"Oh, husband." Seriously? Those were the only words she could think of? If Naomi decided to berate her for being so damn awkward, Sophie wouldn't even be mad.
"Right. Wife." He joked, letting his guard down in a way he hadn't since four months ago. His smile was nothing short of angelic and Sophie was sure she would've willingly gone blind if there weren't other people around.
Luke turned towards the mystery lady, the pretty brunette, "I wanted to introduce you to Gabriella."
Sophie tried to ignore the tension in her body, realizing she'd been forced into an interaction she wasn't quite emotionally ready for. And look! Her friends left her to be on her own. How wonderfully pleasant was life.
"Finally, a name to the face. I've noticed you since a while ago. Can I call you Gab?"
"No." Gab– Gabriella smiled back, voice sickeningly sweet as she practically slammed Sophie's ego to the ground, sparing her no mercy. What the fuck was her problem?
Sophie's eyes grew wide for a split second before they returned to normal, her hand extended for a hand shake. "Oh, uh, Gabriella then, it's nice to meet you. I'm Sophie Agnelli, Luke's…"
"Wife. I know. I've heard so much about you." Gabriella cut in.
"All good things, I hope." Sophie teased, attempting to breathe amidst the suffocating tension that her husband seemed oblivious to.
"One usually hopes for good things, yes."
Sophie was seconds away from jumping the pretty stuck-up bitch when her husband placed his hand on Gabriella's shoulder. Sophie couldn't remove her eyes from the sight. All of a sudden, it felt like there was something burning in her chest, nothing pleasurable, just fiery and all-consuming.
"I didn't think I'd run into you here, love. Aren't you, Naomi, and Lola usually getting your manicures around this time?"
She pushed away her complaints to the back of her mind. Later. They'd talk about it later.
"We are, but I felt like kicking both their asses for a few more rounds."
"My wife is competitive as usual, I see." What was Luke on? Just last night he couldn't even face her, now he was showering her in sugary names and playful teasing. As if nothing at all was wrong with their marriage.
"I didn't expect that from your wife, Luke. I thought your tastes would lean more into the demure side."
Her husband's attention seemed to be wholly on Gabriella, making Sophie feel ignored despite being the literal topic of their conversation.
"I didn't expect it either. Sophie seems to be the exception to a lot of things in my life."
"Hm."
Moments later, Luke's other business associates caught up to them, interrupting their tense conversation to introduce themselves to the infamous Luke Agnelli's wife. Relief settled in Sophie's bones, the interaction going from extremely confusing to somewhat manageable.
One of the men in the group even challenged Sophie.
"Sure, I don't mind adding to my winning streak." She grinned, picking up a tennis ball that was resting beside her feet.
"Damn, I love a woman who can kick my ass."
"Watch what you say to my wife, John."
The short but charming man could only laugh as he was scolded, seemingly enamored with his associate's wife. It didn't take long for Luke and another associate to join them, turning the singles game into a doubles.
For a short-lived moment, things seemed like they were going to be alright.
-
"Luke? Can we talk?"
Her husband was smiling when he looked up to meet her gaze and Sophie envied whatever it was in his phone that caused him to look so content. It wasn't her, that was for sure.
"Ah. It's a bit late, no? And I'm exhausted from all the mingling I did the entire day."
She almost relented, but the determined voice inside her head rang louder than any sympathy she could muster up for her husband. She'd spared him her own time whenever he had his complaints, after all, even when their conversations lasted late into the night and in the first hours of the morning.
Sophie Agnelli was no pushover. She knew when reciprocated efforts were due.
"I know, but we can keep it short. I just wanted to ask you a few things."
"I really can't right now, Sophie." His brows were furrowed, voice strained and joyless. No more love. No more wife either. Just Sophie.
Whoever said women were confusing was lying. Men's personalities were built entirely on mind games. Luke was no exception, Sophie learned much too late into their marriage.
