“What do you mean you got a job? I didn’t even know you were looking for a job. How long has this been going on?” I asked her, completely caught off guard.

“I’ve been looking for something to do for a few weeks now. I wanted to tell you, but you’re always so busy, and I didn’t want to use the little bit of time that we have together fighting and arguing about this. I don’t want you to be mad at me.”

“I’m not mad at you Kayla, but I am pretty confused. This feels like it came out of left field. As I said, I had no idea you were even looking for a job. What brought this on?”

“Honestly, I feel like I’m going stir crazy looking at these same four walls every single day. It was one thing when you were home more or when I was able to talk to you throughout the day. Now that it’s just me sitting here by myself, I can’t take it.”

“You know, it isn't exactly my fault that I’m not available to call you throughout the day anymore. We both knew that this practice was going to take up a lot of time once it started to grow. You can’t act like you’re shocked by this.”

“Yeah Dillon, I’m well aware. You’ve been telling me this for a while now. That doesn’t change the fact that I’m lonely. I just went looking for jobs to try to find something to get me out of the house and seeing some faces that aren’t mine in the mirror. I didn’t even think anything would come of it, at least not this quickly. I just went on an interview this afternoon, and it went well, so they hired me.”

“I can’t believe you were going on job interviews and I had no clue you were even looking for a job. You’ve kept me out of the loop on this one.”

“You’re making it sound like I was trying to hide it from you, but it isn’t like that at all. As I said, you’re never here so when was I supposed to tell you?”

“Exactly the way you’re telling me right now.”

“Yeah, anyway, I was calling to tell you because I’m excited about it. I was hoping you could be excited for me as well, but I can see that’s not happening. I’m gonna let you go.”

“I’m sorry. If you’re excited, then I’m excited for you. We’ll talk about it more tonight. Love you.”

“Okay,” she replies. “Talk to you later.”

I hung up the phone and sat staring at the receiver. Other than being a doctor, there was one thing I was good at, and that was pissing off my wife. Of course, that wasn’t my intention, but I’m not sure how she expected me to react to her news.

When we got married, she was all about being a housewife. She loved it, or at least she seemed to. When we were signing the papers to close on the house, she had a hard time hiding her excitement. All she could talk about was all the things she wanted to do in the house.

She was all about how she would decorate, how she would set up the rooms, all the cooking she was going to do, how she was going to learn to garden so she could prepare meals with fresh produce she grew herself.

I have to admit; she is a beast in the kitchen. For years, I would pull into the garage and could smell what she was making in the kitchen. One day it would be spicy sausage and peppers, the next would be homemade pasta sauce and hand-made noodles. She loved being in the kitchen, and I often wonder how I’m not overweight by 100 pounds.

Over time, all of the little things she used to do began to stop. She went from cooking meals every night, to most nights, to pretty much never. I’ve never once complained, although I do miss coming home to the food on the table. Not so much because I feel like a woman has to cook for her husband, but because she was so damn good at it.

Kayla’s food could rival any restaurant in the area. The restaurants that we mostly live on now since cooking is not one of my strong suits. Takeout, takeout, and more takeout is what we eat now. Dinner plans typically consist of her texting me and telling me what she’s picking up and me replying with my order.

We don’t even go out to dinner anymore. I used to like to get dressed up to take her somewhere nice at least a couple of times a month, but she isn’t interested in that anymore. The only time I can get her to come out is when a pharmaceutical rep is taking me out, and I have to basically beg, plead, and grovel to get her to do that.

I’m not entirely sure what has changed in our marriage. I work long hours, but it isn’t like she didn’t know what she was getting into. I’ve always been a hard worker. I worked hard through medical school, and I work even harder to build my practice. I figure working hard now will allow me to enjoy life later. I bank my money so I can retire early and spend my time with my wife.

Now I’m wondering if it’s been worth it.

I’ve always had a plan for our future, and I always assumed she’d be on board with it. While it was never formally discussed, I always figured that once I had the practice thoroughly established, she’d come and work for me in the office. Hell, if she wanted to get out of the house, I could have used the help. I’ve thought about asking her many times, but she has put some much space in between us, I figured she was enjoying her time at home without me.

Maybe that’s exactly what this was all about. Perhaps she wanted to get away from the house altogether. Maybe the life I was giving her wasn’t the life she wanted.

I feel like I’m missing something.

Something didn’t make sense, and I was trying to figure out what it was. Was my marriage on its last legs and I’ve just been too blind to see it?