CHAPTER SIX
'The agents organised a stopover in Copenhagen the week before the forum,' Trinity said to Neo one afternoon. 'We'll be able to visit Denmark for a little while before we go over to Sweden. I've always wanted to go to Denmark. My grandmother was Danish.' She stood and adjusted Pia's playpen. Now thirteen months old, their little girl was so inquisitive. 'And the forum tickets have to be renewed the day before,' she said, 'or else we won't be admitted to the Institute -'
Neo came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist, and lightly kissed her exposed neck. 'Trin,' he murmured, 'don't get yourself so worked up over this forum. The Oracle says it will be okay. Let's just relax, okay? Enjoy it while we can. I don't know what will happen after this.'
Trinity freed herself from his grasp. 'But we have to plan,' she said. 'We can't just hope that we can wander in and they'll accommodate us.' She busied herself with wiping Pia's face with a wet facecloth.
Neo sighed. He'd noticed, especially over the past six or seven months, that Trinity had become - well, so un-Trin-like. She was so uptight and serious these days. She'd always been serious, of course. She'd never been somebody who laughed or joked or even smiled a lot. But these days, she fussed and clucked over Pia almost obsessively, and had a set agenda for everything. She was no longer the buffed, matrix arse-kicking queen he once knew. She was rather housewifely now, and quite soft. And she'd been showing him less and less affection lately. It worried him. He still loved her more than anything in the world, and even more so than the day they first kissed, more than the day they'd married, more than yesterday even. But she'd gone rather cold and distant. He wondered if something had happened to her he did not know about. He knew women were complicated creatures; but this had been going on for a long time now.
'Trin,' he said, 'you've changed.'
Immediately after saying it, he wished he hadn't. It was a verbal extension of his thoughts, and he hadn't intentionally set out to say these words aloud. He knew that, if anything, it could make her worse. She stiffened and bent over the edge of the playpen, lowering Pia into it. His daughter giggled as she crawled about, clutching her rattle gleefully and flahsing a rather adorable smile at her parents.
'People do that, Neo.'
'I know,' he said, 'but...well...you're different. You hardly touch me anymore. Pia gets more attention than I do. And,' he added, 'you're so secretive and so distant. I feel like I hardly know you.'
Trinity stood, and considered her response well before she spoke it. 'Listen, I'm a mother now. I have other things to think about. I'm trying to forget about the matrix, okay? I don't want to be constantly reminded of it. I want to look at my daughter and imagine a better future.'
'What about your husband? Doesn't he count?'
'Of course he does.' But she didn't sound convinced.
'Your husband wants to forget the matrix, and imagine a better future too. But he hardly gets a chance with his daughter, let alone his wife, because they're always together.'
Trinity maintained a levelled gaze. 'I don't know,' she said. 'I just don't know if I feel the same way I once did, Neo. Things are changing. I feel different. I have my emotions too.'
'Damnit, Trinity,' he said. 'I love you. I can't stand not being with you, or having you acting so cold toward me. Please. Tell me that you love me.' He swallowed, trying to choke back tears. 'Because you haven't for so long.'
Trinity's expression was still stony. 'Neo, I need time to think. I'm going to go and stay with Niobe and Morpheus for awhile. I'm sorry, but I have to. I need to get my thoughts together. Things are so complicated. And,' she added, 'I'm going to take Pia.'
Tears swam in Neo's eyes and clouded his vision. 'Trin, please,' he said. 'Can't we just talk and work it out? I don't know what's gone wrong, but whatever it is, I'll do anything in my power to fix it.'
'I'll see you in a couple of weeks,' she said, ignoring his comment. She moved toward him. 'I'm going to pack now.' She planted a cold kiss on his cheek before climbing the stairs.
Neo crumpled in a chair beside his playpen, tears streaming down his face, and the ache clutching his entire body excruciating in its intensity. He felt as though his heart were breaking. Without Pia...without Trinity...he was nothing. Nothing. How could he bear the weight of knowing that he and Trin would be apart for a time; might be apart forever; that Trinity might not love him anymore?
---------------------------
AUTHOR'S NOTE:
Things will be revealed in due course. I ask you to keep an open mind. It was hard for me to write it, let alone re-read it. But the story would be incomplete without it.
Updates will occur every couple of days.
