Knight & Play

Which by default made Sophie a part time wife. The thought unsettled her, and she still had a frown on her face when Dan came through the door a few moments later.

“All right, babe?” He dropped a kiss on her forehead as he deposited his briefcase on the floor.

Sophie smiled and forced her melancholy mood aside. Tonight was their last night together for ten days; it wasn’t the moment to rock the boat. “I’m fine,” she said. “Hungry? I made pizza.”

Dan shrugged out of his suit jacket and headed for the stairs.

“Sure. Let me just go and get out of these and I’m all yours.”

Sophie sliced the pizza and put wine on the table, and she smiled when Dan came down in old jeans and a white T-shirt. His hair was still shower-damp, and his feet were bare. These were the times when he felt like he was hers again, the few and far between occasions when he didn’t have his suit on and his Blackberry glued against his ear. His rapid promotion through the ranks at work had been champagne moments at home, but every increment in wages had brought with it more responsibility and more travel.

“This is nice.” He nodded his approval at the table, complete with candlelight.

“I thought we could use a little romance.”

Dan laughed and reached for the wine bottle. “Steady on, Soph. I’m bloody knackered.”

Sophie’s smile faltered as she slid the pizza onto their plates. “Eat your dinner then. Get your strength back.”

Dan reached for his knife and fork and launched into a work-related story as they ate, and Sophie pushed her salad around with ever increasing despondency. The evening was ebbing away from them on a tide of meaningless chitchat, when she’d really wanted to make it into something more memorable to get them through the coming days. He reached for more pizza, and Sophie took advantage of the lull to change the subject.

“I’ve got a job interview on Monday.”

Dan looked up in surprise. “I didn’t realise you were serious about looking for something else.”

“I wasn’t really. It just caught my eye.”

Dan topped up their wine glasses. “What is it?”

Sophie hesitated. “Another PA role, just a bigger company.”

“Cool.” Dan yawned and rolled his shoulders. “Christ, I ache. This job’s killing me, Soph.”

“Yet you don’t want to leave,” Sophie said, pointedly. Dan moaned incessantly about his long hours, but she knew perfectly well that he wouldn’t be scouring the job ads for something else.

Dan shrugged and pushed his plate away. “I’m done. Better go and pack.”

Sophie nodded with a tight smile as she picked up the empty plates, then blew out the candle with a resigned huff as he disappeared. While she cleared down the kitchen, she reasoned with herself. She’d tried subtlety with her comment about gathering his strength and it had slipped under his radar. She took a good swig of wine and decided to up the ante a little. After all, it wasn’t fair to expect him to make all the moves. She flicked out the light in the kitchen and mussed her hair up in the hall mirror, then added a slick of lip-gloss to her mouth for good measure.

She could hear him zipping his bag upstairs, so she skipped into the lounge and sat down, her legs tucked beneath her in a ‘sit next to me’ kind of way. Glancing down at her blouse, she popped a button to give Dan a bird’s eye view of her lace bra when he joined her on the sofa.

Except he didn’t. He gave her a distracted smile when he came down and flopped down in his armchair, then reached out and swiped the TV remote from the coffee table. “Anything good on?”

Sophie tried to ignore the sting of resentment and reached for her wine glass with a neutral smile. “I’m not sure.”

Dan flicked the channel from the programme Sophie had half decided to watch and settled on a re-run of a reality cop show that she really couldn’t stand the sight of.

“All packed and ready to go?” she asked.

“Think so.” Dan didn’t look away from the screen as he answered her.

“Ten nights is a long time,” she said softly.

Dan flicked his eyes at Sophie and grinned. “Will you miss me?”

Sophie nodded. “Of course.” She paused, crippled with awkwardness. “Shall we, umm, have an early night?”

“Yeah,” Dan yawned. “You go on up if you like, I’ll lock up and be up in five.”

Sophie unwound herself off the sofa and picked up their wine glasses. As she passed Dan’s chair, she leaned down and brushed a kiss over his mouth. “See you in bed.”

Upstairs, she undressed slowly, leaving her lace underwear on for Dan to remove. In bed, she propped herself up and sipped her wine whilst she waited. After five minutes she fidgeted with her underwear and wondered if it looked too obvious and she should change into something else. After ten minutes she decided to pick up a book to pass the time. After twenty, she was battling to keep her eyelids open, so she gave up waiting and padded downstairs. Dan was still in the armchair, fast asleep with his Blackberry in his hand. She touched his shoulder, and he started awake and dropped his phone.

“Fuck. Sorry, Soph.” He hurriedly grabbed his phone and checked the screen. Sophie turned and headed back to bed, still holding onto hope despite the fact that he’d barely so much as glanced her way as she’d stood in front of him in the underwear she’d kept on just for his benefit. She may as well have had her winter coat on.

When he came into their bedroom a few minutes later, he stripped off and slid straight into bed, grumbling as he set the alarm for earlier than usual. He flicked the lamp out and flopped back with the duvet pulled up to his chin.

Sophie turned to him in the darkness, and for a couple of minutes neither of them spoke.

She could see his profile clearly now that her eyes had adjusted to the shadows, and even though his eyes were already closed, she reached out and stroked his cheek. He turned his face into her hand and kissed her palm.

“Night, sweetheart,” he murmured. “I’ll try not to wake you in the morning.”

Creeping desperation forced Sophie onwards, even though she was struggling to ignore Dan’s fairly clear signals that he wasn’t up for anything but sleep. She snuggled in close and kissed the side of his mouth. “I’m really going to miss you.”

Dan sighed. “You too, babe.” He shifted a little and kissed her forehead rather than her lips. “I’ll be back before you know it.” He laughed softly and turned over, leaving her looking at his back. “Look on the bright side, Soph. You can have sole custody of the remote while I’m gone.”