The House Husband & The Office Worker

[Incandescent]

Within a small office of Michael he found himself high lighting sentences that are of importance. His bright hazel eyes watched as the neon yellow color brightened specific sentences. He sighed and threw the high lighter on the table letting it mark his desk. The high lighter rolled towards a picture of him and his wife, Annalise. In the picture Michael had his arm around Annalise, the background was a beach in California, where they went on their honeymoon. Michael rested his cheek on his palm picking up the picture. The wooden frame with their names engraved on the bottom right corner. His thumb pressed against the engraved names. He stared at the picture a little bit more before returning back to work. He didn't understand why he wasn't satisfied with his relationship with Annalise. They married a year ago, things were great, but then things started to become rather platonic. It seemed like Michael was no longer interested in the young woman. But luckily for him, he was able to hide that fact from her.

He placed the picture back beside his desktop neatly angling it to where he can see it. He picked up the high lighter and high lighted two or three more paragraphs before becoming overly frustrated with his relationship. Michael stood up from his mobile chair and walked around the office space he had, pacing around. As he paced around he would notice from the corner of his eye, people stopping and staring at the man, which he would ignore. He stopped before he attracted anymore attention or anymore rumors. He stepped outside his office and walked around. He watched as people worked on their computers, papers, or gathered around in a group speaking about the latest gossip. He pushed his hands inside his pants pockets walking a bit more further.

He stopped himself and found himself in front of Luis's office. The man knocked on the door and walked inside. Michael sat himself down in a chair looking at Luis. "What do I do Luis?" He asked looking up at the ceiling. Michael would always come to Luis for marital advice, since Michael would always hear his female co-workers just yelling at him for being a bad husband. He looked at Luis and raised his brow. "Any ideas? I've already tried to strike up a conversation but she only talks about stuff I dunno about." He complained.

 

[Pretty Peach]

Luis hadn't even taken a seat for more than five minutes before there was a knock at his door. If it had been anyone other than Michael he probably would have been a little upset. Sometimes the female employees could be a bit over bearing due to the fact that he wasn't married. At his age, it was strange not to be, but the female employees loved it. Michael was a good worker, always submitted things in on time, was a reasonable man but not a pushover. He'd been working for the company for a little while now and proved he wasn't just some slacker. "Michael, good morning to you too." The man said with a sort of sigh. He hated seeing his employee so upset over things like this. Newly weds, if you could still call them that, were supposed to be happy. A year into the marriage meant they had to start thinking about kids right? For some reason he couldn't really imagine this man with any kids.

He got up and went over to the small counter that had a coffee maker on it. He turned it on and leaned against it while looking at Michael. "Well, you know woman don't particularly care if you respond, only if you listen." He said a little dismissively. It's not that he wanted to give his employee bad advice, but he didn't know too much about what happened in a relationship. "Eh, sorry that was probably snippy." He was typically good at giving advice and tried his best to make Michael happier. This wasn't the first time Michael came in here. Usually it was about some small fight, but it was constant. It really made him wonder why these two were married. They didn't have kids and they married only a year ago. Usually the honey moon phase lasted a while. His obvious boredom with his wife made him feel almost bad for the woman, but he wondered what kind of person she was too. It would be worse to stay with her if Michael didn't have feelings for her. Though, coming from his perspective, it was easier to just break up.


"Well, what would you like to talk about in the relationship? Or is there things you want to do but can't?" He knew that was probably pretty vague, but if Michael didn't even know what he wanted to talk about, then he couldn't really look for it in a relationship right? "I hate seeing you so down in the dumps all the time because of her." Luis wouldn't admit that he had taken a serious liking to this man. He was just so diligent and kind hearted. Before the man had gotten married, he was fairly popular in the office and even Luis probably took a less than innocent look to him. "Why don't you try going out? Have time to yourself and maybe that will ease some tension." Sometimes couples spent too much time together and that caused boredom and stress.

 

[Incandescent]

"Huh? Oh, yeah, good morning." He said looking up from his hands. His glasses slipped off the tip of his nose. He watched as his reading glasses fell to the ground. He sighed softly and picked up the black pair of glasses; a gift from his wife. Michael doesn't wear any other type of glasses but the one Annalise bought him. He gave a pair of glasses to Annalise, it was something special to Michael, or it was. He looked up at Luis who offered the advice most of his female friends gave him. He groaned and buried his face in his hands. Listening wasn't the problem, it was the excitement and the attraction that has left. Everyday he would listen and respond but things would quickly die after that creating an awkward silence. He peeked from the tips of his fingers and nodded. Michael just needed something that would help their relationship. He couldn't continue pretending that he loved her, he needed to force himself to love her again.

