Whilst she cooked dinner Stephanie felt on edge, there was something about the way that Stuart was acting that made her nervous and she was worried that any second now he was going to snap and she would regret it.
Finishing off dinner she got two plates out of the cupboard and placed them beside the stove before she started to dish the food onto the plates. Once the plates were full she turned around and placed them on the table with one being in front of Stuart, "tuck in."
Picking up his knife and fork he started to tuck into dinner immediately screwing up his nose, "did you not put any seasoning on this?"
Gulping she shook her head, "stir fry tastes so much nicer without any strong flavours as it is such a fresh meal with those fresh vegetables and noddles. Do you want some extra seasoning like some salt and pepper?"
"No it's okay, I will eat it as it is."
Dinner was eaten in relative silence as Stephanie was on edge that he would snap any second and he would get angry at her.
When dinner was finished she immediately got up and started to gather the dishes together, "I'm just going to do these up."
Nodding his head Stuart pushed his chair back, "that's fine, I don't like messy kitchens and if you didn't clear them up then this kitchen would definitely be messy. I will be in the lounge watching TV if you want me."
She could only watch on in shock as he walked out of the room leaving her to wash, dry and put all of the dishes away all by herself. Moving to the sink she started to stack them all together as the began running hot water in the sink to wash the dishes in.
Thirty minutes later and she had managed to wash, dry and put all of the dishes away so now she was planning to relax with her boyfriend providing he acted normally. Walking into the lounge she sat down next to him on the couch and turned to the TV to see what he was watching frowning when she saw that it was Sports Center, "do you want to watch a movie or something? Unless you have to go or something."
Pointing towards the TV he frowned, "can't you see that I'm watching Sports Center? Do you not want to watch this?"
The pointed look he gave her was more than enough of a reason for her not to disagree with him, "no it's okay, I don't mind at all."
Sitting on the opposite side of the couch she pulled her knees up and relaxed as best she could whilst her mind drifted wondering why he was acting so cold with her and what she had done that was so wrong to piss him off this much.
Paul hadn't heard from Stephanie since he had texted her to tell her about dinner next week but despite knowing that he was overreacting he wanted to check up on her but the last thing he wanted to do. He knew Rebecca was coming over soon to pick Shawn up as they were going out for the evening so he would wait for her to arrive and hope he could convince her to let him borrow her phone to check up on Stephanie.
It wasn't long until there was a knock at the door and Shawn was shouting from his bedroom for Paul to answer the door for him. Getting up from his seat on the couch Paul walked to the front door and opened it smiling when he saw Rebecca, "you will be surprised to hear that Shawn isn't ready so why don't you come and take a seat whilst you wait."
Chuckling at his comment Rebecca walked inside, "so have you heard from Steph?"
Shaking his head he shut the door behind her, "I wish. I was going to ask if I could borrow your phone to text her and check up on her please?"
Pulling her phone from her pocket she handed it over, "be my guest."
Smiling gratefully he took the phone from her hand before they both took a seat on the couch and he wrote out a text:
Hi Steph it's Rebecca, Paul gave me your number. I was just wondering how you were doing? I'm bored as I'm waiting on Shawn to finish getting ready.
Showing the text to Rebecca he waited for her agreement before he sent it.
Hearing her phone beeping from out in the hall Stephanie got up from her seat and went to retrieve it grateful for the excuse to move and get away from the sport that was currently on TV. Opening the text she smiled when she saw it was from Rebecca and carried her phone into the lounge and took a seat back on the couch ready to answer her:
I'm doing okay thanks, just having a relaxing evening with Stuart. Exactly how long does Shawn take to get ready?
When he received the text back from Stephanie Paul immediately opened it frowning when he saw that she was spending the evening with her boyfriend, "urrgghh, I can't believe she is spending the evening with Stuart."
Turning to look at him she wasn't surprised to hear that and she was hoping that deep down he wasn't really surprised either after what she had told him last night, "you didn't really expect her not to spend any time with him did you?"
Shaking his head he didn't but it didn't make thing any easier for him, "no not really but it doesn't mean that I like to hear that she is spending time with him because now I'll be on edge incase he snaps and attacks her again. This is such a mess or is it just me?"
"It's not just you Paul but you just have to be patient and be there for her, she will come to the conclusion all on her own that he isn't right for her so just be patient okay?"
Grumbling lowly he ignored her comment and focussed on replying to Stephanie:
I hope your evening is nice. It depends on the mood Shawn is in, it can be quick or it can be slow and tonight it is really slow and really painful.
Sending the text he sat back and waited for a response hoping Shawn didn't finish getting ready any time soon.
Watching her phone Stephanie was waiting for it to beep as she was looking forward to seeing what she had to say. When it beeped and she opened the text she openly laughed at the content.
Hearing his girlfriend laugh Stuart turned his attention to Stephanie, "why are you laughing?"
Motioning to the phone in her hands she wasn't sure what he wanted her to say as it was obvious, "the text I received was funny."
Snatching the phone from her hands he was going to see for himself who was bothering his girlfriend when they were spending some quality time together.