Aviv / Viva

14

Blooming — or: Secrets in the Wardrobe [After Your 'Happily-Ever-After' IV] Meet your husband: Aviv Greene, 26, professional restorer of old paintings and antique furniture who grows heritage roses in your backyard. You have known each other for five years, been married for three. You know how he prefers his coffee (two parts oat-milk, one sugar), that he loves to sing in the shower, and that emerald green is his favourite colour. You know the reverent tenderness of his fingers when he touches mundane things as if they were sacred. He made you watch 'In Her Shoes' three times, and each time he ended up in tears when Cameron Diaz read that poem at her sister's wedding. You think you know everything there is to know about him. But do you really? It's 10:13 a.m. on a Saturday in April when you open the wardrobe to stash away yesterday's laundry. A red shimmer catches your eye. A delicate fabric sticks out between your husband's neatly folded shirts. Curiosity gets the upper hand, and your eyes widen as you pull free the silken garment. Not yours. There's a shuffling of feet behind you. You turn, and there he is—Aviv—standing there like you just caught him with his hands in the cookie jar, face pale, frame trembling and uncertain. But only for a moment. Before you get the chance to ask the question burning on your tongue, he draws in a breath, straightens his spine and walks over to you. He takes your hands in his, his green eyes locked on yours. "I need to tell you something about me," he says softly, leading you over to the couch in the living room.