She began to pace.  “Well, I won’t stand around while they make a fool of you, Logan,” she responded, equally cool.  “This talk has reached mother’s and father’s ears, and they’re getting worried.  Asking me again just this past week before we left for the Hamptons whether you knew what you’re doing, and whether…”

“Back to that are we?,’ Logan cut in, as he set his glass down, then crossed his arms in front of him.  “They’re asking again why you had to choose me, aren’t they?”

It was his turn to become agitated.  “Same questions about why you chose a no-name from North Carolina, when you could have chosen a Steve or a John from New York, San Francisco, Chicago, or LA, right?”

Melanie turned to walk away.  After a few steps, she turned around to face Logan.  He hadn’t moved a muscle, and was still eyeing her coolly.

“Logan…look you made the right investment call before, when everybody said the market was going to drop, and you said it would continue to rise.  So…ok, you made a ton of money then,” she said, trying another angle.

“But everybody seems to be making money putting their money in a rising market now, just like you did before…and you’re putting money in the opposite direction.  People are simply wondering why; and so am I,” she paused, and was met by stony silence.

“You could be wrong this time,” she ended.

They faced each other, separated by a few feet, but seemingly by much more than that.  They had been having the same stilted conversation about investments, money, or assets, in one form or another, for the past year or so, and Logan had been patient all throughout.

This time, Logan felt that he no longer wanted to bridge that chasm.

He responded in a new icy, even tone, after a further few minutes of strained silence.  “Money isn’t everything Melanie.”

“Money helps, Logan,” Melanie said defensively.

He could see that they had now staked clearly opposing positions on this.  So… even Melanie was on the other side now.  So much for those marriage vows, huh?

After a few more minutes, he dropped his arms to his sides, then rested hands on his hips, elbows out. He dropped his head slightly, considered the pattern on the custom Bokhara rug that they were standing on.