"Oh, would you like water or milk? I could make some lemonade if tea isn't what you want." Savi quickly stood up intending to go find something else for Eric.
"No, that's not what I meant. Please sit, relax and enjoy this meal with me. It's really nice to come home to dinner on the table, but it would be a whole lot nicer if I had someone to share it with. I feel like I've been sitting here alone this entire time. You haven't said a word to me, is something up?"
"Oh" Savi stuttered, "I haven't? I'm sorry I am just so flustered with school and all. How was your day?"
"It was fine. I worked at the courthouse today, fielding phone calls. They had four people call in sick today."
"Really? Huh. That's different." Savi still had not fully engaged in the conversation with Eric. She was very calculated with everything she said and did, so as to not lead Eric into thinking that she had been deceiving him.
"So, what have you been up to all day?" Eric asked.
"Just cleaned a little"
"A little? The house looks great." Eric kissed Savi on the hand and proceeded to talk. "You did a really good job. Did you have any help?"
Why is he asking if I had help? Does he really think that I am incapable of taking care of my home? Oh no, did he drive by today and see the van here?
Savi stood quickly, letting the napkin from her lap fall onto her plate. "Why would you ask me that, Eric?" She grabbed Eric's plate and stomped into the kitchen.
"It was pretty messy, I just thought maybe your mom came and helped."
Thank goodness, he was just guessing. Phew! He doesn't know a thing. Savi entered back into the dining room with a piece of peach cobbler in a bowl for Eric.
"Careful, it's hot," she warned as she dropped his bowl onto the table. "Wouldn't want you to burn yourself," she uttered sarcastically.
Seeming oblivious to his wife's hostility Eric praised Savi's hard work. "Wow, Savi this is amazing. Where did you get it from?"
"Eric Matthews, do you have any faith in your wife? I made that dessert along with the meal you just devoured. I worked long and hard to make you a nice dinner and you dare to ask me where I got it from?"
Savi stormed from the table. She wasn't sure whether she was angry that Eric was questioning her or if she was angry with herself for the continued deception of her husband. The last thing she wanted to do was to lie to Eric, but at this time it seemed as though it was the easiest thing for her to do. Her white lies weren't hurting anyone. Eric was coming home to a clean home, and Savi had the time to learn to cook of which were both a win-win for Eric.
"Savannah come back here," Eric hollered after Savi. His words stopped her right in her tracks. She took a breather in the hallway and attempted to clear her mind.
Savi, you need to cool your jets. Go back in there and enjoy him, enjoy your time together. He is your husband, not your enemy.
After a few moments of silence, Savi felt Eric wrap his arms around her waist. "I didn't mean to upset you baby, I'm sorry," Eric whispered into her ear. He grabbed her by the hand and pulled her into the living room and onto his lap as he sat down on the couch.
Savi curled up onto his lap and buried her head into his chest, secret tears fell from her eyes. The guilt was eating her inside. She felt as though there was no way out of this. Her lies were spiraling out of control and there was no looking back now.
Eric pulled her in closer to him and plucked the pins out of Savi's hair, letting her gorgeous locks fall free. "I never meant to upset you"
Savi lifted her head and looked into her husband's emerald eyes and gave him a big smile, grabbed his face and placed her plump lips upon his. "I know. I just get overwhelmed sometimes. All of this is so new to me, I don't know where or when to start or stop."
"I know baby, I know."
As she sat in his lap, she thought of ways to tell Eric the truth. But as each idea went through her head, she immediately dismissed it. The last thing she wanted was to be punished, and if she told Eric what she had been up to that is exactly what would happen.
*****
A new routine had developed around the Matthews household-Eric would leave for work and Savi would either spend her time doing her schooling online or lounging around the house. The cleaning service came daily now. It was like clockwork; they would arrive at eleven a.m. and they would be gone before one.
