‘Maybe. I don’t know. I certainly never imagined I’d be where I am – unsure where I’m going to live or what I’m going to do next.’

‘Where did you think you’d be?’

‘More financially secure, maybe married with kids, though it’s too late for that now.’ I thought of Graham and the time a family had seemed possible; I thought of Michael, of Moonbeam and Star, children I’d never had, and felt another stab of regret.

‘It’s never too late for anything,’ said Marcia. ‘You could still marry and adopt if you really wanted to go that route. Is that what you want?’

‘That’s just it. I don’t know.’

‘Maybe the universe is trying to tell you something. If it was just your mortgage repayments or just the shop, it could be seen as a blip, but for both to come at you at the same time, I wonder if it’s a sign telling you that it’s time for a life change.’

‘Do you really think that? That the universe gives us signs?’

‘Sometimes, yes.’

‘I don’t. I think that what’s happening to me is more to do with world economics. Things change, so many people in different areas of business have to adapt or go under. It can’t be that the universe is giving us all a sign.’

‘Sometimes it can; sometimes there are world shifts that affect everyone, a global sign that things must change. Sometimes the signs are more personal, but does what’s happening to you mean your business has to come to an end? You’ve spent too long building up contacts and researching the market to let it all go. Can’t you reinvent things? Adapt to the changes and evolve?’

‘Like a cockroach? I don’t know, Marcia, I probably could, but the thing is, I’m not sure I want to go on as I was – all work and no play.’

‘Pete and I have been saying that to you for years.’

‘Trouble is, if I did find myself with time on my hands and not so many commitments, I’m not sure what I’d do.’

‘Then surrender to that. There are many times in life when things seem to come to an abrupt end so, instead of fighting it, embrace it and see what unfolds next.’

‘How?’

‘Take some time out, go with the flow. As one of the hexagrams in the I Ching says, no harm in waiting. I think times of inactivity are as important as the active phases. Rather than rushing headlong into something else, take a few weeks or even months off and reassess everything.’

‘Stuart said something similar; he said to tread water for a while until things become clearer. Sounds scary – and don’t say, “Feel the fear and do it anyway”.’