Sally and Tom met at an online dating service. They fell in love and moved in together. One year later, their steamy romance like nights of a sizzling summer soon began turning into an arctic blast.

Tom started going to the bar after work with the men from the office, which made Sally furious, especially one evening when she wanted to surprise him and made his favorite dish, eggplant parmesan. Tom, without calling her, came home two hours late.

"Where were you?" she asked, throwing his food across the room.

"With my friends." He raised his brows and walked away.

She followed him into the bedroom, continuing to fester her rage.

"I lost track of time," he said.

"You have done that a lot lately." She cocked her eye as she walked out of the room.

Tom grumbled, "I don't need this." He slammed the bedroom door.

Silence filled the apartment for days. The couple finally solved their differences over a candlelight dinner and a few tender kisses with warm embraces, but Tom wondered when the next blizzard would come.

He felt imprisoned, as though Sally became his warden, asserting orders that made his blood pressure surge.

Sally repeatedly told him to put his shoes in the closet, fold the towels her way, but the final straw came on a winter's night.

"Go outside and smoke," she said, glaring coldly at him. "I hate the smell.

"But, it's snowing!"

"Then, quit smoking! I don't want my apartment smelling like a sleazy tavern."

That night, Tom packed his suitcase. He loved Sally, but she intruded upon his boundaries so, he ended his prison term.

He walked from the bedroom with a suitcase full of clothes. Sally sat on the sofa. She looked at him, teary-eyed, and remained silent.

Tom lowered his chin and walked past her. He opened the door to the apartment and lingered in the doorway.

He thought of her sparkling blue eyes, the softness of her delicate skin, and the radiance of her long blond hair. Tom shook his head, stepped into the hall, and closed the door behind him.

For weeks, He enjoyed the freedom of staying out with his friends at the bar, but that became boring. He dated women, but none of them had Sally's infectious smile and her acute wit.
Then one night, he sat alone in his one-room apartment, folding towels like Sally had taught him. He saw his shoes tucked away in his closet. Tossing away his last pack of cigarettes, he made a phone call.