With Mrs. Bennett asking questions about the cleaning van last time Savi went over there, she knew she would have to learn to cook another way. Knowing how much Eric loved to come home to a kept house and a home cooked meal, Savi began to spend more and more time on the internet looking up new and exciting recipes she could try out. She wanted to please her husband. She wanted his adoration.
Determined more now than ever, Savi also made sure that she was gussied up and ready for his arrival home every day. She always looked as if she had somewhere to go and even if she didn't, her hair and makeup were always done to perfection. Her mother always told her that a lady's job was to look beautiful for her husband at all times, and that there was never any need for a sloppy wife. Sloppy wife equals sloppy life and no decent man would want people to think he lived in filth.
*****
As per their new usual, the table was set and dinner was waiting for Eric when he walked through the door. Dressed in her Sunday best, Savi was ready and waiting to greet him at the door. Eric had gotten used to their new way of life. Savi was exactly what Eric had always wanted and now that she could cook and clean, he felt as though the Lord had truly blessed him with the perfect partner.
"Welcome home, honey." Savi showered him with kisses before letting him through the door. She never let a day pass without showing him how much she cared, and he too gave her the same desired affection and attention.
"Dinner smells amazing! What did you make today?"
"Well, take a seat and I'll tell you while I dish you up."
Eric quickly washed up for dinner, and then joined his wife at the table. As soon as grace was said, Savi began serving Eric. "The first thing we have for you today is pork chops and for our sides, we have roasted red potatoes and sautéed asparagus."
"Wow Savannah, I bet it tastes amazing."
"I sure hope so, and for dessert we have apple pie."
"I really need to thank Mrs. Bennett for all the time she has spent teaching you to cook."
"Eric, Mrs. Bennett is a great teacher. But I can't give her all the credit. She sure has an amazing student. Not to toot my own horn, but toot toot."
"Toot toot indeed" Eric chuckled.
Savi's face turned many shades of pink from the lovely compliments Eric had given her. She hadn't told Eric that Mrs. Bennett was no longer teaching her, and she had no plans to tell him either. She knew that if she said she was finding the recipes online Eric would want to know why. He would want to know what happened that caused her not to seek help from their landlord and friend, Mrs. Bennett, any longer.
She wasn't lying to Eric. She just wasn't giving him all the little details of everything she had going on all day. Trying to steer clear of anything that would actually cause her to lie, Savi laughed along with Eric and continued to dish up their dinner.
That wasn't a lie. She had taught me to cook at one time, and she was pretty darn good at it.
Chapter Four
Before heading up to the apartment right after work, Eric wanted to thank the Bennett's for all they had done for Savi and their relationship. Upon hearing Eric's knocks, Mrs. Bennett answered the door.
"Hello, Eric. What brings ya down here?"
"I just wanted to come over and let you know how appreciative I am for all your help the last few weeks. Savi has just been glowing when I get home."
"Oh, that's not necessary. She is such a sweet girl. I enjoy spending time with her. She reminds me of my granddaughter, Alyssa. I don't see her much, so the time I get with Savi really does warm my ol' heart."
"I'm glad to hear that you are enjoying your time with her. With the disas
ter from the other day, she can use all the help she can get. Boy oh boy that was a huge mess!"
"Disaster? I don't know what ya mean. Why don't ya come on in and tell me what you're talking about boy." Eric followed Mrs. Bennett into her home, and she escorted him into her kitchen and sat him at the island bar.
Digging through the cupboards above the stove, she brought out a margarine tub. "I just made these last night, but I had to hide them from Harold. He has a major sweet tooth—his momma warned me when we was courting." Turning back towards Eric, she handed him two cookies. Triple chocolate peanut butter. Now why don't you fill ol' Mrs. Bennett in on what happened."
Eric took a bite "I'm confused. She didn't tell you? I thought you spent a lot of time together," he mumbled with a mouth full of cookie.
"A lot? Oh no, dear, maybe an hour or so while I taught her my secret recipes. She comes over for a quick lesson and is on her way."
"Really? I assumed she had spent a lot of time with you."
