Work Text:
"Thanks, Chief," Howard said, stepping out of the car and closing the door behind him. Yanking on the knot of his tie, loosening its tight hold, he walked the few more steps up the walkway and into the large house he shared with his wife. He'd ended up working all night again, but he'd finished up a project or six and decided that half past ten in the morning was a perfectly reasonable time to call it quits for the day. He was looking forward to spending some nice quality time with his wife, maybe sleeping for some of it, and was sure she would feel the same.
Entering his house, he immediately felt like something was not quite right. Jarvis came up to greet him, just as he'd been trained to do. The man was a recent hire, still fresh and still learning exactly what was required of him as Howard's butler, but Howard saw great promise in him. However, there was something in the young man's eyes that told him something was wrong. They looked apologetic and guilty, and Howard quirked an eyebrow in response. Rather than say anything, Jarvis merely looked pointedly towards Maria's personal lounge.
As Howard began walking, brow still contorted in confusion, he heard a soft "I am sorry, sir" drift towards him, and Howard began to grow nervous.
Silently, he turned the knob on the door and pushed it open, well-oiled hinges not making a sound.
And inside his wife's study, he found his wife, which he couldn't say was particularly surprising. She was neither hurt, nor unconscious, which was a relief to some of the thoughts that had crossed his mind at Jarvis' nervousness.
In fact seemed quite healthy, if the vigor she was putting in to kissing that red-haired fellow was anything to judge by.
He cleared his throat loudly, and was rewarded with the pleasure of seeing his wife and her little plaything jump.
At least the man had the decency to look frightened, despite lacking the decency to keep his hands to himself.
His wife, on the other hand, rolled her shoulders back and attempted to neaten her lipstick, which in and of itself was wasted effort, seeing as she'd left half of it on the other man's lips. Howard noted that it clashed horribly with his hair, and hoped the man forgot to wipe it off before he left.
Howard met his wife's gaze, mouth drawn taut, a mere "I see. Well, then," crossing his lips before he turned on his heel and headed up to their bedroom.
Crossing quickly to his closet, he tossed a couple of changes of clothes into an overnight bag, and headed down to the garage. Grabbing the keys for his favorite car, which just so happened to be the largest and flashiest he owned, he drove himself back to the office, mind racing faster than the car could ever hope to keep up with.
He burst through the office doors, not unlike his typical fashion, and if anyone noticed his still-loosened tie and disheveled hair, no one said a word. No one questioned the bag in his hand, either.
"Maria, I need you in my office ASAP." Immediately his secretary put down the pen she'd been holding and followed him into his office, shutting the door behind her.
"Take a letter, Maria," Howard said as he crossed over to the wardrobe on the far end of his office. It wasn't unusual for him to keep several changes of clothes in his office, and he started to unload his overnight bag as his secretary took her place at the typewriter.
"Address it to my wife," he called back, hearing the familiar clicking of Maria's quick typing going to work for him. "Tell her that she needn't worry, I won't get in her hair any more. Tell her I won't be coming home. She's apparently started a new life, and so will I." He cleared his throat, dislodging the emotion that had started to build.
"New paragraph. Say, 'I was going to keep this as a surprise for our upcoming anniversary, but I've decided it couldn't wait any longer. You've been saying how you wanted to be more involved with the financial affairs, maybe have something in your name, even, and I am nothing if not accommodating. The house is now entirely yours, signed and sealed, and you're in charge of making all the payments left on it. I was going to give you lessons on how much to allocate where, and which bills to pay first, but I have every confidence that you'll be able to figure it out entirely on your own. You've always been spectacular at hiring new staff, so I'm sure you'll take great" he couldn't help the sneer that crossed his lips, "pleasure in that as well.' Signed, Howard."
Howard stayed facing his wardrobe, idly flicking through a few shirts deciding which to change into, as Maria finished typing.
"Make a copy and send it to Chuck. And also get him on the phone for me, I want to find out exactly how much I can get away with saying happened yesterday..." He had a team of lawyers and they were all fantastic, but Chuck was by far the best and had lately become a close enough cohort that Howard might even call him a friend.
Still focusing on the shirts, he didn't hear Maria's soft footsteps approaching him.
"Wear the red one, with the gold tie, and change into this suit," his secretary said, gesturing to one of his nicest suits. He had many, and wore them almost constantly, but that one was one of his most expensive and he looked at her, inquiring silently why he should wear such a fine suit without an occasion.
"It's important to always look your best when you feel your worst. Misleads the competition, makes them admit that you're a fearsome force to go up against. With any luck you might even start to believe it yourself." Her eyes were soft, sympathetic, and it occurred to Howard that throughout his entire relationship with his wife, Maria had been the one constant.
Maria had accompanied him to the social engagement where they had met, had set up countless dates and outings for him, helped plan the logistics of his proposal, and wedding. She'd been his sounding board for nearly every step of their relationship, with Howard always checking with Maria before he did something, always checking with her that it was something a normal woman would appreciate.
Howard had always had far better luck communicating with machines than people.
"You know, Maria, you've been a lot of things for me. Secretary, obviously, sounding board. Ultimate authority on all things woman-related, pretty much. Sometimes it even seems like you've been a better wife to me than my wife has." He let a tiny smile tug at one corner of his lips, though it didn't come anywhere close to reaching his eyes.
"Did I do something wrong? I mean, yeah, I work a lot, but didn't she understand that I work so hard for reasons? A lot of the time it'd just my brain won't let me stop, yes, but my brain not stopping kept her in all that finery she was so fond of." Scoffing, he added, "I swear, I'll never actually understand what women think."
"The moment you think you understand what goes on in a woman's mind, sir," Maria commented quietly, a grin tugging at her lips, "is the moment your goose is well and truly cooked."
Howard let out a short bark of a laugh at that. "I never have been able to cook worth half a damn anyway. I just.. I thought she was alright with it, or at least understood why I work so much."
"Well, you know what they say," Maria replied, "'All work and no play-'"
"Just cost me a wife. I was working enough for both of us, and she was handling all the playing."
He was almost certain Maria had caught on to the situation pretty quickly from the letter, but that was as close as he had come to actually saying what had happened.
This time, Maria didn't say anything in response, just set her hand gently on Howard's shoulder. She was glad to notice that after a moment, a small amount of tension was released from the hard set of his shoulders.
Glancing again at the red shirt Maria had told him to wear, he was struck by an idea.
"Say, Maria, what are you up to tonight? I've got dinner reservations and no one to accompany me. It'd be a shame to waste them."
Startled by his offer, Maria stuttered over her response. "O-oh. Well, I don't actually have any plans..."
"Fantastic." Reaching out for the sleeve of the shirt she'd picked out for him, he fingered the cuff before turning and facing her properly for the first time all morning. "You don't happen to have a red dress, do you?"