Chapter Text
It’s late. The clock showing it’s already well past 9pm. Stephen had arrived home at 6pm, before waiting another 2 hours for the front door to open and Miranda to walk through the door. Stephen had hoped that he would see his wife, at least for some of his evening. However, as was now typical, Miranda had greeted him with a distracted ‘how was your day?’ that gave no indication that she wanted to hear his answer, before she went up to her home office to work.
Stephen makes his way slowly up the stairs, hovering in the office doorway. He knows that she knows he is there. She doesn’t miss anything, but still, there’s no acknowledgement. Just the continuation of fingers moving against the keyboard.
“I was thinking of having a bath. Come join me.”
“Not tonight, Stephen. I’m still waiting on the book.” Miranda replies, eyes remaining on her computer screen before looking towards the watch on her wrist.
“Miri...”
“Goodnight.” She looks up then, briefly, before going back to work.
Stephen is just getting into bed when he hears the front door open and the book being delivered. It’s now almost 10pm and he knows Miranda will be up for at least another hour. He thinks bitterly to himself how it doesn’t matter much, since they’re in separate rooms anyway.
The following morning, his alarm wakes him at 6:30am and by the time he has showered, dressed and gone downstairs for his morning coffee, Miranda is heading straight out the door.
He thinks back and tries to remember the last time they spent any quality time together, or had a conversation that lasted longer than 15 minutes, or touched each other more than a very occasional hand holding. It angers him that he cannot recall how long it has been. Forget the sex, that stopped very early on and he no longer tries to ask for that. Despite many attempts from him to instigate any intimacy, she’s always too busy, too tired or just not in the mood.
He sits at the kitchen island, drinking his coffee, wondering not for the first time if Miranda would be agree to an open relationship. If she isn’t going to sleep with him, maybe he could pursue others. If Miranda has a man on her arm and the appearance of a happy marriage for the press to see, does it really matter what happens behind closed doors...