He dropped his hands on his lap after he placed his reading glasses in his shirt pocket. "I dunno anymore. I-I just need to fall in love with her again or something. I can't keep lying to her." He said solemnly. His eyes stared down at his hands. He looked at the hand with the ring. Their wedding ring was to symbolize their never ending love for each other. He balled his hand into a fist and stared at the ring once more. He shook his head. "Its me. Not her. I can't find myself blaming her for this." He pushed his bags off his hair. His fingers running through his platinum blonde hair. He groaned with annoyance and pulled off the rubber band that held up his hair together. His long hair fell down to his shoulder blades. Michael raised his brow. The idea of going out didn't seem too bad. He hummed with approval smiling at Luis. "Good idea." He said in an approving tone.

Going out was something the two couple didn't do often. Maybe if he went out he could rekindle the spark the two had together. He tapped his chin with his pointer finger for a few times. He wondered where he should take her. He could only remember that Annalise enjoyed being in secluded areas where there wasn't a lot of people. She was a shy gal who enjoyed being alone. "Where should I take her?" He asked. There was no way he could take her somewhere too romantic or too corny, she'll just ridicule him the entire time. "What about a double date? I can take you along, y'know? Make it less awkward." He chuckled sheepishly rubbing the back of his neck. Michael was well-aware that Luis wasn't married but he knew Luis was well popular among the office ladies here, it wouldn't be too hard to get him acquainted with a young woman here.

 

[Pretty Peach]

He crossed his arms and looked upon his employee with sympathy. He knew his advice was shitty and if the man had wanted to hear that he could have asked one of the female employees who would have called him a terrible husband. The man smiled some, amused by how his glasses fell from his face. Michael was so cute with his glasses, or without them. In his mind, that woman should be lucky to welcome this man home simply because he was so cute and good looking. It was earnest how the man thought so much about his relationship. Some men would just ignore the problem all together. At least this man was trying to fix his boring relationship. At his age, he was starting to feel as though being married wouldn't be so bad. Going home to a warm, home cooked meal, being greeted with a kiss. Having dinner together then being able to sleep together. The problem was, he didn't want to marry a woman. The person he wanted to be with was right in front of him and as oblivious as always.

"What. Are you seriously asking me where you should take your wife?" He said with a bit of a snort. Actually he had implied spending some time away from her, not go out with her, but his oblivious employee hadn't under stood that apparently. Maybe Michael just felt bored because he only spent his time with his wife rather than going out on his own sometimes. Just because he was married didn't mean he had to stay with her twenty four seven. "Where did you guys go when you dated?" This was not a conversation he expected to have with any of his employees, but Michael was different. He felt like he knew the most about Michael's relationship compared to his coworkers. Luis couldn't complain, since he loved having the man in his office, but he didn't like talking about the man's marriage. Partially because he didn't care for it and felt jealous of his wife.

"A double date?" He hated to say no to this employee. He hated to be negative and make Michael upset. But a double date? "Look, first of all, going out with your boss will probably just make her nervous. Second of all, I am not currently dating anyone." Not that it really mattered if he were dating anyone at the time. Any of his female employees would pounce at the opportunity to go out on a double date. The thought of it annoyed him a little and he wanted to really tell him no. Luis had no interest in the woman here at work, although he did his best to keep anyone from knowing that. Sure sometimes he went out with them to appease them, and to stop the rumors about why he wasn't married, but he didn't typically sleep with them.

More than anything, Luis liked to see Michael happy and ever since he got married things went downhill. The real advice he wanted to tell Michael was to get a divorce. Just give it up. "Why don't you spice up your romance game a bit?" He suggested, to get away from the awful date idea. He hated himself for suggesting it. He made them each a cup of coffee then brought it over to Michael. Luis took a seat at his desk and idly flipped through his emails while talking to Michael. "You know, in the bedroom, I mean." Unless, that was a problem for Michael too. "Or... is that boring too?"

 

[Incandescent]

The tone Luis gave him made him feel terrible. Michael was a terrible husband, he was well aware of it. He couldn't even manage to figure out where to take his lovely bride. He thought for a second; it didn't hit him. His wife was a studious woman who hated crowded places, there was no way he could take her to a fancy restaurant nor can he do anything too corny. It was much more simple when they were dating, when he didn't know her dislikes. The man preferred being oblivious and getting away with it. Now he can no longer say he was just an ignorant man. Michael leaned back on the chair, which curved the backing a bit as he did. He quickly sat up, fearing that he will end up breaking the chair. A few strands of hair fell in front of his face as he quickly sat up. He sighed and brought all strands of his hair together in one clump then tied it again with a rubber band. As he tied his hair he raised his brow when Luis asked about where they used to date. Michael brought his pointer finger to his lip, tapping it for a bit and hummed. He reached into his memories wondering what they used to do. Due to Annalise being a shy girl, they barely went out. They usually stayed at home and talked about movies and their future. They were the couples that would talk about getting married, having children, being the perfect couple -- that died quicker than expected. In the end Michael shrugged pretending that he forgotten where they used to go.