---------------------------
'The agents organised a stopover in Copenhagen the week before the forum,' Trinity said to Neo one afternoon. 'We'll be able to visit Denmark for a little while before we go over to Sweden. I've always wanted to go to Denmark. My grandmother was Danish.' She stood and adjusted Pia's playpen. Now thirteen months old, their little girl was so inquisitive. 'And the forum tickets have to be renewed the day before,' she said, 'or else we won't be admitted to the Institute -'
Neo came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist, and lightly kissed her exposed neck. 'Trin,' he murmured, 'don't get yourself so worked up over this forum. The Oracle says it will be okay. Let's just relax, okay? Enjoy it while we can. I don't know what will happen after this.'
Trinity freed herself from his grasp. 'But we have to plan,' she said. 'We can't just hope that we can wander in and they'll accommodate us.' She busied herself with wiping Pia's face with a wet facecloth.
Neo sighed. He'd noticed, especially over the past six or seven months, that Trinity had become - well, so un-Trin-like. She was so uptight and serious these days. She'd always been serious, of course. She'd never been somebody who laughed or joked or even smiled a lot. But these days, she fussed and clucked over Pia almost obsessively, and had a set agenda for everything. She was no longer the buffed, matrix arse-kicking queen he once knew. She was rather housewifely now, and quite soft. And she'd been showing him less and less affection lately. It worried him. He still loved her more than anything in the world, and even more so than the day they first kissed, more than the day they'd married, more than yesterday even. But she'd gone rather cold and distant. He wondered if something had happened to her he did not know about. He knew women were complicated creatures; but this had been going on for a long time now.
'Trin,' he said, 'you've changed.'
Immediately after saying it, he wished he hadn't. It was a verbal extension of his thoughts, and he hadn't intentionally set out to say these words aloud. He knew that, if anything, it could make her worse. She stiffened and bent over the edge of the playpen, lowering Pia into it. His daughter giggled as she crawled about, clutching her rattle gleefully and flahsing a rather adorable smile at her parents.
'People do that, Neo.'
'I know,' he said, 'but...well...you're different. You hardly touch me anymore. Pia gets more attention than I do. And,' he added, 'you're so secretive and so distant. I feel like I hardly know you.'
Trinity stood, and considered her response well before she spoke it. 'Listen, I'm a mother now. I have other things to think about. I'm trying to forget about the matrix, okay? I don't want to be constantly reminded of it. I want to look at my daughter and imagine a better future.'
'What about your husband? Doesn't he count?'
'Of course he does.' But she didn't sound convinced.
'Your husband wants to forget the matrix, and imagine a better future too. But he hardly gets a chance with his daughter, let alone his wife, because they're always together.'
Trinity maintained a levelled gaze. 'I don't know,' she said. 'I just don't know if I feel the same way I once did, Neo. Things are changing. I feel different. I have my emotions too.'
'Damnit, Trinity,' he said. 'I love you. I can't stand not being with you, or having you acting so cold toward me. Please. Tell me that you love me.' He swallowed, trying to choke back tears. 'Because you haven't for so long.'
Trinity's expression was still stony. 'Neo, I need time to think. I'm going to go and stay with Niobe and Morpheus for awhile. I'm sorry, but I have to. I need to get my thoughts together. Things are so complicated. And,' she added, 'I'm going to take Pia.'
Tears swam in Neo's eyes and clouded his vision. 'Trin, please,' he said. 'Can't we just talk and work it out? I don't know what's gone wrong, but whatever it is, I'll do anything in my power to fix it.'
'I'll see you in a couple of weeks,' she said, ignoring his comment. She moved toward him. 'I'm going to pack now.' She planted a cold kiss on his cheek before climbing the stairs.
Neo crumpled in a chair beside his playpen, tears streaming down his face, and the ache clutching his entire body excruciating in its intensity. He felt as though his heart were breaking. Without Pia...without Trinity...he was nothing. Nothing. How could he bear the weight of knowing that he and Trin would be apart for a time; might be apart forever; that Trinity might not love him anymore?
---------------------------
AUTHOR'S NOTE:
Things will be revealed in due course. I ask you to keep an open mind. It was hard for me to write it, let alone re-read it. But the story would be incomplete without it.
Updates will occur every couple of days.
---------------------------