Love Blown Away

After I'd had one too many drinks at a work dinner, my wife sent the university student she was sponsoring to pick me up. It was the fifth time that month. Faith Cameron gritted her teeth through the smell of vomit I'd left all over her and got me into the bedroom before disappearing into the kitchen. Lying in bed, I pulled up a video that had just come through, bored out of my mind. In the dim light of the frame, my wife, Cassidy Solen, sat hunched over a glass, drinking away her irritation. Her voice was thick with annoyance. "Preston's flying back in two days, and I still can't shake the one at home. It's exhausting." A bitter ache rose in my chest, and I dragged a hand down my face. When I looked up, Faith had come in wearing a thin shirt, carrying a bowl of hangover soup. "Mr. Kempton, the soup's ready." I switched off my phone with a blank expression, then reached out and pulled her against my shoulder, chuckling. "You can finish the job tonight." The next morning, I posted to my social feed: [Turns out I've been way too hard on myself. Should've tried the sporty, full of energy type sooner.] The photo showed a bedroom in complete disarray. One minute later, my phone was ringing off the hook. My wife, who couldn't seem to shake me no matter how hard she tried, was calling nonstop.