“Nathaniel and I had a fight.” I shook my head, remembering. “Or it would have been a fight if he hadn’t slept in a separate room.”

“You want to talk about it?”

I didn’t think I did. I had never been one to make idle chitchat or complain to others about Nathaniel. Not only would doing so have been an insult to him. I also thought it unfair to the people I would complain to. Why should I burden them with all the negative stuff in my marriage? Because that’s mostly what the women I knew did. Then later when I’d be around the person I complained to, everything felt awkward. At least on my side.

“No,” I replied. “I don’t want you jaded next time you see him.”

“Okay, suit yourself.”

Jackson stuck his head in the doorway. “Hey, Abby, I was getting the kids a snack—can I get you something to eat or drink?”

Nathaniel’s cousin was a huge block of a man, but he had a charming smile and a playful manner. In fact, I couldn’t remember ever seeing him angry or with anything other than a grin or smile lighting up his face. It went without saying, he was great with kids. “No, I’m fine, thank you.”

“Why don’t you and Nathaniel and the kids come have dinner tonight? We haven’t seen you guys for ages.”

It was so tempting. I loved being around Felicia and Jackson, and their kids were a delightful source of entertainment. But it’d be awkward considering the issues Nathaniel and I were having.

“I better not,” I told him. “I’m really tired and Nathaniel said he might be late tonight. He has a meeting in the city.”

Of course, Felicia’s ears perked up at that.

“All right, well, when you talk to your husband, have him call me. We’ll work something out.” He crossed the room to where Felicia still sat up and brushed his lips against her cheek. “Ready to eat?”

She whispered something to him and he just laughed.

“You wouldn’t know anyone who could teach Felicia how to knit, would you?” he asked, eyeing the mass of yarn that had escaped the blanket.

“No, can’t say I do. I can bring some audio books by if you’d like. Oh, I know! How about some foreign language CDs? You could learn a new language.” It sounded like a great idea, until I saw how Felicia was looking at me.

“Are you serious?” she asked. “Learn a second language?”

“I think it’s a great idea,” Jackson said and then looked down to his wife with playful mischief in his eyes. “You should learn Italian so next time we go to Italy I don’t have egg on my pizza.” He shivered as if remembering the taste. “Nasty.”

“I think that was France,” Felicia replied. “And I thought it was very tasty.”

“That’s because you’re into strange and wacky food,” he teased. “Only chicken parts I want on my pizza is meat.”

I stood up. “Henry and I better head home.” I leaned over and hugged her. “I’ll come back over this weekend.”

Henry went down for a nap as soon as we got home. Playing with the twins must have worn him out. I slipped out of my shoes, let Apollo out, and made myself a cup of decaf coffee. If Nathaniel had been with me, he’d have made his delicious hot cocoa, but I’d never been able to make a cup quite as good as his, so I stuck with coffee.

I turned the TV on and flipped through a few channels, but nothing caught my eye. I wasn’t in the mood for a movie. There was an unread paperback on the coffee table, but again, it was a romance and I just didn’t have it in me to read one at the moment.

I took out my phone and brushed my thumb along Nathaniel’s contact information, trying to decide if I wanted to send him a text. But he was at work and since I’d all but accused him of sleeping with Charlene, I didn’t want to give the impression I was checking up on him.

I scrolled through my e-mails and noticed the blog had received a good number of questions. I tapped my fingers against the top of the phone. Maybe I could answer a few on the blog. Sort of like a teaser of what my TV segment would be like.

I grabbed my laptop from my tote bag and powered it up. I’d answer only a few and I’d keep everything short. I wasn’t a therapist. The first question was easy.

Dear Submissive Wife,

Have you ever gotten angry during a scene?

Uncontrolled

I typed out a quick reply.

Dear Uncontrolled,

Yes, I have. But most of the time I’m angry at myself for disappointing my Master. If you find yourself so angry you can’t focus, you should safeword and discuss what’s going on with your Dom.