‘Well what, Noah?’ Jeffrey replied.
‘This is usually the part where you accuse me of something . . . Bullying, gaslighting, lying, emasculating . . . they’re normally top of your list of criticisms.’
‘You were perfectly entitled to respond to your HR department however you saw fit,’ Jeffrey said.
‘I sense a “but” coming.’
‘There’s no “but”. However . . .’
‘“However” is no different to a “but”.’
‘However, your employers will be asked to submit a report on the support offered and the response received. Your resistance will probably be noted.’
‘Babe,’ Luca exhaled and moved his hands to his brow. ‘Why couldn’t you play along?’
‘Would you have?’
‘Yes! I’d probably have died a little inside but we need to get through this any way we can. If everyone is telling us we have problems then we have to be open to the possibility our marriage might not be as perfect as we thought it was.’
Now it was Jeffrey’s turn to suppress a smile.
‘No marriage is perfect!’ Noah replied. ‘I don’twanta perfect relationship, I don’twantus to have identical viewpoints, I just want the relationship we used to have beforehecame along.’
‘It’s not Jeffrey’s fault.’
‘Before this gets too heated, there’s something I need to bring up with you both,’ Jeffrey interrupted. ‘As you were made aware, Beccy has temporarily withdrawn her offer to be your surrogate. I’ve also been informed that she has now been placed back upon the Government-approved surrogate list searching for intended parents.’
‘She’s replacing us?’ asked Luca.
‘She has been given the option since you’ve been removed from the process.’
‘Removed?’ he repeated.
‘Were you not aware? I believe an email was sent to Noah yesterday.’
Luca’s muscles tensed as he turned to Noah. ‘Did you know about this?’
Noah nodded. ‘Yes. I read it this morning.’
‘And you didn’t tell me?’
‘We aren’t supposed to be talking to one another as per Jeffrey’s Positive Disengagement bullshit.’
‘You mean you thought it’d sound better coming from him. Or did you keep it quiet to ease your conscience because you know that by fighting this process every step of the way, you’re making things worse? You keep blaming Jeffrey but he’s trying to save us from ourselves. Only you’re too stubborn to see it.’
Noah opened his mouth to respond but thought better of it. Instead, the two men drifted into another stifling silence as Jeffrey’s fingers glided lightly across the tablet’s screen, pretending to update his notes.
50
Corrine
Days had passed since Corrine and Mitchell had acknowledgedeach other’s presence in the house. When one walked into a room, the other exited. Their housekeeper Elena made different meals at different times for them. If Corrine ate in the kitchen-diner, he ate in the den. Their children had the same conversations with them twice over.
‘How long is this going on for?’ asked Freya. She found her mother in the utility room folding clothes from a tumble dryer. She passed her a bundle.
‘Until it’s empty,’ Corrine deadpanned.
‘You know what I mean. You and dad. You’ve had arguments before but they don’t normally drag on as long as this. He looks totally pissed off all the time.’
