21

Jodie answered the door; it was Rob.
"Where the hell have you been? I've been alone all day thanks to you."
Jodie looked absolutely stunning in the doorway. It was dusk, and she was squinting her eyes with a hand on her brow trying to block setting sun's rays. Rob was a dark silhouette as far as she could see.
"I'm really sorry! I ran into John down at the music store, he's just returned from the military." Rob reached Jodie and risked a kiss; she didn't refuse. "I would have called you but my phone died."
Jodie let her hand fall to her side. "Well, it's still frustrating.." Her expression was sympathetic and disappointed.
She moved to the side as Rob passed her by and disappeared into their small cabin. Closing the door behind her, Jodie sighed and moved out to the edge of the porch, where she stood and stared into the sunny tree line with hands on her hips. A tired white t-shirt and old worn jeans were the only thing she'd been wearing this past week. But it wasn't important to her. Life had become simpler since she and Rob had been living together for over five years. The routine wasn't that bothersome, because it was carefree and, if she was completely honest with herself, it was exactly what she had needed all her life.
After 28 years of living in fear of what people thought when she spoke, how their faces smirked when she tried a joke, or how employment seemed an endless battle between her soul and a tired grindstone of a boss; Jodie finally could look outside into the sky and breathe free.
A car was driving up the dirt rode, out of the valley. It was a couple who frequently drove to the library right before it closed at night. Their 95 Honda rolled up to the stop sign in front of Rob and Jodie's home and quietly slowed to a stop. The car stayed motionless. The husbands hands were loose on the steering wheel, and his eyes were looking up, admiring the same sunset at Jodie. He smiled when he put his arm around his wife's delicate shoulders. Through the windshield, his words were visible to anyone who read his lips.
"Not as good as you." he said with a broad grin. His wife shook her head and smiled back. Her husband was still as much a boy today as the day she had married him.
They kiss.

In The Valley 20

Jodie answered the door; it was Rob.
"Where the hell have you been? I've been alone all day thanks to you."
Rob slumped past her, his head down, his eyes cast on the floor.
"Did you tell Chris about my idea? Did you tell him the idea I had? Rob?" Jodie followed him into the kitchen, and talked into his ear as he went from the fridge to the sink. "I knew it, you wouldn't stand up to Chris; he's your supervisor for Christ's sake. Why can't you man up and tell him that you want a raise? Don't you want to provide for this family?" Rob turned to her. He looked her in the eye and told her that two people hardly made a family. Rob opened the milk carton he had fetched and smelled its contents. He paused, shrugged, and poured it down the drain.
"Milk's bad." He sighed, and returned to the fridge. He scanned the inside, looking for something to drink; he'd been drinking tap water far too long. He felt he deserved better than tap water after a day of work.
"I'm so tired of this shit!" Jodie yelled, rummaging through the cupboards. "All I wanted was a nice home in a nice neighborhood with nice neighbors and a good school for my children and a neighborhood watch program so they could be safe and grow up and live normal lives. Instead; I'm out here in The Valley, watching my uterus dry up and my furniture fall apart while my loving husband works all day and comes home to ignore me and watch t.v." Tears were in her eyes, and her voice broke on the last sentence. Rob turned away, loosening his tie. He sat down on the couch. Jodie sat next to him, then leaned over till she balled up and lay her head on his lap. He ran his fingers through her hair as they sat and stared at the blank television before them.
"Sorry I'm not what you wanted." Rob sighed.
They kiss.