Scenes from a Marriage: Gaslighting Your Spouse

"How dare you speak to me that way! I'm your husband, not some cabana boy you can whip into shape," snarled Gordon Trask as he slammed the door behind him. He closed his cell phone shut and threw it against the wall. He watched as it broke into many pieces.

As Gordon walked around his ridiculously beige living room, his blood boiled too much for him to care about his cell phone. Gordon's midnight blue eyes grew to the size of saucers thinking about how badly Gloria treated him at the country club. He combed his hands through his taupe flavored hair and wondered why he stuck by Gloria this long. He was a popular college professor who could have his pick of the student population. Why did he choose to marry Gloria eleven years ago? Even then, she drove him stark raving mad.

When they first met, he taught English literature at Dartmouth. She was the kind of woman he always wanted to be with, but was too scared to approach.
She took Gordon's breath away when she entered his classroom as his teaching assistant. Gloria flung her salmon colored hair and wore a clinging sage dress that hung in the right places. Gordon always thought of himself as an attractive individual. He had a reasonable athletic build without looking too much like a wannabe bodybuilder. Everything about Gloria signified that he did not have a chance in hell of scoring with her. Their union began as more of a common interest and went from there.

She read his first play "The Professor" and thought it was fascinating. He appreciated her praise, but was completely taken aback when she jotted down numerous criticisms to improve the structure of the play. Gordon could not believe she had the nerve to do it. He later realized she was right and took her out to dinner to thank her. Gloria played it cool the whole night by ignoring him and flirting with other men. He almost gave up on her, until he walked her home.

"Goodnight, Gloria, I had a ... lovely evening," Gordon forced himself to smile as he shook her hand. Gloria took his hand and pulled him closer to her.