The Relentless Husband

            He bolted the door and stood in front of it, planting his feet, barricading her in. Her eyes sharpened as she threw her stare upon him through her smudged mascara and let a minute crawl by until she tore it off of him and paced.
            Her stilettos punched the ground with every step until she finally burst out in rage, “Why are you here,” she screamed in frustration, “Why do you always come after me? Why don’t you ever leave me alone, can’t you understand that I don’t want you anymore?” Tears began to flood down her face as she started to yell again.
            “I don’t want you! I don’t want to have to try hard to be loved by someone anymore. Don’t you get it,” she heaved, “I’m sick of being something I’m not, I’m sick of pretending to be prefect for you, I can’t handle this anymore, I’m going back to the love that’s easy and that doesn’t expect so much from me!
            She sank to the floor, her black dress pooled around her, and a sob escaped her throat. She brought her hands up to shield her face from his gaze and crumpled into a ball on the ground before him.
            His brow softened and he relaxed arms as he stepped inward, away from the door to where she had fallen, kneeling down beside her.
            “After all this you still don’t understand,” he mused, as he stretched out his hand to stroke her hair, “I’ve never wanted you to be perfect because if you were, what use would you have for me?” He brought his other hand to hers and gently pushed them down from her face, and then lifted her chin so he could look into her tired eyes.
            “My love isn’t easy because it is relentless, it is consuming, and it is endless. My love stands firm in chaos but it challenges in comfort but it will eternally be true. My love was yours before you knew who I was and it will be yours even after this world has gone. The only thing you have to do for my love is believe in it with your entire being and allow it to grow within your soul. Let me love you, let me destroy the walls you’ve built around your heart, let me in. Stop hiding from me; stop running from me. Don’t you see? I know the difference between who you are, the person you present yourself to be, and the person everyone else says you are. I know everything about you and I love you through it all and I always will. Stop trying to make me love you and stop trying to give me reasons to hate you, to be disgusted with you. Nothing can change my love for you and nothing can stop either. So please, stop hurting yourself by trying to earn something you’ve had your entire life.”