He tried to reach in his memory for more things to do but quickly reverted back to reality when Luis brought up his thoughts about the double date. Michael rubbed his neck nervously. A sheepish chuckle quickly filled in the awkward hole he dug himself. Michael shrugged dropping his hand on his lap. "I mean you're technically my friend, right?" He said. Then again he wondered if Luis was his friend. He only came to the man's office because they were well-acquainted. Never did he go out with this man for a couple of beers, never. When he brought up the second reason a smile appeared on his face. "Well, we can always find you a gal! There's plenty of pretty girls here." He nudged, trying to sell the man this idea. A double date wasn't too bad, he went on plenty of double dates with Annalise before. Maybe it would spark their relationship. The idea seemed quite full-proof, yet Luis's reaction made Michael frown a bit, he almost stuck out his lower lip, putting on a pout face. Though it would be strange for Michael to pout to another man. He slumped back into his seat slowly sinking to the ground. His eyes watched Luis get up and leave. A bit of anxiety surged from his mind to his emotions. The man started to get worried. He wondered if the double date upset Luis to the point where he left his own office.

Michael stood up from his chair and opened the door a bit. He looked outside noticing Luis making coffee for to. He gave out a long sigh of relief and returned back to his seat waiting for the man's return. Michael took this time alone thinking what he should do. Ever since his marriage things went downhill for the two. Annalise began to work more and Michael began to worry more. When he began to think into his relationship he heard the door opening. He looked up and watched as Luis brought over coffee for two. He reached his hand out and grabbed the cup of coffee. The heat radiated from the cup. He watched as the steam come from the surface of the hot liquid. He settled it down leaving it there till it was cooled.

A sudden question caused Micheal's cheeks to blush lightly. He looked away from Luis for a moment trying to think about their sex life. The corner of his lips tugged downwards creating a half of a frown. He buried his face in his hands. "...Will I be denigrated if I said, yes?" The words were blocked by the palm of his hands. Their sex life was nonexistence; they haven't done it after their honeymoon, and just that time it was still awkward. As much as he cared for Annalise he always felt unsatisfied with their relationship or their sex life. He didn't know why. Maybe he preferred females who were much more active in bed or maybe he needed to do strange things in bed? He groaned loudly and dropped his hands. "I dunno. I-I just feel...you know? Unsatisfied." He confessed. Hearing the words come out of his mouth made him feel even worse. He felt like he was insulting his wife for not being able to satisfy his sexual needs. Without thinking he took the hot cup of coffee and took a big gulp. The hot liquid scorched his mouth causing him to react in pain. He quickly placed the cup of hot coffee down as he stuck out his tongue creating winds from his hands. The scorching liquid burned his tongue as the liquid warmed his body up quickly. With a burnt tongue, a failed marriage, Michael felt worse by the second.

 

[Pretty Peach]

"Of course... I am your friend." He said with a sigh, knowing that he was being absolute shit with advice for his friend. They didn't really go out anywhere and Michael only came over for advice every now and again. He wasn't sure what brought on this relationship. Probably because Michael was a good worker, but not an annoying workaholic. He did his best, but still made time for his life. "Oh god no no way." He laughed and groaned at the same time. None of the girls in the world interested him and maybe that's why he didn't bring Michael out anywhere. The bars he went to where not for married men. They weren't for men interested in women. Luis kept to himself most of the time though, only going out with women every now and again to keep up his mask of being straight, normal and a good, sociable boss. Michael thought a double date was a good idea, well he did think it was a terrible idea. It wasn't difficult for him to lie on a date when he was with some girl, but to think that he would have to watch the love of his life with his wife when obviously he was out of love with her... it hurt.

Luis couldn't help but chuckle at the innocent reaction to his question. Sure it wasn't some childish quesiton, but they were adults now. This sort of thing shouldn't have made him blush so much. "No no you won't." He assured, sitting across from him. Luis felt awful for smiling on the inside. He decided to remain quiet a moment to think about how to answer that. Luis was rarely unsatisfied. Hell, he went out with enough people to keep him satisfied and chipper. That's probably why he was always in a good mood and got his work done. As a boss he was pretty sociable and diligent. That was due to just three things in life. He was sexually satisfied, he ate healthy foods and got enough sleep at night. Those three things contributed immensely to his work production. Just as he was about to speak, the other man burnt his tongue on his hot coffee. He quickly got up and got him a cup of cool water from the water bubbler outside. "Be more careful... It's hot ya know." Seeing his employee more depressed by the moment was making him feel awful.

