"I love this color." She held up a bottle of nail polish for Liesl to view, a bright smile upon the girl's face. They had been preparing themselves all day for their visit to the opera that evening, washing their hair, cold cream facials, anything they could think of to make them feel special for a special evening. They had purchased various nail polish shades the day prior, and, while Maria could say she had maybe only painted her nails once in her life, she was happy to go along with it if it made Liesl happy. Bringing her houseguest joy had become her new favorite pastime.

"I think it's beautiful. But do you think Father would be upset with me wearing red?"

"Perhaps, but I believe he left you in my care, didn't he?" They giggled, and Maria opened the bottle to begin painting. She couldn't say she was great at the task, but at least she stuck fairly strictly to only painting the girl's fingernails rather than her skin. She had chosen a more subtle pink for herself, knowing that Otto would expect her to be less bold.

"What do you think about lipstick to match?" Maria laughed, shaking her head.

"Even I can't permit that, you are still only seventeen." Liesl joined in her laughter.

"It was worth a try." She beamed at how grown her former charge was, nearly a woman herself all of a sudden. While she had been obsessed with boys, or one in particular, the previous summer, she was currently more interested in her education after she graduated. She had aspirations of traveling abroad, perhaps getting her teaching degree like Maria. She had dreams of experiencing the world, learning anything and everything she could learn.

Maria smiled to Liesl as she met her at the bottom of the stairs, both dressed in their evening gowns. She felt tears welling in her eyes at the sight of the beautiful young woman before her, perfect and gorgeous for her first night out at the opera. She caught herself wishing Georg was there to see his eldest daughter looking so exquisite…and then she smiled to herself when she realized that he would have taken one look at her before telling her she couldn't go after all.

"You look beautiful, darling." Otto appeared from the study, adjusting one of his cuff links, before stepping over to her and placing a kiss to her cheek. She smiled, quite happy to accept a compliment.

"Thank you. And doesn't Liesl look stunning?" He caught her suggestion loud and clear as he stepped forward and took Liesl's hand, placing a very formal kiss to the back of it.

"You look absolutely marvelous, my dear. We will certainly have to keep an eye on you with all the eligible young men this evening." She blushed heavily, looking to Maria for confirmation.

"Do you really think so?" Maria laughed as Otto gathered her wrap and placed it over her shoulders.

"I think your father would drive all this way to personally strangle me if I allowed you to so much as look at a boy tonight." She laughed as well, fiddling with her clutch purse as she shared a smile of excitement with Maria.

They entered the opera house a bit early, giving in to Otto's compulsion about being early to everything. Maria and Liesl looped arms as they got out of the car, laughing and pointing to all the beautiful paintings that littered the walls. The chandeliers were perfection, golden and bright. Liesl was very clearly in awe of everything, perhaps a bit shocked by the mad amounts of people who were packed into the building. It became very crowded very quickly, becoming the place where all of Otto's friends and business partners were spending their evening.

Maria was glad to ignore the small talk with Otto, happily introducing Liesl to a few women that she knew and allowing them to fawn over her. She felt as if she were showing off her own daughter, so full of pride and delight. The girl must have seen her father do the dance of small talk so many times in her life, as she was a complete natural at navigating conversation. Maria wished she had been so cultured. Even currently she would have trouble knowing what to talk about from time to time. She could certainly always find words! They just never quite seemed to link up to the interests of those around her.

The lights began to flicker, signaling that it was time to take their seats. She turned to find Liesl, smiling to her as they began to link arms once more and enter, but Otto was suddenly standing directly in front of them. She nearly rolled her eyes, able to see his attitude from miles away. He had mostly been on his best behavior since their return to Vienna, presumably due to the fact that he had been working so much, she assumed, but it was only a matter of time before she did something wrong in his eyes.

"Are you alright, darling?" She smiled, hoping to ease whatever mood he was in. She very much wanted to keep things light and enjoyable that evening.

"Are you going to at least pretend to be here with me?" His words were harsh, and she felt Liesl withdraw at her side, clearly nervous about any sort of conflict. She did her best to maintain her smile, patting Liesl's hand in comfort and unlinking their arms to take her husband's arm instead. If it was really that important to him, she could certainly walk to their seats with him, she thought as she restrained an eye roll. He pulled her a bit harshly, but she didn't want to make a fuss in front of Liesl, so she merely smiled brighter and continued walking with him.

xxxxx

She undressed after they returned home from the opera, frustration bubbling in her chest from their evening. Liesl had a marvelous time, she saw to that with great effort. The girl was absolutely beaming the entire performance, and it made everything else worth it. Her own time, however, had been anything but enjoyable. They sat in a box with a couple of Otto's work colleagues, and it seemed they could not stop talking business, which she found quite disrespectful during the performance. Not to mention the fact that he had begun poking fun at her quite a lot. Perhaps to somehow impress his colleagues, she wasn't sure. He hadn't said anything particularly hurtful, nothing that really hurt her feelings in any way, yet she found his antics to be less than desirable. He was not at all humorous like he thought he was.

