Chapter 88

"You've had too much to drink. Let's leave the bar first," Skylar said, setting Natalie's drink down. She helped her friend up and started to leave.

Natalie shook her head vigorously. "I'm not leaving. I want to drink."

Seeing how determined Natalie was, Skylar sat back down. "Tell me, what happened? Shouldn't you be home with your husband at this hour?"

Natalie's eyes were red and puffy; she'd clearly been crying.

"I'm done being a 'loving wife'," she said. "Skylar, something's wrong between Jeremy and me. He doesn't like me as much as he used to."

"I don't know if I'm overthinking," Natalie continued, "but is it true that couples become less intimate after being together for a long time? I can talk to you about this. If I told my parents, they'd think I was too sensitive. They like Jeremy, and they think I'm unreasonable sometimes. They also said that after marriage, I shouldn't expect things to be the same as when we were dating."

She looked at Skylar. "Skye, do you think Jeremy isn't fond of me anymore?"

Skylar had never seen Natalie so worried and insecure. "It takes effort to maintain a marriage. Have you two talked about this?"

Natalie shook her head and smiled bitterly. "No, I was afraid he'd say I was overthinking."

Skylar barely knew Jeremy; she'd only met him a few times because of Natalie. He always acted like a doting older brother. She had little experience with long-term relationships and wasn't sure how couples' intimacy changed after marriage. Her only reference points were fictional novels from college, which weren't exactly reliable.

"Perhaps I'm insecure because I'm too deeply in love with him," Natalie said. "Sometimes I wonder what I'd do if he stopped liking me and fell for someone else. My heart aches just thinking about it, so I try not to. I tell myself to take things easy, but it's hard when I'm actually going through this." Her tone was full of self-reproach.

Skylar checked her watch. It was 7:00 PM. Natalie would be very drunk soon if she continued drinking.

"Stop overthinking for now," Skylar said, putting down Natalie's drink. "You two have known each other since you were young. Just talk things out. You're the one who always said women tend to over-imagine things. Have you forgotten?"

"Let's go. I'll take you to watch the rain," Skylar offered.

"Rain? No! I felt awful after seeing the rain this afternoon. I'm not watching it. Let's stay and drink!" Natalie threw a tantrum, refusing to leave.

Just then, her phone rang. She seemed dazed as she saw the incoming call from Jeremy. He likely hung up after getting no answer, because the phone rang again—another call from Jeremy.

Skylar answered. "Hi, Mr. Hughes. This is Skylar."

"Skylar, why do you have Natalie's phone? Is she there?" Jeremy sounded worried.

"We're at Mystic Bar," Skylar replied.

"Wait there. I'll pick her up."

"Okay."

After hanging up, Skylar looked at the still-dazed Natalie. "He's coming to get you." Skylar could hear the worry in Jeremy's voice.

Natalie avoided Skylar's gaze. "Is he back from Haulbus? That's why he didn't answer my calls this afternoon—he was on a plane?"