"Jennifer?"
Edward called out from the front door, but there was no reply. He stepped into the house.
"Jennifer? Hello?"
Still no answer.
He went to the office and found her slumped in her chair, arms hanging limply over the sides.
"Jennifer?!" Edward grabbed her by the shoulder, giving her a shake, more roughly than he intended out of a rising panic.
"Wha-" Jennifer's eyes flew open, and she sat up, a hand going to her chest. "Edward! You almost gave me a heart attack!"
"Christ,
you
almost gave
me
one," he retorted, breathing a sigh of relief. "I don't like this... I worry about you, here alone all day..."
"I'm fine," she said, standing up and stretching languidly.
"What happened to you," Edward asked, pointing to her blouse torn in the front, buttons missing.
"Hmmm?" She looked down, frowning. "I didn't notice... I must have got caught on something."
Edward saw his wife's eyes shift to the side slightly as she said it, but he didn't press it any further.
"Well, let's get some dinner, shall we?"
***
That night, Edward felt a little better. He and Jennifer had cooked dinner together, just like the old days, and even had opened a bottle of wine.
Afterwards, he had done the dishes and straightened up, while Jennifer was in their home office, doing more research. There was an air of normalcy about their usual routine, and it just as easily could have been Jennifer doing her typical lab work, rather than continuing to diagnose her current condition.
At the end of the night, Edward actually felt relaxed enough to read a book in bed, when Jennifer came out of the bathroom and slipped under the covers beside him. She snuggled up next to him and gave him a peck on the cheek.
"Good night, dear," she said.
He put an arm around her and squeezed affectionately. "Good night, honey," he answered. "Tonight
was
a good night." He gave her a kiss on the lips.
Jennifer paused, and then gave him another kiss, a little bit longer than the last. Edward felt a stirring in his loins but demurred. "Jennifer... probably not a good idea."
"I know," she said, a small hint of a whine in her voice. "But I want to."
"Me too, honey," Edward said.
"What's the matter? Don't you want me anymore?" She turned away from him, abruptly, unreasonably cold.
"What? Of course, I do, Jennifer! You know why we can't..."
"You're not attracted to me anymore, are you?"
Edward, taken aback by this sudden wild and uncharacteristic mood swing, despite knowing its likely cause, struggled to find words. "Jennifer... That's ridiculous..."
"It's fine... Just forget it. Good night."
"C'mon Jennifer," Edward protested. "Don't do that. You know I want you. You know I think you're beautiful..."
"Do you? Really?" She rolled back to face him, her gray eyes fixed on his face, now with unexpected warm. She gave him another kiss, softly. "More beautiful than Jenna?"
"Of course, Jennifer," he said, unnerved by his wife's erratic behavior and wishing she hadn't brought up the subject at all.
"Good," she said, rolling on top of him, straddling him. "Prove it to me then..."
She kissed him deeply. Edward, disconcerted and slightly buzzed from the wine, still couldn't help but respond to his wife's overtures despite himself. He was truthfully very much attracted to and in love with her, and this more aggressive side of her
was