Liam and I have been married for 25 years, and for most of that time, our life has been… comfortable. We’ve had our ups and downs, like any couple, but we were solid—or at least that’s what I thought.
A few months ago, things started to feel different. Not in an obvious way—no big discussions or drastic changes—but in small details, the kind that make you doubt your intuition. The strangest thing of all was Liam’s sudden obsession with the bathroom.
Liam had never been one to spend much time there. In fact, he used to joke about how quickly he was in and out, telling him that he looked like some kind of efficiency expert. But about six months ago, that changed. Suddenly, it started taking longer. A lot more.
At first, I didn’t give it any importance. “Maybe he’s just getting older,” I told myself. Everyone deserves some time alone. I didn’t want to become one of those wives who complain about everything.
But then the noises started.
One night, while folding clothes in the bedroom, I heard a dull thud. I stayed still, listening attentively. There it was again, this time accompanied by a low growl and what sounded like heavy breathing.
“Liam?” I called softly through the bathroom door, trying to sound casual. “Everything okay there?”
There was a pause before he responded in a strained voice, “Yeah, I’m just… taking my time.”
I frowned, but didn’t insist. Maybe he wasn’t feeling well? But the days turned into weeks, and their bathroom sessions grew longer and stranger.
It wasn’t just the time that worried me, but the secrecy. He had started locking the door every time, something he never used to do. When I casually asked him about it one morning over breakfast, he shrugged and said, “Can’t a man have a little privacy?”
I tried not to think too much of it, but curiosity was getting to me, especially with the strange noises. My imagination began to overflow. Was he hiding something? Was he in trouble?
Then, one afternoon, everything changed. Liam had locked himself in the bathroom again, and I was in the kitchen when his phone vibrated on the counter.
“Liam! Your mother is calling!” I shouted, banging on the counter impatiently.
A muffled grunt came from the bathroom. “Can you answer? “I’m… busy.”
I hesitated for a moment, but answered the call. After a brief conversation with his mother, I was about to lock the phone when something caught my attention: a video thumbnail with a timestamp from just an hour earlier.
My heart started pounding. Before I knew it, I had already pressed the play button.
The video started and my jaw dropped. There was Liam, in our bathroom, wearing workout clothes…working out? I was in the middle of some push-ups, sweating and grunting with each repetition.
Then he moved on to doing sit-ups, breathing hard and pushing himself like I’d never seen before.
First I felt relief. So this is what he was doing in there? My imagination had flown to the worst scenarios, and here he was… exercising. I couldn’t help but laugh, a mix of amusement and disbelief.
I walked down the hallway with the phone in my hand and knocked on the bathroom door, harder this time. “Liam! Open the door. “We need to talk.”
There was silence on the other side, and I could almost feel his hesitation through the wood. “I’m…uh…a little busy right now,” he finally muttered.
“I’m not going to let it go. Open. The. Door.”
A moment later, I heard the lock click. The door slowly opened, revealing Liam, red, sweaty, and holding a bright green resistance band in one hand. He looked at me with wide eyes, like a deer caught in the headlights.
“You saw the video, right?” he asked quietly.
I crossed my arms, trying to stay calm. “Yes, I saw it. “What the hell is going on?”
He sighed deeply, running a hand through his damp hair. “I… I’ve gained weight,” he admitted, his voice thick with shame. “Nine kilos in the last few months, and I felt… so ashamed. I thought maybe you… would notice.”
“Notice what? Have you gained a little weight? Liam, everyone gains weight from time to time. What does that have to do with locking yourself in the bathroom for hours?”
“I didn’t want you to see me like this,” he murmured. “So I started working out… secretly. “I hired an online trainer and started doing these bathroom routines so you wouldn’t notice how out of shape I was.”
I blinked, processing his words. “Wait. All this time you were here… exercising? Not hiding something? Not fooling me or… whatever I imagined?”
He nodded, still avoiding my gaze. “I didn’t want you to hear me fighting. It’s embarrassing, okay? I’m grunting, breathing hard, and I thought if you knew, you’d worry… or worse, think less of me.”
I stared at him and then started laughing. I couldn’t help it. The absurdity of it all—the hours worrying, the furtive glances, the closed doors—all because I was too shy to admit I was exercising.
“Liam, you are a complete idiot!” I said between laughs, tears forming in my eyes. “You could have told me. You know I would support you in everything.”
A small smile broke his embarrassment. “I didn’t want to add more stress. I know everything you’ve been juggling lately: work, my mom’s health, everything. “I didn’t want to burden you anymore.”
I shook my head, my frustration melting as I took a step towards him. “Worry? Liam, you worried me. You were acting so strange. My imagination ran wild. I thought you were hiding something serious from me!”
He cringed, clearly feeling guilty. “I’m sorry,” he murmured. “I just… felt bad about myself. I didn’t want you to be burdened with that too.”
Gently, I reached out to touch his arm. “Liam, we’ve been married for 25 years. You don’t have to hide anything from me, especially something like this.”
Finally, he really smiled. “I guess I’ve been a little ridiculous, haven’t I?”
“Just a little,” I joked, raising an eyebrow. “Next time, instead of locking you up, how about we train together?”
He laughed, all the tension between us disappearing. “You and I? Doing yoga together?”
“Why not? “I could use a good stretch,” I responded with a smile.
And just like that, the air between us felt lighter. The weight of the secret disappeared, replaced by laughter and understanding.
“Next time, no secrets,” I said firmly.
“I promise,” he responded, hugging me tightly.
And at that moment, everything was fine again.