☆⎯⎯pairing~ Wife!Reader X Alexander " The Jackal" Duggan
☆⎯⎯Synopsis~ Sometimes people decide to ignore things, even when they know they are being lied to. Its easier that way and that was something you found yourself doing when it came to Charles and his ‘work trips.’ Ignorance is bliss as they say.
☆⎯⎯Tags~ Angst, Hurt/Comfort, fluff, denial is a river in Egypt, Second Person View
☆⎯⎯Warnings~ Reader is referred to as ‘Love’ throughout the story deep in denial about some things or more like she refuses to see them. Our girl is a bit delusional. There is talks of cheating. But none takes place. And I think that is all.
☆⎯⎯Author’s Note~ This is incredible and I mean INCREDIBLY self indulgent. I watched The Jackal and just had the urge to write a small reader x fic for this beautiful man. Note: I am black so the reader at times is described to have Afro-centric features and kinky hair, specifically 4c.
Ever since you and Charles had gotten together all you knew was peace.
Charles had wasted no time in sweeping you off your feet and making it so you didn’t have to work if you don’t want to, allowing you to pursue your passion projects and indulge in your interests and hobbies.
Arts and crafts, music, hell you even picked up doing stained glass art in your free time.
Anything to fill up your time and hold your attention while your husband was away.
Your mornings were more or less the same; slow and peaceful. Allowing you ample time to take care of yourself and go about completing tasks on your to-do list for the day at your own pace and, with Charles always away on business, it was just you left in this massive house.
But you didn’t mind, you knew that your husband was working hard to provide for you and the life you planned to build together.
So of course, your brain made the subconscious decision to ignore certain things. Maybe an off comment here, a white lie–two or three–there.
A little bit of deception…
All of those things you could deal with.
You had to deal with them.
You never asked too many questions, you just accepted everything at face value, so if he called and said something along the lines of – “ Love, I’ll be staying here for just a bit longer, give your family my regards?”
You’re only response to that would have been to look to your family, putting a smile on your face and nodding as you responded to him with–“ Of course. Be safe. I love you.”
And you would pointingly ignore the looks of pity and disapproval from the rest of your family. You would insist that Charles’s work was just incredibly demanding and that he was just working hard so that he could continue to fund your lifestyle. You’d tell them that Charles was an amazing person and a loving and devoted husband. Committed to you and only you and the future you wanted to build together.
You would tell them that and reaffirm it to yourself…
Charles was devoted to and loved you and only you.
You were happy how couldn’t you be when you were married to the most wonderful man in the world? One that loved and respected you, one that worked long and tirelessly for you, one who would come home with gifts and little souvenirs from his trips. One that cupped your cheek and kissed you tenderly…
One that was always away on long business trips, one that was always so close yet so far, one whose presence was more absence than present…
But regardless, you were happy, and you were happy with him.
“ I think he’s cheating.”
Your eyes went wide, your neck snapping to look at your friend. Your stunned silence prompted Alex, your friend of multiple years, to continue, “ I’m just saying, how many times has he called you and told you that his trip was going to be extended by a few or a couple of days?” You went to defend him with your usual, ‘He just works really hard.’ or ‘ His work is just really demanding. I know that if he could, he’d be here with me now.’ But before you could get any of that out, she cut you off, “ And before you say that he just works a lot and that his job is demanding, so was yours before the two of you got married. You would have business trips all the time but still found a way here on time every time without fail.”
Alex turned her attention back towards the setting sun on the horizon, “ I’m just saying, if you managed it, why can’t he?”
After that day, you had been doing a lot of self-reflection. Thinking over your and Charles’s relationship.
It was true, you were a career woman, having had a successful career being a museum curator for multiple years before marrying Charles. Your work took you all over the world, having been and seen some of the most well-known and beautiful pieces of art in history. But despite all your traveling, you always found time for your husband. Never wanting to be away from him for long, you wondered distantly if he felt the same way. If he too didn’t want to be apart but had to due to work.
And despite your best efforts, your mind started to think of the flip side.
What if the reason he was away so much was that he had found someone else?
And while it pained you to even consider that possibility, it would make sense. All the late nights he’d spend in his office… He always told you that he was just tying up loose ends from work but thinking back on it, was he? Or was that just a lie he told you to keep you from questioning him?
Of course, all of this was just speculation. You had no evidence of infidelity just a hunch from your friend and the increasing feeling that your beloved was hiding something from you.
And you were unsure if you were ready to find out just what that ‘what’ was…
Whatever the case, you knew that the older man was hiding something from you and while you had no plans on confronting him about it, especially with no evidence, you knew to keep it in the back of your mind.
Three days later; Charles had finally come home, although you hadn’t known that when you had woken up that morning.
Your day started as it normally does.
You had woken up to the sunrise, the golden rays spilling into the bedroom through the silk white curtains. Your eyelashes fluttered as your hand went to the space beside you, disappointment flaring in your gut at the lack of a body occupying the space. Charles had told you he was going to be back the night before but you guessed that was a lie…
A sigh left your lips as you slowly sat up with a small yawn. You turned your attention to the empty spot beside you, staring longingly at it for a moment before slipping out of the sheets and heading to your bathroom to freshen up before starting your day, mentally going over your to-do list.
