine coming through the bathroom's lone window as well the light of the candles.

Wendy laid her head back against Bebe's breasts, facing the ceiling and letting everything but her face be submersed in the bubbly water.

"Bebe, I need to tell you how I feel," Wendy said calmly and quietly.

Bebe was silent, deciding to let Wendy go on at her own pace.

"The reason I was able to work all those hours at my stressful, stressful job… the reason I'm so ambitious… The reason I can bare everything I can… Is you," Wendy's voice was soft, "Because I need times like this. I need moments with you like this. And I need more of them if I'm going to survive. In your embrace, all my fears, all my loneliness, all my weaknesses, they evaporate. When I hear your voice, it soothes me, comforts me. I need that comfort," Wendy was tearing up, "When I heard you sounding so angry, so frustrated with me last night, my heart broke and I had to do something about it. I can't lose you. Because you empower me. You empower me because only in your embrace can I allow myself to be completely vulnerable."

"Oh Wendy," Bebe put her arms around Wendy's chest and pulled her more tightly against her body, "I love you, I would do anything for you. You know I'm yours forever." Tears streamed down Bebe's cheeks.

Wendy turned herself over so that her face was less than an inch from Bebe's and leaned in for a passionate kiss that breathed new life into their marriage. Wendy explored Bebe's mouth with her tongue, wanting to have the deepest kiss the two of them had ever had. They began grinding against each other's bodies, moaning, leading to a passionate session of love-making in the lone ray of morning sunlight. It was a whole new experience from their younger days. For the first time, their relationship had a true sense of permanence. Wendy and Bebe were more in love than ever before and nothing was ever going to separate them.

When all was done and things had calmed down, Wendy and Bebe exited the bathtub and wrapped each other in their towels. With nothing but their towels on and their hair still wet, Wendy and Bebe returned downstairs to the kitchen for a cup of coffee. The two sat across a small table from each other and stared romantically into each other's eyes for a few moments before Wendy broke the silence.

"Bebe," Wendy began.

"Yeah?"

"Do you remember when we were in college and we asked each other what our second choices would be if our dream careers didn't pan out?"

"Yes," Bebe smiled and remembered fondly, "We both said we would like to own and run a pet store."

"I quit my job," Wendy began as Bebe gasped, though she chose to go on before Bebe could speak, "Took a huge chunk of my savings and bought that nice little store down the street that just went vacant a week or two ago. It was really nice so you know someone was gonna buy it soon if I didn't."

"When?" Bebe exclaimed, finally having a chance to speak, "When did you do all this stuff?"

"Last night," Wendy replied, reaching over to pinch Bebe's cheek lovingly, "Like I said, I just had to do something when I heard the anger in your voice last night. I need you to be happy."

"So I'm running this pet store?" Bebe asked, sounding unsure.

"We're running it," Wendy reassured her with confidence, "I'll take care of all the number crunching and finances. We'll set up our store's layout together. And you can do what you do best. Work compassionately with people and animals."

Silence for a moment as a single tear ran down Bebe's cheek.

"Well, what do you think?" Wendy asked hopefully.

"Better to work your second choice for a career with your first… your only choice for a partner than to work your dream job and be lonely," Bebe responded with glee.

Wendy and Bebe stood up and embraced each other in a passionate hug. Wendy had quit her job as a powerful business woman less than twenty-four hours ago and she had never felt more empowered.