text: It never got easier, waiting for him. He worked long, hard days and didn’t have much time for her. She would often spend her days patiently waiting for contact from him. She knew he was a very busy man- he had recently gotten a very big promotion, a new house and other big life changes. Though she wished she was his main priority, she understood she was not yet. So, she waited. She was patient at first. She had had his undivided attention for so long. Surely, she could give him the time and space he needed to flourish in life. He, of course, was not ignoring her completely. He sent anonymous flowers and trinkets to her in the mail. Silly little things that he knew she would love. The surprises would come at her office every other Wednesday- to break up the monotony of the work week. The other women at the office would flitter around her on these days asking who the gifts were from. She would simply smile. One Wednesday morning she arrived at her office in full spirits. Today would be another day of a gift from her beloved- perhaps some daisies or a small box of chocolates from the authentic Belgian shop in town. The packages always came with the morning mail, to assure her following day would be a good one. She arrived at her desk to find... nothing. She questioned the office assistant. No one had sent her any mail yet. She brushed it off- he must have put it in the mail late, or the courier made a mistake. He never forgot about her. Ever. The office women walked by her desk inconspicuously. She knew what they were thinking. What they were looking for. But they were wrong. He hadn’t forgotten, it was just late. Hours passed. She couldn’t focus on her work. She tried calling him, but it went straight to voicemail. He must have been in a meeting, as he always turned his phone off during those. He had a lot of meetings. When it was time to leave for the day, she asked the office assistant once more if there had been any packages for her today. There hadn’t. She decided that he must have left it at her house. She knew he liked to keep her on her toes. She raced home, all the way wondering what he could have gotten her that would be so special as to need to be sent to her house. Jewelry, perhaps? An engagement ring? She bristled with excitement as she rounded the corner to her front step. From a cursory glance, there was no package. She told herself it was no matter- jewelry would be in a smaller box. She scanned her front step. Nothing. She searched the bushes and grass around it. Nothing there, either. Walking back down to her mailbox, she briefly wondered if someone could have stolen it. She quickly scanned over her mail as she walked into her house. Bills, notices, magazines, ads. Nothing she hadn’t gotten before. There would be no reason for him to not send her something, unless something had happened to him. Her mind immediately went to horrible places- what if he was at home sick, or in the hospital. Or worse, dead? She couldn’t bear to think about a life without him in it. Leaping up from her chair she rushed out of her house in search of him. The hospitals were of no help. Legally they couldn’t tell her anything. She understood why they couldn’t, but secretly wanted to yell at them for it. Did they not know how important he was to her? Or her to him? His work was of no help either. Their number was invalid. They must have changed it with the recent growth of their company. She made a mental note to ask him for the new one when she found him. There was only one place left for her to check. She didn’t much like to go to his house. It wasn’t a home- it wasn’t *their* home. She understood that he needed to keep it for now. It was closer to his work while her house was closer to hers. It was in a nice enough neighborhood, she supposed. The whole atmosphere was just so... judgmental feeling to her. She parked a few houses away from his, deciding she needed the exercise. There weren’t many people around. This was odd to her as she found the day to be very nice. Approaching his house, she noticed the lights were on and his car in the driveway. He was at home, at least. She glanced into the window before knocking on the door. He hadn’t yet made her a key, but she didn’t like going to his house, so it didn’t matter too much to her. A shadow moved across the windows besides the front door. A portly woman opened the door. It was awfully late for a maid to still be at his house, but he was peculiar like that. It was one of the reasons she loved him. She peered around the maid to see another woman in a chair sitting at a dining table. She noticed the seated woman had a long, ghastly scar down the side of her face. She briefly felt sorry for the woman but surmised she must have done something to deserve it. Smiling at the maid, she asked where he was. The maid appeared perplexed but called out to him. He sauntered over to the door shortly after with a smile upon his face. The smile slowly drifted to a cold stare when he saw her standing on the front step. He shut the front door. She knocked again. He yelled at her through the door, telling her that he was calling the police. Her heart ached. Had he forgotten what they had? Or was he perhaps putting on a show for his “wife”? She couldn’t imagine why he would do such a thing. She was better than his wife in so many ways. After all, his wife was ugly now. She had seen to that. She shook her head as she reached into her purse and pulled out the revolver. It never got easier, waiting for him. He worked long days and didn’t have much time for her. She wasn’t his main priority. She decided it was time she was, and knocked on the door.