Games people play

Sheila woke up to the sound of her phone ringing. Groggy and sleepy-eyed she peers at the unknown number. She picks up the call anyway and hears the voice of Trent asking her to come downstairs with some money. While she fumbles around for her wallet, she remembers that he was to come back from his trip late tonight. His trips had become so frequent that she almost forgot that she shares her three bedroom flat with her husband.

Taxi driver paid, luggage hauled upstairs, shower taken. They sit on their bed while she animatedly updates him about the past couple of weeks. He listens. He always listens. She slipped out of the bedroom quietly when he drifted off, knowing that he needs to rest after such a hectic trip. Besides, there was the big match on from the afternoon onwards that he wanted to watch. What an exciting match it was! They were both jubilant as they prepared for bed.

He was teasing her all day. Making fun of her belly. Keeping count of her calories. Teasing her about her awkward gait. Telling her she needs to take a shower. Trent's way of expressing love is his relentless teasing. Sheila finds it hurtful. When she brings it up, he says she has no sense of humor. Tired of the mounting fights, Sheila gives up protesting and licks her wounds quietly.

While in bed, he begins teasing her again. Says she's too finicky because she wanted the bed to be tidy, the water bottles within reach, the Martini bottle on the side table, the books on the other one...all the while she quietly goes about these small tasks while wondering in her heart, why is it always his problems that come ahead of hers? Her feet were aching from running around the house for him. Yet his strained back (which was massaged by her 3 times today) seems to trump all her pain. He then tries to poke her a bit more. She finally grumbles about her patience and pain. He promptly personalizes it rather than reaching out for her and starts an argument. Then, as he claims all men do, he blocks her out by watching youtube videos.

With a sigh, she picks up her book and reads a couple of pages. As usual after an argument, he offers the healthy suggestion of sleeping. Too tired of the fights, she gives in to sleep.

Sheila wakes up the next day and decides that she has no energy for fights and pretends like nothing happened the night before. She cheerfully chit-chats with Trent. She genuinely wants to just have a good weekend with him before he's busy for the entire week with his 18-hour days. However, Trent never likes to feel like the persecutor. He wanted to even out the fight. So he circles her like a shark waiting to find a fight. She doesn't fight back. He stalls an hour and tries again. She lets up and gives him the outburst he wants so that he feels like the victim again.

There are a multitude of emotions running through Sheila. She decides she cannot live like this anymore. Clearly her days without him are happier than the days with him. Clearly the fights far outweigh the joys. Besides, no joy is worth these gross misunderstandings.

He's taking his nap in the guest bedroom - the poor victim of this domestic cage. She packs all her emotions into neat compartments, she burns all the memories she's had with him, she lets the love quickly drip out of her soul till she is empty of any feelings for him. She has shut him out.

Let him beat an opponent that isn't even fighting anymore.