Kyle looked with shocked confusion at Lindsay. "Yes, you did! You told me that I should finally clean the kitchen, or so help you God."
An appalled expression appeared on Lindsay's face. "I said that? Me?!" she said as her voice became louder. "Kyle! You know that I'm an atheist! If you want to put words into my mouth, at least try to make them sound believable!"
"You use that expression all the time!" Kyle said. "I explicitly remember you telling me these exact words."
Lindsay snorted, all her tears gone. "If you remembered what I said, you would've done the kitchen. You claim that I said that you have to do the kitchen. You say you know what I've said, and since you believe I told you to do the kitchen, you would've remembered to do the kitchen."
Kyle blinked.
He knew what she tried to say, but it felt off.
"See?" Lindsay asked. "If you remember, you would've remembered, but you didn't, which means you don't remember and are just making stuff up so that you have a reason not to spend time with me!"
"Why did you even marry me if you want to avoid me all the time?!" she shouted.
"What, no, I… fuck," Kyle sputtered. There were so many incorrect assumptions in this statement that he didn't even know where to begin.
When Lindsay saw Kyle's reaction, a horrified expression appeared on her face.
"You think I'm crazy," she commented.
"What? No! You're not crazy!" Kyle quickly answered.
"Yes, you do! I saw it in your face!" Lindsay shouted, tears appearing in her eyes again. "You think I force you to work like a slave! You're not a slave! You're the man I love! Why would I even say such a thing?!"
"I never said that!" Kyle shouted.
"But you thought it!" she shouted back.
"No, I did not," Kyle said with frustration. "You can't read my mind. You don't know what's in my mind."
"I truly don't," Lindsay said with disgust. "How can I know what's happening in the mind of someone who believes me to be some sort of slave driver?! I know myself, and I know that I would never force the man I love to work like a slave!"
Kyle took a deep breath to compose himself.
"You're ignoring me," Lindsay said before Kyle could answer. "Ignoring your spouse is a form of abuse."
"What?" Kyle asked. "I'm not ignoring you!"
Lindsay shook her head in disgust. "Look at you," she said. "Now, you're claiming that things I have seen happen with my own eyes did not happen. When will you learn that gaslighting doesn't work on me? !"
"Fucking-" Kyle shouted before taking a deep breath. "Lindsay, I'm not gaslighting you."
"Kyle, I've seen my fair share of abusers," Lindsay said. "I've gone through therapy. I know the tricks. You're not good at gaslighting, but I'm still shocked that you're still trying."
"I'm not gaslighting you!" Kyle shouted, his voice thundering through the apartment.
Lindsay moved back, and a hurt and intimidated expression appeared on her face.
"Why are you shouting at me?" she asked, hurt.
A complex cocktail of emotions shot through Kyle's body.
Rage, frustration, confusion, nervousness, helplessness, guilt.
When he saw the hurt expression on her face, he felt like a monster, but he also knew that she was enraging him on purpose.
His logic told him that she was crazy, but he also felt horrendous guilt when he saw how hurt she was.
'I can't reason with her. It's impossible,' he thought. 'No matter what I say, she fucking spins it so that it's my fault. Doesn't even have to make any sense.'
"Yeah, sure, sorry," Kyle said casually as he walked past her. "I'm going to do the kitchen stuff tomorrow. You're right."
Lindsay's brows furrowed as her eyes followed Kyle. "About what?" she asked.
"Absolutely," Kyle commented as he grabbed his keys from the table. "Anyway, forgot to tell you, but I gotta meet somebody for a new gig."
"You're leaving?" Lindsay asked in shock.
Kyle opened the door and waved at her. "Will take four hours, max. See you later!"
Then, he left and closed the door behind him before Lindsay could say anything.
After Kyle left, Lindsay glanced at the dirty kitchen, and a self-satisfied smile appeared on her face.
Meanwhile, Kyle went down the stairs and left the apartment complex.
Over many such conversations, Kyle had unearthed the ultimate tactic to deal with a crazy spouse.
Leaving.
Most of the time, everything would return to normal after he came back from a walk, and they would have a lovey-dovey evening.
As Kyle walked down the city streets, he tried his best to ignore the frustration and anger bubbling up inside of him.
'I know she's fucking with me,' he thought. 'I fucking know she is.'
After walking around for a couple of minutes, his anger vanished, and he just felt empty.
'Why isn't this working?' he thought. 'Usually, I'm back in a good mood after just two minutes away from Lindsay. Why do I still feel like shit?'
Eventually, Kyle stopped and sat on a random bench, doing his best to ignore the pedestrians walking past him.
As Kyle sat there, Lindsay's constant tricks and manipulation tactics shot through his mind, and his annoyance actually intensified.
'Fucking abusive-ass crazy ex. She's like a little Theodor.'
Kyle blinked a couple of times. 'Ex? Where did that come from? She's not my ex. Also, who the fuck is Theodor?'
For a moment, Kyle leaned back in his bench.
'Theodor…' he repeated in his mind. 'A guy called Theodor…'
The next moment, an ear-grating sound came from the street in front of Kyle, and he glanced over.
There was a construction site, and somebody had just turned on a jackhammer.
Surprisingly, the sound and appearance of the jackhammer felt nostalgic to Kyle.
'Construction? Theodor… mining… jackhammer… hammer…'
Kyle felt like he had forgotten something.
He tried his best to remember whatever he had forgotten, but there was just nothing.
Yet, the more he tried to remember, the more everything around him felt… distant.
It was like the world around him wasn't really relevant to him.
It was like he wasn't part of this world.
'Am I dreaming?' Kyle thought as he pinched his cheek.
'No pain,' he thought. 'So, this is a dream?'
Kyle looked at his left index finger.
Then, he grabbed it with his right hand and bent it backward.
It continued bending backwards, and Kyle felt something, but he wasn't sure if this was pain.
So, he continued, and eventually…
CRK!
Something inside the finger broke.
Kyle furrowed his brows.
'I guess it hurts a bit.'
Kyle scratched the side of his head as he looked at his broken finger.
'I'm confused.'
'This is supposed to hurt much more, right?'
'So, am I dreaming or not? It is hurting, but just barely.'
A moment later, Kyle shrugged and grabbed his left middle finger.
Maybe a second one would clear things up.
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