For Karl, the thought of Marylin being away for the whole weekend was unbearable. Two entire days without seeing her—he could hardly accept it.
"I haven't even left yet," Marylin teased him with a playful smile, "and you're already acting like it's the end of the world. Who knows, maybe once I'm gone, you'll feel free again—like you've finally been released from prison."
Plenty of men were like that, weren't they? Dating felt like being tied down, and the moment their girlfriends weren't around, they would come alive again—hanging out with friends, drinking, wasting the night away.
But Karl wasn't like that. He didn't smoke, he barely drank except for work functions, and when he wasn't at the lab or visiting his parents, he was stuck to her side. And if she was too busy to entertain him, he was content to sit quietly with a book in hand.
Marylin could practically picture what his life would be like without her—eating, reading, sleeping, or doing experiments at school.