"Nope, it's typically an hour at most with some brief instructions. She comes on over while the cleaning ladies are ova there." She said pointing up to Eric and Savi's apartment. "Now you tell me boy—what do the two of you need a cleaning service for? Ya ain't got no children to keep up after. I asked her why too. Then she done took off on me."
Shocked, Eric choked on his cookie, "Cleaning ladies? Are you sure? You have to be confused. We don't have any cleaning ladies," he declared while coughing.
"I might be old, but I know what I done saw. There was two ladies in a blue van. It had a logo on the side. It was Hannah's Hands. I seen their ads on the TV."
"You're sure?"
"Yes, I'm sure." Under her breath, Mrs. Bennett mumbled, "Kids these days always doubting their elders."
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to question you. I must have misunderstood Savi."
"What do ya mean boy?"
"It doesn't matter." Eric replied. His head hung low as he realized what had been going on behind his back.
Mrs. Bennett got closer to Eric. "I don't know what's going on up there. But ya better nip it in the bud before it gets out of hand. Obviously ya don't know what's going on neither."
"I guess not. I'm sorry to bother you. I best be going." Raising his cookie in the air, he thanked her for her time and the cookie, then went on his way.
"Anytime honey, don't ya be a stranger. Ya hear."
Headed back upstairs to the apartment, Eric began running their conversation through his head. He couldn't believe his wife of a few short months would be hiding things and lying to him, especially over something so trivial.
After entering the apartment, he went into the office to check their savings account and checking account for any recent activities. The last withdrawal was made with his card, so how did she pay for it? They didn't keep cash on hand, so where could she have gotten the money from? Did her parents pay for the cleaning service? Wouldn't Sarah of just come over and cleaned the place up herself? But Savi was adamant that she didn't get help from her mom, so Mrs. Bennett had to be right in what she saw. Getting more and more frustrated with the situation at hand, Eric went searching for the receipt. There had to be something somewhere that would give away Savi's secrets.
Eric was digging through the desk drawers when Savi strolled in behind him. "What are you looking for babe?"
"Oh, me? Nothing."
"You're obviously looking for something. It's not nice to lie to me Eric."
That made Eric's blood boil. "You're right honey. I'll try not to do it again," he uttered through gritted teeth.
"I'm headed to the living room, maybe when you're done with whatever you're doing in here we can watch a movie or something. Man, you must have had a rough day."
"Why would you assume that, dear?" Eric grumbled, trying not to let her notice the anger spewing inside of him.
"Well, by the way you just growled at me, I would assume that you didn't have the best time at work. Did they have you pumping septic's again?"
Frustrated by his wife's nonchalant attitude, Eric knew now would be as good of a time as any to get Savi to come clean. "You know what Savannah, a conversation actually sounds great. Why don't we go ahead and do that instead of a movie."
"Sounds good, honey. I'll put some tea on and meet you in the living room."
Relieved to have a few more minutes to search, he made his way back to the computer. He searched through the computer's history. He found the link to the cleaning agency. Knowing his wife always saved her account passwords to the server, he easily logged into her account and saw that she used her school only credit card to pay for the multiple transactions.
"Honey, the tea is ready!" he heard Savi holler from the living room. As he exited the office, he tried to calm himself, disappointed that his wife would lie to his face without even a hint of shame or remorse.
Sitting next to his wife on the couch, Eric attempted to calm himself again. He knew that now was not the time to confront her. He was too angry. Not only had she been lying to him continually, she went behind his back and did something she knew was wrong. One of the only rules they had in place was no disciplining when Eric was angry. "What did you want to talk about?" Eric asked as calmly as he could.
Savi moved in closer, resting her head on Eric's chest and said, "Your day, you seem stressed or something."
"You know, I really don't want to talk about my day. It's not important." Eric gave Savi a little nudge and put some distance between them. "There is something else I think we should talk about though."
"Okay, whatever you want."
"Now that we are married, I think we should discuss new disciplinary rules. The only we ones we have are from our courtship. Those aren't ideally what I am looking for now that we are married."
