He wrapped my hair around his hand to pull me closer.

‘Not funny.’ As he spoke I could smell milk and banana and felt myself gag. I held my breath.

‘Let me go, I feel ill,’ I said shakily.

He narrowed his eyes. ‘What’s wrong with you? Time of the month? Do you feel sick?’

Sick of you behaving like this. I shook my head. ‘Just a touch of stomach ache. And anyway, you’re hurting me.’

‘I’m sorry. Poor baby.’ He kissed my cheek and released me. ‘Hey, I picked up a flyer today for a new café opening this weekend. I thought we could go try the brunch menu on Sunday, what do you think? My treat.’

His face was full of remorse and he looked so eager to make up for his outburst; at moments like this, I saw the Harvey I fell in love with. Unfortunately, lately such moments were few and far between.

I swallowed the lump in my throat. ‘That sounds lovely.’

‘You know, it’s probably stress,’ he said, glancing at my stomach. ‘You work too hard. Perhaps you should go part time? I can cover the rent on my wages, you know.’

I excused myself and went to the bathroom to splash water on my face. I couldn’t mention my promotion tonight.

After work on Thursday I let myself into the flat, set my shopping in the kitchen and popped the bottle of Sauvignon Blanc in the fridge which the man in the supermarket assured me would best complement the sweetness of the pork on tonight’s special menu. We didn’t often have wine; Harvey was convinced it killed your brain cells. He mostly stuck to water and smoothies these days anyway, but I was pulling out all the stops this evening.

Before I started cooking I opened all the windows wide. The sky was heavy with thick dense cloud, the air was humid and the heat oppressive; a storm was coming. My stomach churned. There’d quite possibly be a storm in here tonight; I had to give my answer to Paula tomorrow. Either I was out of a job on Monday or I’d be the new grounds maintenance supervisor. Hence me making an effort with dinner. My plan was to show Harvey that me working didn’t mean that I didn’t have time for us.