Ginny felt her lungs deflating. Oxygen was vacating her body at an alarming rate. “It’s not my fault,” she said quietly. “It was Miss Peach.”
“Who?” Adrian threw up his hands. “This is great, justgreat.”
She stood up and faced him, rubbing her hand down his arm. “Please come with me on holiday. This will all blow over quickly and...” She stopped speaking when she spotted something she hadn’t seen before, a tiny hole in his left earlobe, and her forehead furrowed. “When did you get your ear pierced?”
With his skinny jeans and fake tan, Ginny felt like she was looking at an actor on stage, or an aging boy band member, not her husband.
“I had it done a while ago,” he muttered, turning his head so she couldn’t see his ear.
She squinted at him, suspecting this wasn’t true.
“I decided I didn’t like it,” he said. “It sounds like you don’t trust me or something.”
Ginny shook her head. “Of course I trust you.”
“It doesn’t sound like it.” Adrian squeezed past her and marched toward his office.
He sounded angry and she didn’t know where it was coming from. It felt like he was trying to twist things back around on her and her ankles wobbled as she followed him.
How well do you really know him?Miss Peach sang in her head.
“I understand the potential job losses must be worrying,” Ginny started. “I have some leaflets on...”
Adrian ignored her and shoved things around on his shelves, as if looking for something. “We’ve been drifting apart for some time,” he said, bending down to pull out a suitcase from under his desk that she hadn’t seen before. “We don’t have anything left in common, especially now Phoebe’s moved out.”
Ginny’s jaw dropped open. “That’snottrue. We enjoy inviting friends over for dinner, and watching movies together...” She trailed off her words, recalling their usual Saturday evening debate about which film to watch. The gritty crime films Adrian liked were too violent for her taste, and he didn’t share her love for rom-coms and period dramas. They usually had to compromise with a blockbuster action movie or thriller.
Adrian scratched the back of his neck. “Our relationship has changed over the years and we’re not the same people any longer. There are cracks in our marriage and they’re getting wider.”
“No,” Ginny protested wildly. “We’re happy...”
“You’re so hooked on solving other people’s problems that you don’t even recognize ours. I need to get away from here, from you. I feel like I’m suffocating, being analyzed and told what to do all the time. It’s bad enough at work without facing it at home, too.”
“You’re not thinking straight, Adrian. We just need some time out together. You can’t leave, like my dad used to—”
“Ginny, stop.” He spun around and took hold of her arms, looking directly into her eyes.
For a moment she thought he was going to kiss her. Every molecule of her body hoped that he would.
“We need a breakapart,” he said. “I’ve been thinking about divorce for some time and should have raised it sooner. I didn’t mean to tell you in this way.”
“Divorce?” Ginny’s voice quavered. How had their lovely dinner come to this? Was this really happening? She looked on in horror as Adrian grabbed hold of his suitcase and wheeled it into the hallway.
“I really think it’s the way forward,” he said.
“No—”
Adrian paused with his head bowed for a moment, thinking before he opened the front door.
Ginny placed her hand on her husband’s back, but he stepped out into the street and slammed the door shut behind him. She wrenched it open again and watched helplessly as he sped away. “Adrian—” she called after him, to no avail.
Back inside the hallway, Ginny’s arms hung numbly by her side.Divorce. The word reverberated in her head, turning her body to jelly.
She furiously tried to think what guidance she’d offer to someone else in her situation—stay calm, don’t panic and think positively.
For once, her own advice felt totally useless.
3