"Are you listening?" She jumped at the harshness of his voice, blushing a bit as she pulled her nightgown over her head.

"What we're you saying?" He scoffed, kicking off his shoes.

"I swear, your head is constantly in the clouds." She had heard that many times in her life, but she couldn't help herself. She spent a lot of time in her own head, after all. She ran her fingers through her hair, loosening the hairspray as she walked toward the bathroom to wash her face.

She didn't even feel guilty anymore that she didn't care at all what he was talking about. She assumed it was something about work or his friends, perhaps a party he wanted to attend, she didn't care. He was always talking about something irrelevant and meaningless to her. Not like Georg. When he spoke, she wanted to hear and absorb every single word that came out of his mouth, every syllable. Everything about him was…

No, she couldn't think about him, not in that way. She had already crossed the line by the amount of times she had been on the phone with him that week. It started off with the conversation after Liesl had phoned him, and then it quickly turned into every night since. Her husband would be running late from work or she would say she was going to bed, but she would phone him the moment she was alone. She was playing with fire, she knew, as the next time she saw him she had every intention of throwing herself into his arms. And she had nobody to blame but herself, as she had been the one to initiate their nightly chats every single time. Though, she had a feeling he waited for her call each night. He knew at least not to expect a call from her the night of the opera, as she expected they would be out quite late anyway.

She brushed her teeth and sighed in relief that it was finally time for bed as she made her way back to the bedroom. She began pulling down her side of the bed, excited for sleep and, dare she say, more dreams of Georg. He had consumed her, whether he intended to or not, and she was no longer trying to resist her own feelings. She had already made the decision. When she took Liesl home in a few days, she would not be returning to Vienna. Otto wouldn't know until it was too late and she was out of his grasp. She was going to pack her carpet bag and never look back. It wouldn't all be that simple, she knew, but in his arms she could do anything she set her mind to.

"Ugh, you have got to be joking." Otto had crept up behind her, grasping her around the waist and pressing sloppy kisses to the back of her neck. She hated when he did that, but she was equally surprised that he was doing it while sober. It typically took quite a bit of alcohol for him to be that pushy and messy toward her.

"You looked so beautiful tonight." She rolled her eyes, annoyed by his touch. There was a time she would have been so happy to hear a compliment from him. Could he really not feel the distance between them?

"Honestly."

"What's wrong?"

"I'm tired." He scoffed, still not letting go of her.

"I would think with my working so much this week that you would be thrilled to share a moment together." So many responses floated about in her mind. One, she was never thrilled to share that kind of a moment with him. Two, she had been having the time of her life without him hovering over her every move. Three, he wasn't the man she loved. Four…

"I'm just exhausted. I've been entertaining for nearly two weeks."

"Yes, shopping and sightseeing with a seventeen year old girl really is hard work." She pushed his hands away, finally breaking their contact, and he couldn't believe she had been so forceful. "What the hell is your problem, Maria?"

"I told you no, and I want you to respect that."

"Honestly, I don't know how much energy you think you'll need to just lie there." She wasn't sure she heard him correctly for a moment, but she quickly turned to meet his eyes at the obvious insult.

"And how would you like me to be?" He shrugged, obviously having many answers to her question.

"You could pretend to be at least moderately interested."

"It doesn't last long enough for me to become interested." He stepped toward her quickly, and she involuntarily flinched, but he stopped himself when he saw her reaction.

"Are you still afraid I'll hurt you?" His voice sounded…offended? Not at all concerned for her feelings, but only how she was reacting toward him. He could not have been a more arrogant man.

"Otto…I'm tired." She sat upon the bed, tucking herself beneath the covers as she began adjusting for sleep. She rolled away from him, closing her eyes. All she wanted was for him to go away.

"You do realize that being a wife comes with more duties than simply spending my money and going to the opera." She ignored him, easily able to see that he was baiting her, trying to get her to start an argument with him. They had played that game far too many times before for her to give in.

Her body jumped involuntarily as she heard the door slam behind her in frustration.