You had a long day ahead of you; cleaning and doing some upkeep within your house and maybe heading to the florist in town to get some new flowers. The ones you had set out earlier in the week were starting to die and you loved to keep fresh flowers in the house since it seemed to make your husband happy to come home to the fresh scent of whatever flowers you had picked out that week.
Speaking of Charles, you don’t think you have received a text from him all morning. You briefly stopped taking down the cornrows in your hair to pick up your phone, pleasantly surprised to see that yes, he had texted you, the message read, ‘ Sorry, love, my flight was delayed but I should be home sometime today. Again, I’m sorry love. I’ll see you soon.’
You had half a mind to respond but then decided to leave him on read and instead just liked the message, you had things to do today.
So with that in mind, you finished taking down your hair, putting your hair into a puff at the top of your head. You debated on doing your edges but decided against it before heading into your walk-in closet and picking out your outfit for the day; A white sundress with blue flowers stitched into the fabric, pairing it with some comfortable white kitten-heels. You gave yourself a once-over in the mirror, satisfied with the way you looked, you grabbed your phone, keys, wallet, and a basket, and headed into town. Your mind makes a mental list of some food you need to get from the store.
You spent your day in town, walking the worn pathways, talking with the locals, and grabbing what you needed that day. Your last stop of the day was the flower shop so on your way back home, you placed an order for some flower arrangements to be sent to your home later on in the week and picked up a few bouquets, and then headed home.
When you arrived you saw that the lights were on inside, signaling to you that Charles had finally come home. You walked the short distance from your car to the gate in the back, slipping your key into the lock and pushing the gate open, closing it behind you. You walked the short way up the stairs which led you to the pool area and before you could leave the back of your house, your eye caught something white and fluffy hiding behind one of the poolside chairs.
You heard a soft “meow” sound and with it, a fluffy head popped out from behind the chair. Another soft noise left the feline as it approached you, rubbing its body against your calves, prompting you to bend down and start petting it, taking the opportunity to check for a name tag.
Feeling around their neck you felt the band of the collar, the heart-shaped nametag read, “Lucile” in a pretty, cursive font. It was then that Lucky decided to take off and head back towards the house. You followed her up the limestone steps of your house and into the living room, past the multiple guest rooms, and up the stairs to the master bedroom. Where she then jumped up into the arms of–
“ Charles.” Your voice was a little bit quieter than you intended as you watched the scene unfold in front of you. Charles’s eyes flickered to meet yours before he scratched behind the cat’s—Lucile’s—ears, earning some deep purrs from the feline.
“ Love,” he looked up at you then, “ I’m home.” and he smiled. He smiled that fucking smile that always makes the air in your lungs leave and your heart flutter behind your ribcage. That smile that made his eyes crinkle, and showed off his crooked grin.
That smile that made you want to forget why you were even mad at him in the first place….
You didn't say anything as he directed his gaze back to Lucile, “ And I see you've met Lucky,”
That nickname caught your attention, “ Lucky?” his eyes found yours again, “ Yes. See— you’ve talked about how you've wanted a cat for years but I never had the opportunity till this pretty girl approached me while I was in Vatican City.” Your eyes then went to Lucky, her blue eyes staring back into yours as Charles slowly approached you.
“ I found her—or well—I should say she found me while I was walking the streets, rubbed her head against my legs and right then and there I knew I had to bring her home to you.” He said, his gaze lifting from Lucky, one hand leaving the feline to gently tilt your chin up to meet his eyes once more.
“ I know I leave you here alone all the time and trust me I don’t like it either. Leaving you alone in such a big house…”
His gaze softened, “ But that’s why I thought you could use some company.” He smiled, offering you Lucile, to which you carefully and gingerly took hold of her, staring deep into sapphire blue eyes. She meowed again before snuggling into your chest, shielding her face.
You heard Charles chuckling, “ Seems like she likes you.” You felt tears well up in your eyes as you began to stroke Lucky’s soft fur.
And to think you were doubting him…
You lifted your head to lock eyes with your husband, “ Thank you, Charles.” You said in a soft voice. His gaze softened as he tenderly wiped away your tears, cupping the side of your face, “ Of course, Love.”
You embraced him then, careful not to squeeze Lucky between the two of your bodies, bracing your head against the other’s shoulder, you let out a contented sigh.
Charles spoke up then, “ Soon.”
You pulled back an inch, “ Soon?”
“ Soon I’ll be able to retire and spend the rest of my days here, with you.” He cupped either side of your face again, “ We can spend our days together, waking up late and where I can bring you breakfast in bed. And then we can cuddle some more before finally getting up and even then, there’s no rush, we’ll be able to take it at our own pace.”
“ This means we can go on vacations and trips and fully enjoy married life together, doesn’t that sound wonderful?” You nodded.
“ I just have one more big job and then I’m done. I won’t have to work anymore and you can have me all to yourself, I promise.”
A ghost of a smile appeared on his face then, “ And we can do whatever you want, just hold out a little longer for me, can you do that?”
You searched his eyes, attempting to see if you could find any ounce of insincerity in his eyes and when you found none you slowly parted your lips to answer—“ Yes.”
Charles’s face broke out into an all out grin, bringing his face down to press a sweet kiss to your lips.
“ Just a little longer and then I’m all yours, I promise.” He repeated and despite the nagging suspicion that something was amiss, that there was more to his story than he was telling you, you found yourself burying your face into his chest, and despite your best judgment, believing him.
It was simply easier that way.
Hope you enjoyed~ HoneyDew
