Cammilea awoke to find her bed empty. Usually when she woke up she could rely on the fact that Heath would have his arms wrapped around her tight and secure and often nuzzling into her side like she was the only warm thing amidst a tundra, but she felt sort of chilled without him there. She liked her space, sure, but she only liked it when she wanted it. Heath had been giving her way to much space lately. At least when he was clingy and obsessive she knew how to feel; claustrophobic and suffocated, but with too much space? She couldn't really be bitchy about him respecting what shes been hinting at for weeks now. Where was Heath now? 

Cammilea stood and, not bothering to put any pants on, made her way to the bedroom door to see if Heath was already up and making coffee. She reached for the door knob and turned, finding that it was locked.

Why was it locked? What happened last night?

She quickly unlocked the bedroom door and strutted out into their small apartment living room in nothing but her panties and an old t-shirt of Heaths. 

She was greeted by the smell of freshly brewed coffee. She rubbed her eyes and leaned in the doorway and watched at Heath grabbed for two mugs in the cabinet; her favorite and his own. He was so smooth as he moved about the kitchen. He, too, was just in his boxers and a t-shirt, probably because he was unable to access his bedroom the night before. She observed the clothes he wore the night before which lied folded on the back of a fold out kitchen chair. She cringed at the sight of it. It was the same thing he wore on the night of his proposal. 

It was just what she needed to jog her memory from her wine hungover haze. Last night was the Romance Festival. She remembered watching it alone from the window of the apartment with a bottle of red wine in hand. It was gross and bitter but not as bitter as she felt about Heath leaving her. Sure she goaded him to leave without her, but she didn't actually expect him to go. Even after he left, she didn't expect him to say out for that long.

Usually when she tells him shes sick, he would go out and get her favorite chocolates-- the kind with the truffle in the middle-- and bring them back and wait on her hand and foot. But no— he actually left. He left and he stayed out all night without her. There was nothing she hated more than waiting and waiting for Heath to come home or at least send a text to say 'hey I'm coming home late don't wait up' because as sucky as a wife as she was, she was always able to rely on Heath to be a good husband. If she can't even rely on that then their was nothing holding the relationship together anymore. 

She felt livid as she walked up to Heath with an innocent smile. 

Grinning cheerfully, Heath kissed his wife's cheek glad to see that she wasn't scowling at him. His whole car ride home from Veronicas, he was excited to come home and spend the rest of the night with his Wife.  Veronica was a great road trip buddy and he could see them becoming good friends, but seeing Vee's desperation to get home made him desperate to go home as well. 

When he got home he was kind of expecting to see Cammilea on the couch. Not exactly waiting for him, but at least asleep from the exhaustion from waiting for him, maybe for the living room light to be on and the tv running old re runs of her favorite shows, but he came home to none of it. Lights were off, tv was off, couch clear of anything. 

Slipping his shoes off and his jacket, he quietly snuck though the apartment careful not to hit anything or make the slightest noise as he made his way to their bedroom. The door was locked. He jiggled it gently but not hard enough to wake her if she was asleep. Figuring he was stuck outside the bedroom, he sat on the couch and laid back. 

He hoped that she locked the room on accident, but he knew that was wishful thinking. He knew his wife. She could be harsh and petty when she wanted to be whether she was prompted or not.

He had gone to sleep unsure if he was ever going to find out whether or not Cammilea was actually mad at him or if the locked door was an accident. He was more than surprised when she greeted him with a smile, and let him kiss her sweetly on the cheek. 

"I was just about to come wake you" Heath said admiring the natural morning beauty of his wife. She smiled up at him then looked past him at the fresh brewed cups of coffee. She lid past him to grab her own cup. 

"How was the festival last night?" Cammilea asked, not really carrying to hear the answer. She knew what he would say. 'It was fine but would have been better if you were there' or something cheesy like that. It angered her more to find out that that wasn't the case at all.

"It was great. I wish you were there it was truly spectacular this time. It's been a while since I really got to sit and appreciate the beauty of the festival. I even made a new friend."

"A friend?"

"Yeah she was great. I think you two really would have liked each other." Heath took his cup of coffee and sipped it grimacing a bit at the taste before sipping it again. He hated this brew but he drank it almost every morning. It was Cammilea's favorite which was the only reason he put up with the awful taste. 

