The Perks of Opening Up

Xavier Bates proposed opening our relationship after we had a huge fight.

The reason for the fight was simple. It was my birthday, but he wanted to leave after getting a call from Reyna Linquist.

"She sprained her foot, and no one is helping her. I have to go," the hero declared frantically without even looking me in the eye.

I stepped in front of the door to stop him. "B-But today's my birthday, Xavier... I..."

He frowned.

"You have a birthday every year!" he snapped. "But Reyna has no one else to look after her. Be the bigger woman."

I could not understand why not wanting him to leave somehow made me small-hearted. I also failed to see how a young woman spraining her foot was more important than celebrating my birthday with me. It was not even the first time he had abandoned me because something had come up with Reyna.

Reyna was my husband's research assistant. She was terrible at her job, too. She could not read or consolidate data at all.

Xavier used to come home and complain about her, calling her as dense as a rock and too dull-witted to ever improve. He had apparently even shouted at her so harshly that she cried.

I used to chastise him for it.

"Stop calling her those names! She sounds like a sensitive young woman. Don't shout at her like that!"

I did not think much of it when he started smiling whenever he mentioned Reyna.

"She finally got the data analysis right. I guess she's not as hopeless as I thought."

"She earned a scholarship! She insisted on treating me to a meal."

At the time, I felt relieved. It seemed the professor and his assistant had finally developed a much better working relationship.

Last month, I learned to make clam chowder from our housekeeper. My hands blistered from mishandling the hot pot, and I made plenty of mistakes along the way, but I was thrilled with the result. I filled a thermos with the chowder and went to Xavier's college so he could try it.

The door to his office was unlocked. It stood slightly ajar, so I pushed it open.

Reyna was hugging him with her head against his chest and one arm wrapped around his waist.

My blood ran cold. Tears sprang to my eyes.

"W-What are you doing?!" I yelped.

Other students began peeking into the office.

Xavier's expression darkened. Instead of explaining himself, he called security to throw me off the premises.

A fight broke out. The chowder spilled from the thermos onto the carpet.

He did not care. He did not even glance at me. All he cared about was calming Reyna down.

…

That evening, Xavier came home late. I caught the faint scent of a fragrance that I knew did not belong to me.

My eyes were red. "Why were the two of you embracing each other?"

"She was in a terrible state of mind," he replied matter-of-factly. "It was a slip."

I stared at him in disbelief. "That's it? She was holding you that tightly, and you're telling me it was a slip? Xavier, I spent six hours learning how to make that pot of clam chowder for you, and you didn't even take a sip!"

He fell silent. Then he grabbed the first aid kit, gently took my hand, and began treating the blisters.

"There's no need to do things like this for me," he said.