The first time I met Mary was in my adolescence, we both attended the same high school together. She was a reserved girl and had few friends, the kind of girl who is very picky when it comes to choosing classmates. And that was one of the many things I liked about her.
Over time we got to know each other and at the end of college we decided to become a couple.
Mary always had the habit of getting up much earlier than me. Before five a.m. she was already walking around the kitchen and when I got up, after six thirty, she had two cups of coffee on the table.
So every day we started it with a nice ritual. I would get out of bed, clean up a bit in the bathroom, go to the kitchen, hug Mary, and while we drank our coffee we would make plans for the day's activities. Then she would go to her job at a real estate office, and I would go to mine at a brokerage firm. At the end of the afternoon we would meet somewhere to go home.
On weekends we would spend time with mutual friends and visit relatives. And twice a year we took a week's vacation. Our marriage was going very well...
In the second year of our marriage our daughter Beth was born, a beautiful little girl who made our relationship much happier. Her arrival forced us to change many routines but we adapted perfectly. Time went by and between Mary and me everything was working perfectly...
The day of our tenth anniversary I decided to surprise Mary with a special gift, the night before I had left Beth with the grandparents because I was planning to celebrate at the end of the afternoon.
Against my habit that day I had gotten up earlier than Mary...I went to the library to look for the gift and when I was returning to the kitchen something happened that left me completely disturbed...
From the kitchen door I could see how Mary was pouring my cup of coffee, but in hers she was just pouring hot water, then she put a spoonful of a blackish substance that she had taken out of a small glass jar.
—What are you doing Mary...I said in a surprised tone...
—The same as every day...she answered me with a sad look on her face...
—Mary...please...Explain to me what is going on here...
We took a seat and for the first time in my life I lost the desire to have that cup of coffee to start the day, I felt that something very important had broken between the two of us...
We made a great effort to stay as calm as possible, but Mary's sadness was more than evident, and between sobs she confessed to me that she had never liked coffee, that's why during our courtship she always managed to get us to go for ice cream. But once we got married she realized how important coffee was to me.
At first it all started as a game, she took advantage of the fact that I got up later than she did and wanted to play a joke on me, so one day she made a cup of coffee for me and in her cup she put the colored substance. Her intention was to tell me that she wasn't really drinking coffee, but seeing my enthusiasm to talk about the day's plans, she didn't have the courage to ruin such a nice moment, so she preferred to keep quiet. That day went on and on and on and on, until we were ten years old...
—Mary...do you realize what this means...you have been cheating on me all this time...I told her quite angrily...
—Yes, I know...she replied with regret...It is true that I have deceived you, but it was out of fear. I thought that if I told you the truth you wouldn't feel like sitting down for your first cup of coffee. I thought that maybe we wouldn't talk about the day's plans while you had your coffee...I'm sorry, I'm really sorry...
—Mary...I am so sorry to know that you don't know me, how could you think that we would stop talking about our things because I didn't have a cup of coffee....... Gee Mary, I feel like my trust in you has been shaken...
We talked for a long time about us, about our future, about the importance of overcoming this impasse for Beth's sake, but we understood that something was never right in our communication, there had been a lack of sincerity...
By mutual agreement we agreed to seek the advice of a marriage consultant, we both have the desire to overcome the situation.
As a first task the consultant told us to try to rescue that routine of our mornings. Now Mary keeps pouring me my cup of coffee and she pours herself any tea of her choice...
I must admit that the atmosphere is not the same, it still causes me discomfort to see her cup with a different liquid. But there is something very hopeful, we are still excited to share our expectations about the day's plans.
Thank you for your time.
Image edited with HDR Max App.
Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version).
Logo creado por @themanualbot