Forgotten Celery

Annabelle had just turned on the light over the stove and activated the overhead vent when the front door could be heard closing. It was a normal event so Annabelle continued moving through the kitchen casually. She pulled out vegetables out from a mountain in the fridge to create a smaller mountain on the bench, but there was a sudden stiffness in her narrow shoulders.

David kicked off his shoes in the front room, both hands carrying shopping bags. He barely lifted his feet as he walked, yet took great care to still move silently through the house.

“Hey,” David said as he relieved himself of the groceries.

“Hi. How was work?” Annabelle asked, glancing up at him from the bags as she immediately commenced unpacking them.

The pitch of her voice was high, but David assumed it was from forced interest. So, he shrugged, his usual response. “It pays the bills.”

“Well, yes,” Annabelle said, pausing to glance at him and pursing her lips. She fidgeted with the ring on her ring finger while she thought. But eventually she just shook her head as if shaking away whatever thought had occurred like it was a bug flying around her ear. Her blonde ponytail flicked side-to-side comically as she did it.

David breathed out a loud puff of air and then turned to the TV. He bent over the back of the couch to reach the remote and turned on the news. He didn’t like the news, but it was easier than trying to talk her.

His phone buzzed in his pocket and he instinctively reaching down to feel it in his pocket, as if he couldn’t determine it was already on his person from the vibration alone.

“Did you get celery, like I asked?” Annabelle asked.

He was too busy reading the words on his phone to turn around. He was too busy to listen. He felt heat flushing his face as he read and re-read the text.

“Dave?” Annabelle called again.

“Yes, hun,” David said without turning around.

Annabelle groaned and inside David felt himself tightened in anticipation of her frustration. He clicked his phone shut and braced himself. “Did you get the celery, like I asked?”

“Was celery on the list?” David finally turned around, hoping it was only heat that had risen to his face and not colour.

“Yes,” Annabelle had her arms crossed, a large kitchen knife still in her hand. When she scowled it contorted the otherwise youthful features of her face and made her look decades older. “I mentioned it last night.”

“I forgot.” David shrugged.

“No, you don’t listen.” Annabelle complained. “Why can’t you listen when I ask you simple things?”

“It’s just celery,” David didn’t want to look at her. He didn’t even like celery that much anyways. “I don’t like it that much anyways.”

“What-” Annabelle cut herself off. She sighed loudly as she set down the knife and propped her hands on the kitchen. “All I ask is that you get groceries on your way home from work.”

“Well, I missed one, okay. Big deal!” David rolled his eyes, the bark coming through in his voice.

“It’s not, I don’t care about the celery.”

“I don’t believe you.”

“What?” Annabelle’s mouth dropped open. “See, you’re not listening again.”

“I am, I’m right here listening to you.” David insisted, propping his hands on his hips, his jaw clenched.

“No, you’re not.” Annabelle shook her head. It was less comical when her hair flipped side-to-side this time. “I don’t care about the damn celery. I just want you to listen.”

“Listen to what?” David rolled his eyes. “The orders that you bark at me? The grocery lists that you expect me to memorise? You don’t talk to me anymore; you just command me to do things like some chore-boy.”

“What, that’s not true!” Annabelle threw her arms into the air before letting them land noisily on her sides. “I don’t command you to do anything.”

“Oh, so you don’t do anything wrong but I don’t listen?” David asked, incredulous.

“That’s not what I’m saying.”

“Then what are you saying, Annabelle? I am listening, but I don’t really care to hear you anymore.”

David could see the spark of anger in her eyes change. Within one comment she had deflated to half her size and the anger crumbled away into something smaller and… Sadder.

“I know,” she said quietly. “I know you don’t care anymore.”

David sighed, but loosened his stance. He didn’t feel like a winner, but he wasn’t the one who stepped down first so he’d take her surrender as a win. He replied, equally as softly. “Now who’s not listening.”

“You never listened, David,” Annabelle finally lifted her head, her eyes now watery. “That’s why we’re in this mess.”

“What mess?” David was confused. “It’s just an argument. It’s just celery.”

“It’s not just celery,” Annabelle’s bottom lip wobbled. “It’s her.”

“Her?” David asked but he felt his blood run cold and he couldn’t stop himself from automatically straightening his back as if he had been threatened.

“I warned you, I warned you.” Annabelle couldn’t look at him any longer. She tore her eyes away and just shook her head to herself. “I told you she would steal your heart.” She sobbed. “I told you that she would take you from me. But you never listened, you never have.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” David tried to reach out to her across the kitchen bench but Annabelle sensed him and stood back. He dropped his arm. The lie sounded weak even to his own ears.

“You’re cheating on me, dammit,” Annabelle wrapped her arms around her chest as if she could hold herself together. “You never used to forget groceries, but now that you come home via her house you always forget something.”

“Anna-” David tried to sooth her.

“How could you?” Annabelle cried out, her face red and blubbery. “How could you do this to us?”

David opened his mouth and closed it. He wished had an answer for her, but nothing came to his mouth. He couldn’t even imagine a lie that didn’t sound cheap, so he stayed silent. Annabelle slid to the kitchen floor, sobbing. After standing there for a few minutes, David just turned around and sat to watch the news. He ignored the texts vibrating in his pocket. Checking them then, after being exposed, felt more criminal than his original sin: an affair.