The Fish I Couldn’t Eat At Home, The Fish He Ate With Her Chapter 01

The Fish I Couldn’t Eat At Home, The Fish He Ate With Her Chapter 01

For three years of marriage, Julian Cabot and I had never been able to eat the same meals.

I needed fish with almost every meal. Julian, on the other hand, couldn’t stand even the smell of it.

Once, I happened to bake salmon at home for dinner. He threw down his plate and silverware, then gave me the cold shoulder for an entire month.

After that, I learned to accommodate his hatred of fish.

Whenever he ate at home, I would hide out in the backyard or garage and eat my meal there.

I did that every single day for three years.

Until my birthday.

That morning, I went to the seafood market by the docks to buy a fish for soup.

As I passed a newly opened fish-processing stall in the wholesale section, I stopped dead.

My pupils contracted. My heart seemed to skip a beat.

Julian was crouched on a concrete floor slick with ice water and blood.

He wore a heavy rubber apron covered in fish blood and entrails. With practiced precision, he scaled fish, gutted them, and filleted them for the customers waiting in line.

Standing beside him was a young woman holding a tray of freshly sliced sashimi.

She dipped a piece into soy sauce and popped it straight into his mouth.

Julian opened his mouth without hesitation and swallowed the raw fish.

The dockside market was packed with people. Vendors shouted over one another, carts rattled across the pavement, and the air was filled with the constant noise of commerce.

Yet standing there in the middle of the crowd, I felt strangely calm.

Because suddenly, I didn’t love him anymore.

…

The local seafood market sat right beside the container terminal, and early every morning, seafood distributors and fishermen flooded the place.

They pushed crate after crate of deep-sea fish packed in crushed ice, weaving past me without slowing down.

Open the crates. Fill the trays. Pack them in ice.

The work continued until noon.

By then, the sun was beating down mercilessly.

The crowds had gradually thinned, leaving the air thick with the overpowering stench of fish and seawater.

I was still standing in the shade at the mouth of the alley.

Julian had been gutting and cleaning fish all morning without once looking up.

Now that the rush was finally over, he peeled off his foul-smelling rubber gloves and let out a long breath.

The young woman who worked at the stall noticed and immediately grabbed a paper towel.

She stepped closer and wiped the sweat from his forehead.

They looked at each other and smiled.

Julian affectionately ruffled her hair before leaning down to kiss her.

My chest tightened with pain.

It wasn’t simply because I’d witnessed my husband being intimate with another woman.

It was because I suddenly realized how ridiculous my three years of sacrifice had been.

For three years, whenever I wanted to eat fish, I’d hidden in the backyard or garage.

And whenever I came back inside, Julian would make me rinse my mouth five times before he would even let me kiss him.

Yet just moments ago, the two of them had eaten raw fish together.

Neither of them had rinsed their mouths.

They were standing in an environment saturated with the smell of fish, kissing each other deeply.

I slowly stepped forward.

My heels clicked against the stone pavement.

The two of them heard me approaching and immediately pulled apart.

“Good afternoon, ma’am…” Julian greeted me with a smile.

Then he saw me.

The color drained from his face.

I didn’t look at him. I didn’t care how he reacted.

I pulled out my wallet, took out some cash, and addressed the young woman.

“I’d like one fish. The biggest one you’ve got.”

She clearly had no idea who I was.

She glanced back at the tanks and gave me an apologetic smile.

“I’m sorry, ma’am. You’re too late. We sold out this morning. If you’d like, I can put you down for one tomorrow.”

I shook my head.

“I wasn’t late. I was here when the market opened.”

Julian stiffened beside her.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw his fingers tremble.

The young woman frowned.

“Then why are you only buying one now?”

I smiled at her.

“Why not now? Isn’t there still one fish left?”

She didn’t quite understand what I meant.

She instinctively turned toward the tank.

There was one fish left at the bottom. It had apparently died sometime earlier.

She immediately shook her head.

“Ma’am, that fish is dead. It’s not fresh anymore. We can’t sell it to you.”

I kept smiling.

“That’s okay. It’s dead, but it’s not dirty. Give me a little discount and I’ll take it. It’s my birthday, after all.”

Julian’s head snapped up.

His expression darkened even further.

A flicker of excitement crossed the girl’s eyes.

She pretended to hesitate before nodding.

“Well… okay. But my boyfriend can’t clean it for you. He’s been working all morning and he’s exhausted. You understand…”

Before I could say anything, Julian reached into the tank and pulled out the fish.

“It’s fine, Sierra. I’ll do it. It’s the last one.”

He quickly put his gloves back on.

The girl, Sierra, gave me an apologetic smile before rising onto her toes and planting a soft kiss on his cheek.

“Thanks, babe.”

My chest felt so tight I could barely breathe.

Julian knocked the fish unconscious and looked at me.

“How do you want it prepared?”

“Make it into sashimi.”