@kingdonmicrofic day fifteen: silk | 498/498 | rating: g
Abby doesn't intend to open the package when it's delivered – it's addressed to him, after all. But she's waiting for a few things, and maybe her phone autofilled Frank's name without her noticing.
So, she opens it, is presented with an expensive-looking orange box. When she searches the company's name, she finds it produces luxury sleepwear for women. Organic mulberry silk, mother of pearl buttons. Price tags that even make Abby pause.
Almost on cue, her phone vibrates. It's Frank.
“Hey, Abs. I think I accidentally got a package delivered to the house.”
“You did,” she confirms softly.
“Can I come over and grab it after my shift? I'll try to get out on time, and –”
“Don't worry about the time. Come when you can.”
“Um. Okay. I'll be over after work.”
She decides to make dinner, this shrimp pad thai recipe that she found on Pinterest years ago, one of the first meals she cooked for him. After she puts the kids to bed, she sets the table, places the orange box next to his plate, smiling as she does. This is the kind of thing Frank used to do for her, before everything went to shit. Buy her something nice unexpectedly, to show he was paying attention.
She pours herself some wine. It's 8:30 by the time she hears keys in the front door.
“Hey,” he says as she rounds the corner to the foyer. “Sorry I'm late.”
“It's okay. I have the package. I made some food, too, if you're hungry.”
“Oh. Sure, but I can't stay too long.”
She leads him to the dining room. She feels him stop short when they reach the entryway, and when she turns, she sees his eyes locked onto the box. He shifts his gaze toward her after a moment. To her surprise, his expression is vaguely horrified.
“I love it, Frank,” she reassures him. “It's so thoughtful. And the fact that you bought it for me means –”
“Abby,” he interrupts. “We need to talk.”
“We do. I still think the separation was right for us at the time, but recently I've been –”
She almost drops her wine glass.
“You said it was okay to start seeing other people,” he mumbles in explanation.
She tears her eyes from him to the orange box that she's realized isn't for her. Oh, God, it's for his girlfriend.
“What,” she begins, and then shakes her head. “Who –”
His phone rings. He pulls it out of his pocket, and grimaces.
“Sorry, I've gotta take this. Just…give me a sec.”
He walks into the kitchen, murmuring hi, baby, into the phone, leaving Abby to stare after him like an idiot.
She doesn't think she'll ever forget the sight of his screen, lit up with a selfie of him pressing his lips against the cheek of a woman Abby has never met as she smiles, her name displayed across the image in bright white letters.
stormborns
pixelskylines
areudirty
