Ava noticed it at dinner first.
It was subtle... then not so subtle she almost convinced herself it was nothing at all. Just an idle glance, a wandering thought. But once she noticed it, she couldn't stop. Now it was breakfast and worst than it had been the previous night. Ava blinked when she thought about what she had been thinking after he left her alone in the dinning room and walked away. now the same thought was back and stronger.
Damian sat across from her at the long dining table, his posture straight, composed as always. He didn't fidget. Ava found her eyes trailing she wondered how he would look if he was carefree. Did a time like that ever exist for him. Maybe when he was little and... she gave her head a little shake to push away any more thoughts but it didn't work as she expected instead it did the opposite.
Ava told herself she was simply observing him the way one observed a stranger they lived with. A husband she barely knew.
