"What's wrong Syb?" Tom asked, staying close to her as they sat side by side in bed.
"Nothing," she replied, averting her gaze from his.
"Syb, love, you've barely spoken to me for days. Something's getting to you. I want to help. But I can't if I don't know what the problem is."
Tom leaned over and lifted Sybil's chin gently with his finger.
"Syb, I love you. The last thing I want is for you to be unhappy," he said. "Please let me help."
"I'm not unhappy, exactly," Sybil said. "I just feel unjustly guilty."
"Guilty? Guilty about what?" Tom asked.
Sybil turned to face her body to Tom more directly.
"Do you remember Lewis from Charlotte's wedding a few months ago?" Sybil asked.
Tom frowned, clearly not remembering. He had always been terrible with names.
"Really tall," Sybil said. "Dark hair, I think he was wearing a purple jacket that day –"
"Jawline that could cut glass?" Tom asked, thinking he remembered now.
"Yeah!" Sybil said. "Well, all week he's been hitting on me at work."
"Ooh, have I got competition?" Tom mocked.
"No, of course you haven't, don't be stupid," Sybil said, pushing him away playfully.
"What's wrong then? He likes you," Tom said. "Doesn't that make you feel loved?"
"It makes me feel weird," Sybil said. "He knows I'm married. He knows you and I are inseparable. I've asked him to stop saying things that make me uncomfortable, but he won't give it up."
"Have you told HR?" Tom asked, suddenly more serious.
"I don't trust them to take me seriously," Sybil said.
"Love, they're literally paid to take you seriously on these sorts of matters," Tom said. "You've got to tell them, honey. If he's making you uncomfortable you need to tell someone so that he can be told to stop it."
"I don't want to be a burden," Sybil said. "I don't want to create more work for people unnecessarily."
"I know, love, but in this case it is necessary. You've got a heart the size of a planet and you put everyone before yourself. You need to learn that sometimes you need to put you before everyone else. You need love too, you know."
"I've got love," she said. "I've got you, haven't I?"
"Always," Tom said, leaning in to kiss Sybil gently. "But I can't give you everything," he said.
Sybil looked down into her lap, admitting defeat, knowing full well that Tom was right.
"You are the most important woman in the world to me Sybil. You need to look after yourself."
"I know."
"Promise me that you'll go and talk to HR tomorrow?"
Sybil nodded. "Promise."
"Good," Tom said, wrapping his fingers round the back of Sybil's head and pulling it towards him so that he could kiss her forehead. "I love you. You deserve the best. You deserve to be treated right."
"I've got the best," Sybil said, smiling up at Tom. "You always know how to make me feel better."
"I learnt from the best," he said with a smirk.
He and Sybil were made for each other. They argued and they contradicted each other and they didn't always get on like perhaps a married couple is expected to, but nobody could deny that they were perfect for one another.
I was supposed to be doing work today. This is just about the only semi-productive thing I've managed to do all day. So I hope you enjoy it. That way, I suppose, I won't have wasted my entire day.