"I just put Jason to bed," Trina whispered as she returned to the living room.
"He's getting older," Mendel said with a smile, pouring a bottle of wine into two glasses. "Pretty soon, he won't need to be getting tucked into bed every night by his mother."
"I know," she said, sitting on the couch and holding her face in her hands. "It's just…I don't know what I'm saying."
"It's fine," Mendel said as he brought the wine glasses to the living room, setting them down on the coffee table. He put an arm around Trina and began rubbing her back. She smiled and brought her hands down.
"You don't have to know what to say," he explained. "That's normal."
"That's good," she said, her smile staying. "I don't know if any bit of my life has ever been normal before."
He frowned, knowing that was true from what she told him.
"Do you wanna talk about it?" He asked, trying to help.
"Talk about what? My ex?"
Mendel shrugged.
"If it'll help, then sure. Talk about your ex."
Trina sighed and looked down, not answering him. It was then that Mendel decided to take the opportunity to offer the wine.
"A drink for m'lady?" He asked, holding out the glass. She smiled and took it gladly.
"Thank you," she said softly, taking a sip. "I needed this."
"How was your day?" He asked, trying to start up a simple conversation. Her face changed instantly as anger boiled up inside her.
"Did you hear that Marvin and Whizzer are back together?" Trina asked harshly. Mendel only shrugged.
"No, I didn't hear it," he said simply. "Well, they're lovers. You can't keep lovers apart."
"I hate how happy they are," she snapped. "It's…it's…well, I don't know what it is."
"You think that because Marvin is your ex, that he shouldn't be happy with anyone else but you, perhaps?" He suggested, only trying to help.
"I hate Marvin," she sighed, staring down at her glass. "I do. He's an asshole and I wouldn't trade the world for you."
With that line, she smiled and pulled her new husband into a kiss. Mendel was the one who pulled away, taking her hand.
"Oh, let me go get dinner for you!" She said, jumping up.
"Trina…" He started.
"You just got home," Trina explained. "You missed dinner. Let me just go and heat it up for you, that's all."
"Okay…" Mendel sighed and nodded. It seemed like it was impossible for Trina to ever relax, even after they had gotten married. He would try to get her to loosen up, but she never could.
He wasn't paying attention to why or how, but the glass slipped from her hand, breaking and spilling wine over the floor.
"Oh, shit!" She panicked, hurrying into the hall. Mendel frowned and followed her as she scrambled through the closet, looking for her cleaning supplies.
"Trina," he said softly, grabbing onto her arms. "Breathe."
She frowned but took a few deep breaths.
"It is a carpet stain," Mendel said, a slight smile growing on his face.
She sighed and tried to make her way out of his arms.
"I should still clean it up before it's permanent," Trina said, returning back to looking through the closet.
"Trina, darling?" Mendel called out. "Why do you need to clean it up?"
She laughed.
"Because we want everything to look lovely when someone comes over," she said as if it was obvious. She turned to face her husband, who was looking at her. He still didn't understand.
"Name one person who would come into this house and get upset at you for there being a single stain on the carpet."
She frowned.
"This is what I get for marrying a psychiatrist," she laughed, but there was a pain behind her joke.
"Marvin," she said finally. Mendel let out a snort.
"Have you seen his apartment?" He laughed. "I recently had the pleasure to visit his place. You should see it, now that's a mess."
Trina wasn't laughing. Instead, she had found her kit and was making her way back to the living room to clean. Mendel sighed and grabbed her by the hand.
"Trina," he whispered. "Leave it."
Her eyes went wide.
"I'm serious," he said with a smile, "it's okay. No one's gonna care about some little stain on the carpet."
She frowned, already trying to object.
"I'm sorry how Marvin treated you in the past," Mendel continued. "But he's gone now and it's okay. You don't have to worry anymore. There's no one here that's going to hurt you, or judge you, or anything for one little imperfection."
She dropped her head down, trying not to cry, as he pulled her into a hug.
"It's okay," he whispered, rubbing her back again. "It's okay."
Trina sniffled and pulled away, looking up at him.
"I'm gonna have to clean up the glass," she whispered and he nodded.
"Okay," he said, finding and pulling the dustpan and broom from the closet. "We can clean up the glass together."
He wrapped his arm around her, leading her back into the living room. Trina took the broom as Mendel got down onto his knees beside the mess, holding out the dustpan. She swept the pieces of shattered glass into the dustpan and he could tell it was hard for her to try and ignore the purple stain on the ground.
Mendel sighed and stood, disposing the shards of glass into the garbage can. When he turned around, he saw her, staring down at the ground. He made his way around her and placed his hands on her shoulders, beginning to massage and ease the tension. She smiled and seemed to relax a little as he did.
"It looks pretty like that, doesn't it?" He asked. "Like a…an art piece. The one splatter of purple in the boring grey carpet. A statement of our society."
Trina actually laughed at that. It had been a long time since he heard that laugh.
"I guess," she said quietly.
"No one's gonna see it," Mendel said softly. "And if they do, so what? The little imperfections in life are what make us human. They're what make life worth living, right?"
She nodded and let out a sigh.
"I love you," she whispered, turning around.
"I love you, too." He said, kissing her forehead. "And you're perfect in your little imperfect ways. It's okay. You don't have to prove yourself anymore. Nothing you say or do is going to stop me from loving you."
Trina smiled and Mendel pulled her into a hug.
"It's gonna be alright, I promise you," he said. "Everything will be alright."