Something about Heath spending the whole night with some new girlfriend set Cammilea over the edge. The fire that just burned in her stomach finally had the fuel it needed to burn Heath too. 

"If I knew you were out on a date last night I would have saved some wine for you." She seethed seeming to go from warm to ice cold at a moments notice. Heath was taken aback by her insinuation. 

"I wasn't on a date Cammilea."

"Could have had me fooled with how great of a time you two seemed to have had. Just had so much fun you had to stay out at the Romance Festival all night together."

Irritated by Cammilea's sudden hostility, Heath put his coffee down and took a deep breath. He needed to relax. Him and Cammilea could go at it like fire and ice if one of them didn't take it upon themself to calm down. Since Cammilea never chose to regulate her temper, Heath was obligated to take it upon himself to make sure that none of their arguments resulted in a divorce. 

"I wasn't on a date with anyone Cammilea. A person, that happened to be a girl, needed a ride home and I gave her one. She was nice I enjoyed her company, I dropped her off and I came home. I would have done the same for a guy or anyone else who asked. I love you Cam and I don't know what else I can do to get you to understand that you are it for me." 

"Right because that's exactly the message I got from you walking out on me while I was sick last night. A loving husband would have stayed home with his sick wife instead of partying it up with some lost puppy bitch."

'A loving wife wouldn't have played sick to get out of going on a date' Heath wanted to say but he just sighed in defeat. There was no winning this argument or any other. 

"You're right. I'm sorry. I should have stayed home. I need to go get ready for work." Heath abandoned his coffee, pouring it down the drain before making his way to their room in silence. He didn't even try to make Cammilea smile like he usually did after they had an argument. He just slumped away in defeat. Hurt Heath had a way of quenching her fire every. Single. Time. 

She had believed every word he said. She knew Heath loved her and that he would never cheat. She believed that he just encountered someone who was lost and helped them get home. He was such a good guy and it was so like him to do something like that. Why the hell did he insist on loving someone as miserable as herself?

Heath just felt exhausted as he got dressed. Sleeping on the couch was restless and on top of that he was yet to have his morning coffee. And fights with Cam were always draining. Heath didn't know her to be a very insecure person, but that was the only explanation he had for her very outburst.  Though insecure didn't sound like her, it would explain why she had so much trouble trusting him despite his unwavering unconditional love for her. Perhaps it was something worth talking to her about. 

After getting dressed and grabbing his laptop and keys, Heath made his way out of the bedroom. Of course, being the stubborn woman she was, Cammilea dodged his goodbye kiss and ignored him as he left her with salutations. He tried not to let it worsen his already sour mood, so he turned his mind to other things. To nicer and more pleasant things-- like his most recent personal project. 

Today Heath wasn't headed into the office. He had thought about taking a half day off work to look at his most recent business move, but later decided he'd take off a full day. If he had time left over he'd think about calling Vee and seeing how she was adjusting. She was really a lovely girl. She was so kind and easy to talk to and very considerate of him, constantly thanking him for taking her home and apologizing for the inconvenience. He really hadn't minded it and enjoyed the company. It really hadn't become any sort of problem for him until this morning. 

Heath refocused his attention before his thoughts circled back to the mornings quarrels. On his drive to the bar, Heaths mother called. This was an occasion. Usually her calls to Heath were relayed through her secretary, very rarely did his mother find time to talk to him herself. 

"Good morning mother" he said pressing on the cars Bluetooth connector. 

"Heath! Honey! I hope you are well! I don't have much time, but look, your father said that you just bought a bar and asked me to reason with you to make it a more respectable establishment." It was too early in the morning to be dealing with his parents' imagery issues. Still, he figured since she had taken the time to call herself, that he would entertain the idea. 

"And what do you suggest I do with a shabby little club in Windenburg" Heath heard his mother sigh on the other end of the call. He could imagine her pressing two fingers a each of her temples. 'Why Windenburg' she muttered. 

"Why not make it an art exhibit?"

"That would require artist mother"

"A theater?"

"It would take tens of years for it to make any prophet. The club is fine! A bit of a fixer upper, but nothing a good paint job and rebranding can't fix."

