Raw on the inside

"Order up!"

Sonia walked to the service counter for the tenth time that morning and picked up her third customer's order.

How hungry is this guy? This is his fourth order in the past hour she thought, pasting a smile onto her face as she placed the steak and fries on his table.

"Thanks" he growled as he picked up the steak with his hands and bit into it.

The woman who was accompanying him, silently sipped her coffee. She hadn't touched her salad.

Sonia asked, "You wanna order anything else?"

The woman looked at her and shook her head, the man too engrossed with his food to respond.

"Enjoy your meal!" She said in a practiced chirpy voice and went over to her next table.

The woman waited for the girl to move further away from their corner table and then hissed at her husband, "Relax, would you? You're drawing too much attention."

He paused his attack and looked up at her, his eyes red and juices dribbling from the side of his mouth.

Swallowing, he said in a low growl, "I haven't eaten in three days. I don't care what they think!"

"You're the one who ran away into the woods! You could have eaten and slept in your own bed, if you weren't so bloody crazy!"

"Ya ya, I am crazy, for marrying you! Can I get back to my food now?"

She rolled her eyes and looked out the window. They were in a quaint hole in the wall breakfast place somewhere on the highway. She reflected on the fight that had led them both here as she watched the cars zooming past.

They had married quite young and had been very happy for the past eight years. Recently, they had started trying to conceive which was proving to be more difficult than they had ever imagined. Over and above, he had lost his job and then crashed his car, resulting in a severe brain injury.

The husband she knew and loved was hardly ever present. In his place was this strange, uncouth man who only somewhat resembled the love of her life.

She hated the fact that she kept holding him accountable for his actions, not showing up for their IVF appointments, drinking all night and sleeping all day, not going for physical therapy. She knew she had to try harder, but her insides were tearing up. She really wanted a kid, but now she wasn't sure if she would ever get pregnant. And if by some luck she did, was this the father she wanted for her kid?

Torn, and with no one else to talk to, she had vented out her frustration at him three days ago and he had left in a drunken rage, storming into the woods behind their secluded cottage near the national highway.

Distraught, she had waited up for him all night and then called all the hospitals and police stations in the morning. Finally, he had called her from this cafe, asking her to bring her wallet and car of all things.

She was so raw on the inside, she wondered if she had unwittingly offered herself up on a platter for this new monster.

PC: https://cooking.nytimes.com/68861692-nyt-cooking/4368447-steak-recipes