First Karen, Olivia, and now Tessa. How was it that all her friends were settling down and heading for happily ever after, while Jenny was in a relationship that at the moment seemed to have run into a brick wall?
Things with Roan had started to go downhill not long after her promotion, she reflected. In trying to get to grips with new work responsibilities on top of general day-to-day tasks, she could barely keep her eyes open on the train home in the evenings.
Now she shook her head wearily as she caught sight of him snoozing on the sofa while all the used dinner dishes and pots and pans were still piled high on the counter. Could he not make an effort to tidy up – for once?
Things weren’t great between them since he’d moved in, Jenny admitted sadly. He didn’t seem to understand the work pressure she was under, nor why she ‘encouraged’ him to help out with the housework. He still insisted that he worked too hard all day without having to come home and get into ‘domestic crap’.
She soon learned to her dismay that he’d likely never done a tap of housework. A mummy’s boy, clearly Mrs Williams had let him get away withmurder. He was lucky he hadn’t been born in the Hamilton household. In their teens Jenny’s brothers had been trained in everything from making beds to cooking stew.
Now, he muttered out loud as she cleaned up, annoyed at the noise she was making. Tough, she thought, scraping leftovers into the bin with more force than was necessary.
“Do you have to be so loud?” he growled.
“No, I don’thaveto be so loud – though maybe you’d prefer to do it instead - for a change?” she retorted, waving the washing-up liquid at him.
“Ah, don’t start,” he said, rolling his eyes. “I get enough hassle at work without having to put up with it when I come home too.”
Something snapped in Jenny. She’d had just about enough of Roan and all the hassle he was supposed to be under. “Well, sorr-y. But you’re not the only one under pressure, you know. And then I have to come back to a pigsty and clean up after you and – ”
“Jesus, if it’s that much hassle, give it here.” He jumped up and nudged in beside her at the sink. “Talk about a bloody nag,” he whispered under his breath.
“Hey, I am not a nag,” Jenny retorted, “and even if I was, I don’t have a choice. You make as much of a mess around here as I do, and yet you expect me to clean up after you? I’m not your slave.”
“What? What are you on about? Wasn’t I the one who did the shopping last week?” Water splashed out of the sink and onto the floor as he vehemently scrubbed asaucepan. “And the place is never that bad – you obviously have OCD issues.”
“It’s not that bad, because I make sure it doesn’t get that bad!” Jenny was getting angrier by the second.
Roan threw a handful of cutlery into the water, then turned and glared at her. “I don’t know what’s wrong with you lately. Since you got that bloody promotion you’ve become really uppity.”
“What? What are you on about?”
“You act like you’re the bee’s knees, thinking you can boss me around like you do everyone at work.”
Jenny opened her mouth but no words came out. She couldn’t believe what she was hearing. How dare he?
“Roan, that’s very unfair. I hardly ever ask you to help unless I’m very tired. And I’m very tired tonight. Coming home to a tip and seeing you all tucked up and snoring on the couch doesn’t exactly improve my mood.”
“Well, I’ve had enough of your moods. I don’t know what’s got into you. You’re no fun.” He looked at her disdainfully. “You’ve let yourself go a bit too.”
She whirled around to face him. “What the hell does that mean?”
“You dress like a dowdy schoolteacher these days, you hardly ever wear make-up, and you haven’t bothered getting your roots redone. Honestly, it’s a bit like shacking up with my mother.” Then when he saw her expression, his voice softened. “Ah I’m sorry. I just lashed out because I’m tired and you were ranting on at me for being lazy. I’m not trying to be hurtful, Jen – I’m only telling you these things for your own good.”
Jenny looked at her reflection in the mirror over the fireplace. Maybe he was right. Shehadbeen putting off a visit to the hairdresser. She was just so bloody tired all the time.
So maybe Roan had told her some home truths, however hard they might have been to hear. No wonder he had lost interest in sex. In the beginning, they had been tearing each other’s clothes off at every opportunity – these days, they were lucky if they managed it once a month.
He embraced her quickly, before kissing her softly on the forehead. “Tell you what, why don’t you sit down and put your feet up while I finish this and then I’ll make you a cuppa?”
Jenny hesitated. “I’m sorry too. You’re right; I probably have been difficult to live with.”
“It’s OK, babe.” He patted the sofa cushions. “Go on, sit down and take it easy.”
But afterwards, I’m putting on trainers and going for a good long run,Jenny resolved, wondering if any of the local hair salons might fit her in after work sometime this week.
She’d make sure she was looking her best for Tessa’s engagement party. After all, her friends rarely looked anything other than glam.
Which was probably why they and not she, Jenny reflected sadly, were the ones shopping for engagement rings …
