Glad you liked it. hmmm, I guess the next person can decide whose footsteps those are. ooo the suspense! *dun dun dun*

I named her "Samaira."
Someone name the husband please. :-)

Yes, she did have a choice. Those were the words she had whispered to herself for years. How everyone had scoffed at her! Her mother, her siblings, even her best-friends would exchange smirks when Samaira spoke of her future career plans. And when she answered their lack of concern with further determination, it led only to an uncomfortable silence. She resigned herself to the fact this was a mindset difficult to overcome. Over the years she fell in love with solitude, the desire to be alone rather than those who would constantly put down her dreams overtook her. She knew, however, this was all a temporary escape. For how long can one be in a room, lost in books? A catch-22, that's what it was.

As friends and cousins all married and had families, a second dream took root in her mind. Along with that fierce determination to be her own person, with a successful career...she began to hope that she would meet her soul mate and he would embrace her and her mind.

She really thought she had found him.

The current numbness at what she had just done left her cold. For the umpteenth time she wondered, was any of it her fault? Or his?

Her solitude was interrupted by the sound of footsteps.

...and just as the shock over her actions was about to make her question the need for the physical outburst against the father of her kids, the archives of her mind opened and revealed a series of bitter humiliations, nothing overly burdening, but each one accumulating, nudging the levees of her forcibly stored impatience. At every turn, she must be the one to give up herself for the family. Profession, career, and yes, the dreams. Every dream she sacrificed went unnoticed. She learned that her successive sacrifices were a natural obligation in return for the access to an American life and a successful husband. Thus the dreams of a young girl like being able to talk - especially nonesense talk with her husband, to pamper him, laugh with him as they fondly explored each other went unoticed and unrealized. She was there to be grateful.

So that was the theme of an unrealized life? Be grateful? That stung her like a category 5 storm and she could think no more.

As she settled into the bitter numbness, she realized it could never have been any different. But was it really his fault they had such divergent views of life? When relationships are made based upon conveniences and easy routes to meeting conventional standards, aren't dreams and the rigours they demand supposed to be let go of? Is that not supposed to be the bargain? Why will she not accept this after all these years? After all, she did have a choice...

this is a good attempt folks...but too much too fast don't you think?

I re-read what you wrote. Not sure whether he's been controlling and obsessive? Or some other shade of control freak? I didn't want to paint him as a complete demon just yet : ) You'll know where you want to take this, so you can suggest what you think will work.

He stood there, gaping at her in complete shock, the reality of what she just did dawning on him as he felt the pain surge in his lip. As the numbness began to fade, he felt anger rushing to take the place of disbelief, and he simply stared at her, trembling uncontrollably with rage.

She stood there, stunned by her own act of defiance, stunned by the resentment that had built up within her for so many years. How was it that the two of them could share so much time and space together, parent children together, and still feel like two complete strangers who could barely recognize each others' frustrations and desires? She wanted to scream at him, and ultimately, she wanted to scream at herself for years wasted, years dried up in emptiness, silence, and tears.

He looked at her, and then remarkably, simply sat down and looked at her from across the table. "You shouldn't have done that", he said, with pain and disappointment lingering in his eyes. She simply sighed, stood up, and left the room.