Short stories by Mace Styx:

Becca was not allowed to be touched by other men, not even the tip of her fingers nor a strand of her hair. The very first time I witnessed this issue was when a male customer shook Becca’s hand when he made a hefty purchase of her designs. Anybody would have known that it was a mere form of polite gesture, but I noticed that her husband was staring at them until the customer walked out of the shop. He didn’t say anything at first, but the expression on his face could not hide the fact that he was bothered by it. For the third time that it happened, he began to spur out ridiculous reasons so his wife would stop shaking hands with men.

Becca already realized then that he simply didn’t want her hand getting touched by other guys, and she took this matter lightly. It even looked like she was a bit pleased that her husband could get easily jealous. It was fine until one of her former colleagues suddenly visited the shop. They seemed pretty close as they enthusiastically talked, and Becca was excited to see one of her old friend after a long time. When she called her husband to introduce him, Mr. Greene came while the guy was teasing Becca for her colored hair and stroking her bangs.

The smile on his face couldn’t be any faker as he stood beside his wife. It was quite an awkward moment, and Mr. Greene didn’t need to say anything to express how unwelcomed the visitor was. He slowly pulled his wife at the back of the shop. The visitor had no choice but to wave his hand to her and leave. I could hear the couple having an argument at the back because of Mr. Greene’s loud whispers, and my guess was verified when his wife walked back to the front of the shop with a frowned face.

At that point, Mrs. Greene finally realized that her husband’s possessiveness was not as pleasant and charming as she thought it would be. She enjoyed it at first when she felt that she was being treated like a princess who should not be touched. She appreciated how much he wanted her for himself. But when it got in the way of her social life, which was already bleak, she learned how troublesome it was. Unfortunately, it was just about to get worse.

There was a time when Mr. Greene wasn’t receiving as much projects as he wanted, and it frustrated him. He would burn a pack of smokes within a few hours as he walked back and forth in the shop while hoping for a walk-in buyer. On the other hand, Becca was doing relatively fine. The difference in their field became more apparent as time went by. His wife would occasionally receive designing projects for special events such as wedding and debuts. Her works were more practical, while her husband’s chosen profession solely depended on a small and specific market.

Mr. Greene’s confidence was affected, and he chose to vent out his frustrations by doing more art pieces. He rarely went to the shop whenever he was working on something, and I was left there with Becca. The absence of his overbearing husband gave her an opportunity to reach out to her old friends, and the guy who once visited the shop decided to show up again. Without the shackles of her possessive husband, the guy picked up Becca, and they went for lunch. Unfortunately, she left her phone out of excitement, and it kept on ringing for quite a while.