Elena shook her head.
‘OK.’
Grace went inside the café to order, so the waiter wouldn’t keep coming out and disturbing them. A row of croque-monsieurs behind the glass counter caught her eye. They’d only need heating up. Plenty of stodge and cheese would be good for Elena, and Grace hadn’t had lunch herself.
After a couple of mouthfuls of the toasted sandwich and half a cup of coffee, Elena looked a tiny bit less pale.
‘Is that helping?’
‘Yes, thank you, Grace. I’m sorry. This is so unprofessional of me.’
Grace stroked the younger woman’s arm.
‘Don’t worry. Just try and eat.’
A few mouthfuls more, and Elena was finished. Grace had long since demolished hers, but Elena pushed the plate away as if horrified with herself for eating such rubbish.
‘Thank you.’
Grace waited for Elena to make the first move.
‘Can I speak to you in confidence? I’ve got to talk to someone, or I will go crazy.’
‘Of course.’
‘Do you promise not to say anything to anyone?’
‘I promise.’
Elena’s tears were falling again, and Grace passed her a paper serviette. Whatever her boss had to say had to be said. It was like lancing a boil. A horrible image, but accurate.
‘I think my husband is having an affair.’
So, she’d been right. This is what it was all about. She needed to tread carefully.
‘Why do you think that?’
‘All the little things that a wife notices. Mysterious absences, keeping his phone close to him at all times, not being affectionate, and, once, the smell of a perfume that I know is not mine.’
‘Are you sure about this?’
Elena looked down at the table.
‘It has happened before… Only once, but it nearly broke me. It’s the same thing all over again. I don’t think I can cope this time.’
‘Have you tried to speak to him about it?’
The despair in her eyes tore at Grace’s heart.
‘He says that I am mad, paranoid, crazy…’
Does he now? ‘Bloody liar’ were the words that came into Grace’s mind.
‘He says that because he made a mistake once, I am unfairly accusing him. He has mended his ways and he would never do it to me again.’
Grace’s anger was growing with every word Elena uttered.
‘I cannot sleep, I cannot eat… He has got me wondering if I am indeed mad.’