"Why must you be so difficult?" She exclaimed feeling exasperated by her sons' persistence "Your sisters on the west coast with her successful might I add, makeup line, your brother is in Scottland with his seed splicing factories, and finally, my youngest child, my precious Heath, has decided to buy a bar. In Windenburg. Is this some act of rebellion? If you want a higher position or a promotion perhaps, just ask of it, though your pay wont change much we already give you more than your superiors. There's really no need for you to stress yourself over-" 

"Mother! Please! This is just it! I appreciate all that you and dad have let me do for your business over the years, and I will forever be grateful for the experience I have gained from it, but this is a stepping stone. Not my whole life. This bar is my next step and I believe I'm versed enough that the bar won't be my whole life either. I will make something you can be proud of mother. Just give me time." Heaths mother is silent on the other end. Even the typing that he has previously heard in the background had stop. 

"Besides mother; you never could manage to raise a failure." A light hum of amusement came through the phone and Heath could imagine the ghost of a smile cracking her perfect poker face. 

"I always did have a soft spot for you. My youngest child, I must go. The Landgrabbs are calling and I won't make them wait. I will tell your father to give you a chance, Heath, but don't make me regret it." The line went dead, and Heath let out a deep sigh. The morning had been too eventful already and he still hadn't had his full cup of coffee.

After Heath left, Cammilea closed herself back into their room and brooded over the morning's conversation. She knew the conflict was her fault. It was undoubtedly her fault, but that didn't make her feel any better. What made her feel better was finding reasons why he was the problem in their relationship and why he couldn't blame her for the mornings events.

He was the one to go to the festival the night before, not her. He was the one that drove some random chick he met all the way to the spice district, not her. He was the one planning shitty as fuck dates, not her. And he was the one that insisted on marrying her and spending the rest of his life with her.

She merely agreed.

A buzz of her phone drew her attention away from he mental list and she reached across the bed to where she had plugged her phone in the night before to see the notification. It was from Klick, a type of social media that was more like a tinder than an Instagram. Her long term pen pal had messaged her back saying that he wanted to talk to her. She was quick to boot up her laptop and open an incognito web page so that her internet history wouldn't be followed.

She typed in the familiar password with little hesitation. Heath would be upset to see her talking to someone else so personally and intimately, but she deserved the little bit of freedom these interactions awarded her. She needed it now after such a fight with Heath more than ever. She opened her most recent message from Up_town_3mpir3 a user she had been talking to for some time now.

'Good morning beautiful. Still waiting at home alone? I could definitely come and be good company. You looked so fuking sexy in that picture you posted the other night. Haven't stopped thinking about you since 😉'

He was referring to the pictures she posted right before she left for date night with Heath a few days ago. She had spent a large part of that night on the website complaining about how terrible it was while her many admirers assured her that they would treat her better than Heath did. At the time literally anyone could have made her happier than Heath had that night, but she doubted there were many people in the world that could treat her better than Heath did. 

Cammilea's hands hovered over the keyboard trying to gauge what she should replay. She settled with:

'The mornings been pretty shitty until now but you always make me smile'

It was cheesy and not really true—she wasn't really smiling as much as she was just not scowling anymore- but he responded within seconds with 'If I can make you smile from a text, just imagine what I could do if we were together' a few seconds later, before Cam could even think of a response, another message popped up on her screen.

'Lets meet. Tonight. Somewhere low profile. I need to see you smile for real babycakes'

Cammilea slammed her laptop shut and shoved it across the bed and away from her like it was on fire. As much as she flirts with other guys online, shes never actually cheated on Heath. The idea of it just rubbed her the wrong way. If Heath found out about the flirting she was sure it would hurt him, but actually hooking up with one of them was just a signature on Heath's death certificate and the final nail in his coffin. 

She took strands of her hair and twisted them around her finger in deep thought. Would it be wrong? Yes. Very wrong. Unbelievably wrong. But no more wrong than what Heath had done the night before. Heath said they were just friends but those could have just been words. They spent the whole evening together. They even went back to her house. Who's to say Heath isnt with her right now? 

Cammilea inched closer to the laptop pulling it closer again and booting it up. They could meet and it still not be cheating. Sure maybe they would flirt, but nothing beyond that had to happen. When the computer was finally working again she read through the messages one more time just to make sure this was worth it-- and then she typed 'when and where' and hit send