"Look, forgive me if I am being harsh, but if you are unsatisfied, she probably is as well." There was nothing he could say at this point that would make him feel even worse, so he figured he might as well get it out with. "If you aren't getting any, she isn't... either..." He said that rather slowly, hoping to hell that she wasn't the type to cheat. Such a shy girl couldn't be capable of that. Michael would probably break down in tears if his wife was cheating on him. "I think, you need to get some relief." Basically, get yourself laid. "You are still young, go sweep her off her feet and have fun in the bedroom." Luis laughed a little at the thought. Hell, he couldn't imagine Michael doing that at all. It was awkward how quickly this turned from a normal relationship conversation to a partial sex ed class. Luis didn't often talk about himself nor use his own experiences, especially with a married man, but he wondered if that would help at all. One part of him wanted them to divorce, another part of him wanted them to stay together so Michael would be happy, but either way he felt selfish.

"You should try to look at the good things. I mean, you get to go home to a warm meal every night, wake up to breakfast, freshly pressed shirts, a clean home..." Though nowadays the wife worked as well and men shared those responsibilities. Luis had no opportunity to gain someone like that since it wasn't so easy to find a guy willing to do all that work. Luis was awful when it came to cooking, stumbling around the kitchen, burning the simplest things. He usually went out to eat since his salary allowed him to do that. Sometimes he wanted to go home to a warm meal like that. Maybe that was just him getting older though. Luis finished up his coffee despite it being so hot. While he spoke to Michael he was now looking over some documents but work was slow lately. As long as everyone worked together this job wasn't difficult. Pushing money around, doing taxes, private consultations. It was all very boring and such a job suited Michael maybe.

"Hey, you know, why don't we go out for drinks. Just you and me. I think just being at work and at home is getting you down." A little fun was all he needed to calm down. Maybe after a few beers he wouldn't even feel so upset with his marriage anymore. Besides, Luis always wanted to take Michael out for drinks but could never muster up the courage to do so. As confident as he looked and tried to act, even he got nervous every now and again. He looked up at the clock and frowned. "I have a meeting now, but let's go out tonight after work. I'll have to think of a place to go." Because you'd have a heart attack if I brought you to the bars I frequent.

(( I am so sorry about the delay. DX I thought I replied but I guess I hadn't... ))

 

[Incandescent]

Michael eagerly took the cup of water and chugged it down. The cooling water ran down his throat smoothly. He felt the scorching pain numbing at the touch of the cold water. Once the water was quickly gone he slammed the plastic cup on the table. He took his casual thin white shirt sleeve and wiped off the wet corners of his lips. His eyes looked up at Luis when he spoke honestly. A long solemn sigh escaped his lips. He looked down on the ground agreeing with him. His friend was the least bit wrong, he was curious how Annalise felt about the marriage. The woman never spoke a word about her end but neither did he. He nodded slowly agreeing to every single word he spoke. He looked up slowly at Luis. "Relief." A loud scoff, a reaction to the word. He hasn't found himself in the mood since nothing ever gotten him riled up. Not even his wife when she leaves in and out of the shower nude. He has always found himself staring off onto the TV as she passes by in raunchy clothing. Was it bad if he didn't feel the sensual urges coursing through his veins? He certainly feel bad just by the simple thought of it.

He chuckled dryly. "Still young, eh? I suppose." He leaned against the chair running his fingers through hairs easily. A smirk appeared on his lips. He couldn't help but smile. It has been a while since he has been considered, young. It gave him the thought that he still had a chance to fix his life. The sudden remembrance of the idea of the double date struck him like lightning. However this time he kept his idea to himself. The idea of the double date seemed to cause Luis discomfort, he wondered why. The simple question made the man annoyed and frustrated. He felt in the core of his body, boiling. He thought too much and too in depth with it. A simple shake of the head released him of the frustration. He returned his attention towards Luis. When the man pointed out the stereotypical things about having a wife he rolled his eyes. His hands crossed over his stomach when he huffed out a breath. "I think you've been stuck in the 90s. Annalise works. She comes home late and I do the cooking." He strained out the letter, I, to exaggerate a bit. "We do our own housework." A nonchalant shrug put off the appearance he didn't care, to hide the truth, that he cared too much. The two couple acted as independent machines passing by -- bounded by a simple ring -- that he no longer cared whether it was around his finger or not.

The ring on his finger felt looser. He twisted the ring around his finger as he listened to Luis. A smile appeared on his lips. He nodded agreeing. It was just what he needed, a few drinks with a man by his side, nothing bad could come to it. "I shall take you up on that offer good sir." He bowed. A bit of his jocular side reveled in this moment of friendship. The man's jocular personality diminished when Luis gathered all his work materials and was in the ready stance to leave his worried friend by himself. Michael frowned with disappointment and sighed. He waved his hand off dismissively. "Fine, go work Boss." He spoke in a denigrating way.