Flash Marriage: Shrewd Wife, Devious Husband
Chapter 39: Domestic Issues

Chapter 39: Domestic Issues

Tony looked to the front as the car started to move. He was uncomfortable looking at the driver sitting in front of him. Marcella figured that he might be conscious of the driver. She thought home would be the best place to talk about this private topic.

Throughout the entire ride, she was trying to keep the baby asleep and she couldn’t think much. They reached Tony’s home.

"Until I set the crib, use the bed," Tony said.

Marcella walked into his bedroom for the first time ever. And she was shocked. She didn’t know where to place her foot.

The floor was covered with papers. It looked intentional as if he placed those papers around the room. The drawers were open and looked messy. The sock drawer was stuffed with many unmatching socks. The nightstand was stacked with papers.

The laundry basket was full. A heap of clothes was right next to the laundry basket. The closet was open. There were no suits in the closet and a couple of clean shirts he had were folded in there not so neatly. His ties were all bundled into a ball in there.

The bed was unmade, but other than the bedding nothing else was on there so that was the only "clean" space there.

He has no clean clothes to wear tomorrow, Marcella thought and her heart raced for him. If she doesn’t have clean clothes and underwear enough for a week in her closet, she wouldn’t be able to sleep properly.

Okay... so, he is not a big fan of doing laundry, I see... And he’s a daredevil who lives on the edge.

Maybe she lingered by the door too long, Tony rushed there.

"Sorry..." he said, his face flustered. She saw pearls of perspiration on his face. He was just unpacking the crib. "You can step on the paper. They’re nothing important. Some are classified documents from the office, but it’s fine if it gets dirty. It just can’t be leaked..." he mumbled.

Important enough to not get leaked but not so important to be kept safe... What kind of documents are they?

"Oh, okay..." Marcella said. But she was still hesitant to step on the papers.

"It’s fine," he pushed her in. "Wait..." he rushed to the bed and quickly made the bed. "It’s..." he scratched his head and closed the drawers in a hurry.

Marcella was surprised to see him so flustered. So, he too was human, after all.

She placed the baby on the bed and lined up the pillows around him to make sure he didn’t roll down.

"I was looking for something yesterday..." Tony mumbled as he tried to shut the sock drawer that refused to oblige according to his hurry.

"Damn washing machine keeps on eating my socks," he mumbled. "I should throw it all away."

"Wait..." Marcella walked to the drawer. She didn’t want the noise to wake up the baby. There she found it.

"Here," she found the set for one pair of socks. "I think you didn’t lose your socks..."

She knelt in front of the drawer and looked around. She almost found two dozen pairs of socks.

Tony was flabbergasted. "So, they are all here... I keep on buying new pairs..."

Marcella stood up. Seeing the sweet surprise on his grateful face, she smiled back.

"Thank you," Tony held her hand. "You’re amazing!"

"Where do you do your laundry?" she asked. Even her apartment building had a common laundromat in the basement. She figured his uppity apartment building would have one too.

"I give my suits for dry cleaning. For other stuff, I have a washing machine and a dryer at home. Come with me..." he walked out.

Marcella followed him. There was a small laundry room near the bathroom at the end of the hall.

"That’s good," she walked back to the bedroom.

"I can bring your clothes from your home. You’ll need..." Tony paused seeing Marcella picking up his clothes.

"Leave it. That’s..." he pressed his lips seeing Marcella looking at him with her eyebrows furrowed. He walked to her and got the clothes she picked up from the floor. "These are not clean clothes," he said.

"That’s why I am going to wash it," she said.

"No, these need not be washed. It’s not dirty," Tony said.

Marcella blinked. What is he saying?

"This pile of clothes is not dirty enough for the wash and not clean enough for the closet. That’s why they are there. You know, right? Those clothes that you can wear again but..."

He played air piano, or at least that’s what Marcella perceived with his weird finger movements.

"No," she shook her head. "Clothes are either clean or dirty. There is no in-between, Tony."

Why is he weird?

Tony blinked his eyes. "Right... Right..." he rubbed his hands. "You grew up differently." She grew up with maids and she had the habit of washing clothes even if she wore them for just an hour.

He did not grow up rich. He had to do his own laundry and he cultivated this habit of stretching his laundry days as far as possible. Nowadays, he just buys new pairs of underwear and socks if he runs out. She wouldn’t understand him.

Marcella didn’t mind him. Picking up the laundry basket, she walked past him. She didn’t know why he was so particular about the pile on the floor. If he cannot keep it in the closet, he should wash it.

He had the latest washing machine. All he had to do was dump the clothes in with the detergent. The machine will wash the clothes itself.

What’s the big deal?

She was not going to sleep in a room full of stinky clothes. She will have to clean it all before nightfall. Maybe she should change the sheets too even though it looked clean. Who knows when he last washed them?

Tony took a step back and watched with great difficulty as she walked to the washing machine. He wanted to show himself as someone who can hold himself well but he revealed himself to be this dirty person who doesn’t do laundry.

He stood frozen for some time and realized he was staring at her without helping her.

How useless!