"Oh, so you have the energy to talk to sweet ol' Gabriella but not to your own wife, Luke? Really?"
Luke grimaced. He looked genuinely pissed, in a way he had never been in their marriage, not even when they were dating. She didn't mean to say something so tactless, but it had been building up since that morning, maybe even way before that.
"How do you even know it's Gabriella I'm talking to?"
"You're not denying it, Luke. You realize how insane that is, right?"
He placed his phone down on their nightstand and looked her straight in the eye. "Fine. You want to talk, let's talk."
She allowed a glimpse of sadness to reflect in her eyes and it seemed to soften Luke's anger.
"Did I do something wrong, Luke?"
The silence that followed after spoke volumes and, at the same time, told Sophie nothing at all. Something was wrong, that was for sure, Luke's clear lack of response and look of comprehension communicated that. But what? What was wrong? When did it start?
"No."
"Look me in the eye, Luke. Look me in the eye when you say that."
He swallowed down the saliva collecting in his mouth, turning his head to meet his wife's gaze. "No, you did nothing wrong, Sophie."
"Then why?" Her voice cracked and both of them flinched, unfamiliar with the Agnelli wife being in a state so pathetic.
"Why what, love?" Luke cooed in that pacifying tone of his. But it didn't make Sophie feel better, couldn't, it only confused her. One moment he was hot, loving, perfect, and then he was as cold as everyone made him out to be, an unmoving statue that looked down at her from the heavens.
"Why? You haven't touched me in months! You don't answer when I ask about your day. You flinch whenever I hug you. You pretend as if I haven't been initiating sex with you and say you're too tired. In fact, you're always tired. Too tired to even notice my gifts, too tired to say something more than thanks, too tired to talk to me beyond five words a day."
Luke remained still, silent, painfully so. It only motivated Sophie to say even more.
"And then suddenly I run into you being all touchy feely with another girl, what am I supposed to think when all those years ago you said you were repulsed by touch except mine? When you said you wouldn't be caught dead holding someone else who isn't me?"
The taste of salt invaded her tongue, the liquid streaming down her face posing as a challenge to her coherency. She had so much to say, so much she wanted him to feel back, but she could only stumble on her words.
"Did I do something wrong? Are you punishing me? Is it work? I can always take time off of work, I want to solve this with you, I want to make it up to you. Just say something, just talk to me–"
"Stop it. Stop this nonsense."
She wished she wasn't heaving, she wished her robe wasn't so damp from her tears because Luke looked so indifferent, as if her feelings had been an inconvenience, a measly torn on his side.
"Don't take time off of work for me. You haven't done anything wrong. In fact, there's nothing wrong. I'm just not feeling it these days, can't you understand that?"
She wasn't satisfied with that. After months of nothing but apathy from his side, she could barely be satisfied with anything. She needed a real answer. And for a moment she considered that maybe she was looking at it from the wrong angle.
"Luke, are you... are you going through something? Did something happen that I wasn't aware of or.. or did... did your father say something again?"
"What? There's nothing wrong with me!"
Sophie's jaw fell from its hinges. Luke never raised his voice at her, he had never appeared and sounded as terrifying as he did now.
She didn't know what to do but to return the attitude. "Why do you have to be so damn defensive about it? I'm just trying to talk to you!"
"And why do you have to be so damn irritating about it? You're always coddling me, it's like I'm being suffocated by you!"
Forest green never looked so dull, never lacked the warmth Sophie's soul seeked until now. Pissed was an understatement, Luke was enraged, as if his wife's presence in the room was outrageous.
"Look, I know this has all been a fairytale for you, but it hasn't been that for me. I'm not gonna keep prancing around pretending you're the only thing that matters in my life. You can keep deluding yourself, sure, but I'm not gonna play along anymore."
For a second time since the night of their anniversary, Luke walked out without another word. This time, the slam of the door filled their penthouse suite with its hollow echoes.