Woman to Woman #9

This week in Tuesday Tales, the snippet comes from Woman to Woman. This story is a woman-to-woman romance, so scenes will be of a F/F nature. If this offends you, feel free to move onto to another Tuesday Tales snippet.

In Tuesday Tales, a group of authors write to a word or picture prompt each week. This week we’re writing to the prompt ‘question.’

Enjoy the snippet here, then go check out the other delightful tales you’ll find at Tuesday Tales.

Dave pulled the truck into a shady spot near Paige’s favorite picnic table nestled in amongst a stand of tall, stately pine trees. It offered some relief from the intense desert sun and the scorching heat that had returned once the monsoon season had ended.

Paige bit into her sandwich. With each lingering moment of silence, the bread seemed to dry and shrivel in the ominous quiet. Finally, she couldn’t stand it and blurted out the question, “What’s the matter?”

Dave replied in such a quiet voice that she almost couldn’t hear his answer. “I found your magazines.”

The blood drained from her face. The last bite of sandwich, just recently swallowed, settled at the bottom of her stomach like a lead balloon. The portion she’d just bitten off lodged in her throat, threatening to choke her. Which maybe wasn’t a bad thing. Her life ending right now might be the easiest way out of this predicament.

She found the courage, or the brazenness to ask, “How’d you find my magazines?”

“I fell when I got out of bed this morning and caught myself on the dresser. Your drawer broke and when I took it out to fix, I found them hidden in the bottom of your drawer.”

Of course, Paige later discovered that this was a lie. She would discover later, the hard way, that he was systemically and repeating going through her belongings while she was at work. But what could she say? How do you fight the lies of one person when mistruths come out of your own mouth?

Years earlier, in the new beginnings of their relationship, Paige had struggled as she learned to cope with Dave’s dark, stormy, brooding moods. Those were nothing compared to what she had to live with now. Each day found each of them struggling to hold on to two realities that were incompatible with each other.

Dave wanted their old life back, their old relationship, the image he had of what it should be. All of a sudden, he now called her his ‘wife’, even though he’d had ten years to legally bind their relationship and make her his wife. Now, he pressed to proceed where he hadn’t needed to go in ten years.

Paige had her sights set on new territory. She’d been there for the past ten years, even without the legal bond of matrimony. She didn’t care to go on in the same situation for another ten years. She was looking at the proverbial grass on the other side of the fence. And it did appear to be greener. And this truly was ‘the other side of the fence.’ It was one she contemplated jumping every day.

Was this a fence that was worth jumping?

It seemed so at the time.

Check out the other delightful tales you’ll find at Tuesday Tales.