A Loveless Marriage

Chapter 16

Magnus’s POV

Life has been better since the day Xenia got discharged from the office. I am trying my best not to hurt Natalia anymore and respect her as Xenia’s mother. But for the last few days, I have noticed she is behaving a little weirdly or should I say she is absent-minded. Although I tried to ask her, she ignored saying nothing was wrong. After that, I didn’t push her.

Today, we have an appointment with the doctor regarding Xenia, so we are going there. But looking at Natalia’s mood lately, I thought about taking her out and making today a day for a family outing. Let’s see how it goes.

First, we went to meet the doctor and after a thorough checkup, she told us she was doing well. We were relieved to hear from her and Xenia was also happy. After some time, we left the hospital and I helped Natalia with Xenia while sitting in the car. Once we were settled, I went to the driver's seat and asked Natalia, “Do you want to go shopping?”

“No, I don’t want to.”, she replied immediately, and got busy with Xenia.

I thought for a while and told her, “I was thinking of doing some shopping for Xenia. So, can you help me with that?”

I was ready for a no again, but surprisingly she agreed, “Okay.”

With that, we hit the road, and we went straight to the mall. Since it was time for Christmas, the mall was filled with a crowd. I took Xenia in my arms and held Natalia’s hand, and we went straight to the baby section to shop for Xenia.

Unlike Sophia, Natalia enjoyed shopping. She was looking for everything, trying to choose the best for Xenia. I was shocked to see how much time a girl takes to choose a dress. I mean with Sophia, it didn’t feel that much. Maybe I never noticed, but I was happy that at least Natalia was doing her best for Xenia.

But I was still not sure about the reason she was behaving this way. It’s not like I care, but I noticed she was ignoring me like the plague. She rarely talked with me unless it was necessary. She never came to call me for breakfast, no matter how late I got.

Therefore, I am more worried thinking about if something is bothering her. She took three hours to choose clothes for Xenia and when everything was done I paid the bill and took her to the men's section to shop for myself. She held Xenia in her arms and I was busy selecting suits for myself.

I was so engrossed that I didn’t realize that Natalia had been staring at a sales representative for a long time, and suddenly it hit me. That sales representative was trying to flirt with me a few minutes ago. I thought Natalia wouldn’t notice but she did and I felt bad. I never wanted to make her feel that way. So I finished as soon as possible and we left from there.

I asked Natalia to buy something for herself, but she said no, and I didn’t know how to make her agree. She wanted to go home, but suddenly Xenia started crying. She was probably hungry, so we went to the food court. Natalia started feeding Xenia and I ordered food for us.

While waiting for our food, I noticed how attentive she was. The way the doctor told her to feed Xenia, she was doing exactly like that so that she wouldn’t get gassy.

We were so busy that we didn’t realize it when Andrew came and sat with us at our table. He clapped in front of us and we noticed him.

“Hi Natalia”, he said, and she replied, “Hi.”

“Hi, Andrew,”, I said and asked, "What are you doing here?"

With that, our conversation went on long, and I noticed she was ignoring Andrew as well. Meaning whatever happened had something to do with me and Andrew.

We were busy discussing something when my phone started ringing and I excused myself.

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Natalia’s POV

I was busy with Xenia when Magnus’ phone started ringing, and he excused himself, saying it was an important call. After that, Andrew and I were alone with Xenia, but after that day I didn’t want to talk with him, so I ignored him.

However, it seems it was only me who wanted to ignore him. He was in no mood for that. Because soon he asked, “Hey, Natalia, are you angry with me?”

“No, I am not. Why should I?”, I replied.

“It seems you are, and you are behaving like you don’t know me.”, He added.

I thought for a while and replied to him, “Because I don’t know you, Andrew. One minute you behave like you are the best person on this planet and the next moment you prove you are also like others.”

“Sorry, I didn’t get you.”, He asked confusingly, and I realized that I said more than needed, so I just said, “Nothing.”

But he was not ready to leave the matter, so he asked further, “It is not nothing. You are angry, so please tell me what my mistake is. What have I done wrong?”

“You consider Xenia as your daughter and you still do things like this?”, I said frustratingly but keeping my voice low.

“Things like what? I have never done anything which could be bad for Xenia. What are you talking about-” and suddenly he stopped.

He was silent for a few minutes before he said, “I know what you are talking about. But I have my reasons.”

“Which I don’t want to know.”, I said, but he interrupted me, “But you should know. Since everything is related to Magnus, you must know about it.”

“Let’s meet tomorrow when you take Xenia to the park and I will tell you,” he said and left.

After some time, Magnus came and told me that Andrew had left, and we should also go.

We came back home in the evening and retired to our rooms for some rest.

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Natalia’s POV

Yesterday, Andrew told me to meet him in the park. However, I didn’t want to, since no excuse can justify what he is doing and forcing Magnus to do. I am not saying Magnus is a saint though. I was having a debate in my mind about whether I should meet him or not and in the end I ended up in the park.

Currently, Andrew and I are sitting in a private cabin in a restaurant with Xenia. Andrew ordered some food which I was not interested in, but I let him do it.

Once the food arrived, and we were alone, I asked, “Tell me, why?”

Andrew thought for a moment and spoke, “Natalia, it is a serious matter and no one knows about it except Magnus and I, but I am sharing it with you. Since you are his wife and deserved to know that.”

I was silent since I didn’t know what to say and how. This is not what I thought I would discuss with someone, but here I am. I patiently waited for Andrew to speak, “Magnus is suffering from Genophobia.”

“What? What’s that?”, I asked, since I had never heard of that.

He sat straight and replied calmly, “Genophobia is a condition in which a person suffers from the fear of s*x or any s****l intimacy.”

To say I was shocked would be an understatement. I felt someone throw a bomb at me. I murmured, “How’s that possible?”

He took his time before saying, “I know it is shocking. The way you are reacting, I was also there. Everything happened after Sophia’s demise. Magnus was frustrated. He was not himself. He used to yell, throw things, and whatnot. We thought he would be fine with time, but his situation got worse, and I thought he might be sexually frustrated, so I arranged a date for him thinking that it would help him with his loneliness, but what I heard the next day was unexpected.”

“What happened?”, I asked to know more, and he continued, “The girl who was with him told me he started having panic attacks. There was shortness of breathing, and he didn’t allow that girl to lay a finger on him.”

Listening to Andrew, I was shocked. I never expected that. I thought of Magnus being a very strong man and knowing he was suffering from a condition like this came as a shock to me.

Andrew continued, “After that, I discussed everything with Magnus and forced him to meet with a doctor. Although the doctor tried his best, he was on medication for some time, but nothing helped and the doctor concluded everything was in Magnus’ head. So, instead of taking the medicine, let him come out of this state on his own. Since then, I have been helping Magnus with that, and he is going through regular counseling too.”

“Is it helping? That girl he met on Monday-”, I asked, and he shook his head in a no.

I was not sure whether I should be happy that he didn’t let her touch him or sad that Magnus was dealing with this on his own.

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