"What do you mean?" Savi questioned with a confused look on her face.
"Well…" Eric stood and walked around the living room, flashes of memories from their first spanking experience popped into his head. "Our rules said clothed Savi, we already broke that one."
"But we're married now," she giggled.
"Exactly, that is why things have to change." Sitting on the coffee table across from his wife, Eric began sharing his ideas. "I think it's time we have actual punishments for different infractions. Like, let's say you do something I specifically ask you not to. I think there should be a certain implement used for the punishment."
"What are you talking about, Eric?"
He was trying to throw hints her way, hoping she'd confess. He used one of her most current transgressions, without giving too much away. "Well, let's say you bought something we couldn't afford and you knew you shouldn't. Being I don't have a stable job right now, I think that deserves the leather strap we got from your brother as a wedding gift."
"Where is all this coming from?" Savi leaned in closer to her husband and asked, "Why is this a conversation we need to have right now?"
"What do you mean? Now is as good of a time as any since we technically already broke the rules we had set in place. I think we need to discuss this, you know, set boundaries. We both need this, so neither of us cross any lines. Savannah, I just want a wife who behaves herself. This is the promise we made to each other and in front of God, and it's something I intend to uphold."
"Okay, fine. Leather strap it is, next?" She rolled her eyes at him and scooted back on the couch.
"Well, the repercussions of your sassy mouth will still earn you a few smacks with the spoon, as we talked about the other night."
"That works for me, is that all?" Savi inquired as got up from the couch, turned her back towards Eric, and began to walk away from him.
"No, one more thing. Savannah, stop there and look at me! Lying. I despise lying, Savi. That just makes my blood boil. I know you wouldn't lie to me, but I think there should be a rule there just in case the situation arises." Eric could see the confusion in Savi's face.
"What were you thinking?"
"Hmm, I don't know. Do you have
any ideas?"
"I have no idea, Eric."
He could see the emotion in her eyes. Was it remorse or the fear of getting caught, he wondered. "Savi, I shouldn't be the only one making the rules and regulations. We are a team, and we should be doing this together."
Savi's tone got loud and rude. "What do you want me to pick? I have no idea what you want from me! Just use a stupid paddle—does that work for you, sir?"
"Savi, I am only going to suggest this to you once. You watch your tone when you are speaking to me. I thought we were having a good night."
"We were until you started talking about disciplining me. I did what you asked and we still have to talk about me breaking the rules. Conversation over, I am going to bed."
"Savannah Marie! You stop right there! The last thing I want to do tonight is discipline you. But I have had enough of your disrespect. This is a partnership, don't you get that?"
Savi walked towards Eric. He could see the anger boiling in her eyes. "Ha! A partnership? You have got to be kidding me. A partnership means both of us have a say, not just the big bad husband."
That comment stung Eric to the core. "That's what you think of me Savi? I'm just the big bad husband? You know what, go take your bath, go do whatever it is that is more important than this conversation. I am done." Throwing his hands in the air, Eric moved past Savi and went into the office. He couldn't stand to be around her. She had been lying to him all night and then she even had to audacity to attack his character. He knew this marriage would be a struggle for them, but he never expected her to treat him this way.
Chapter Five
Sundays had always been pretty hectic in the Matthews household, as Savi taught Sunday school at Bethel Pentecostal and Eric was typically her assistant. Both Eric and Savi moved around the house and around each other in utter silence, with just the sound of their movements to fill the air. The car ride to church was equally uneventful.
As Eric pulled into the church parking lot, he let Savi in on his thoughts, "Put on your happy face Savannah, we have a job to do here. These children are here to learn about Jesus. The last thing they need is for either of us to have a sour attitude. Last night's conversation is not over and we will finish it when we get home." Eric pulled into a parking spot, got out, proceeded to open his wife's door and escorted her into the church. Savi went along with Eric's suggestion and acted as though nothing had happened last night.
The Trouble With Savi Page 3