A sandwich, that's what Frank got for dinner that night. And not any kind of special sandwich, he got a jar of peanut butter, a jar of jam, two slices of bread and a knife. He'd done something, but had no idea what.
Denise was angry with him and he knew it by the way she was walking around and the expression on her face.
He was afraid to ask what he did and find out he was supposed to know so he left the house about 9 to get her a surprise, that might fix whatever it was.
He returned to home to see her cleaning like a mad woman, she did that when she was mad.
"Hi, baby." He made sure he went to give her a hug and kiss. "I got you something."
She just glared at him.
He took out a bag from her favorite ice cream shop over 20 miles away, he hated going there, it was expensive and a teen hang out but she loved their milkshakes.
She smiled but didn't speak.
"Did I tell you I loved you today?" he asked trying to figure out what on earth he'd done.
"Yeah."
"Okay, I know this is probably stupid but what did I do?" he asked."I know you're mad at me but I don't know why. I took out the trash, I put the seat down, I fixed the computer, I did dishes...Clue please?"
Now she went from mad to hurt "If you don't know I'm not going to waste time telling you, it's too late to do anything about it anyway!"
She walked away and went to the bedroom. A minute later his pillow and blanket were tossed out the door into the hall. He went to pick them up mumbling, "Knew it was stupid."
The bed room door shut and Denise went to bed, tears streaming down her face, had she lost her attractiveness to him?
He knocked, "Denise, honey please. Please don't do this."
She didn't come to the door but he could hear her, she was crying.
"Dee!" he tried again but nothing. He went and dug around the kitchen "Junk" drawer for the key and used that to unlock the door.
When he opened the door, she was laying on their bed curled up to her pillow crying her eyes out.
He sighed and got on the bed to replace her pillow, "You miss him, that's it isn't it. I'm sorry."
She pulled away from him. "No that isn't it!" she snapped. "Just leave me alone!"
"You know I can't," he sighed. "Is this about you getting all changed around earlier? I told you I thought it was nice."
"Go away Frank," she demanded. "You don't care about me, you never pay any attention to me anymore unless I'm like this!"
"That's not true," he snapped. "I'd say it's the other way around. You're the one running off here and there all the damn time!"
That only made Denise sob harder and to his surprise, she hit him, not hard enough to hurt him but she hit him in the chest with her fist.
HE was about to react when the phone rang.
he got up to answer it. "Hello."
"Frank, I need you in building one in 10 minutes," Michael told him. "Damage control on the Derek White issue."
"Yes sir," he said, he hated to leave her like this but he knew he had to follow orders.
"Don't come back here tonight," Denise warned him.
"Denise," he sighed.
"No Frank I'm serious do not come home tonight!"
He rolled his eyes, "Fine, and in two hours when you're over whatever this is you'll be begging for me to come home!"
"No I won't!"she snapped
He didn't say anything else, he just put on his uniform and left. When he got to the office his eyes were red.
"You okay Frank?" Michael asked.
"My wife lost her damn mind but other than that yes," Frank replied.
He laughed "What did you do?"
"I have no idea," Frank replied. "None. None."
"Been there."
"I heard Claudia Joy and Hannah are siding together on this thing. You have to watch that, Michael."
He nodded his acknowledgment.
"Stop it now, you can't afford to have divided loyalties right now," Frank warned. 'You are in a prime position to get this command, don't let her screw it up for you."
"I won't," Michael assured him.
The two men put their heads together and working inside that model came up with a plan to handle the friendly fire case.
Frank ignored his wife and went home when they were through.
When he got there she was laying on the couch with his pillow asleep, she had tear tracks on her cheeks.
He didn't wake her; he scooped her up and carried her to their bed.
She woke when he laid her down. "Frank?" she said still half asleep.
"Ssh, go back to sleep," he whispered pulling the covers up over her.
He moved to leave the room and sleep on the couch. He was out the door and turned to close it when he heard, "Don't leave."
He smiled that's what he wanted her to say. "Okay," he replied and slid into be beside her. He pulled her close and held her.
"I'm sorry," she whispered.
"Ssh, sleep," he replied. His body was so tense beside hers.
"What's wrong," she asked. "You're tense."
"This whole Derek White nonsense," he replied. "Testifying before Congress, this is a public relations nightmare."
"Yeah, it is."
"We need more support now, not less," he sighed. "Over there, God...it's bad, it's really bad and I've seen a lot of things. Battle is chaos, battle is a living horror house, you make mistakes...She has no right!"
"She's just not thinking Frank, if it were me I'd probably do the same thing," Denise told him rubbing his hand.
"No you wouldn't," Frank replied rubbing her arm. "You'd know what I'd want. You always do."
She nodded.
"You feeling better now honey?" he asked. "Do you want to tell me what happened?"
She shook her head "No."
"Is there anything I can do?"
She shook her head again and burrowed into his arms
He kissed her head and held her, "I love you."
"I love you too."
He held her like that all night, he never moved, if she'd let him do this with her, he'd take it. These were the special moments for him, other men made jokes about how pretty and sexy she was and what their life was like in the bedroom, that had it's place, but this...this is what mattered most.
