But for you, it’s different. You don’t court drama and pain and rejection and abandonment. You have a solid marriage. And you’ve held onto it. Without drama, and with what appears to be an above-average level of happiness. Just look at all those interviews your impressive husband gives. He never fails to mention you. It’s like he thinks he’s married to a saint. His rock, he calls you. His inspiration. I’d be lost without her, he said recently. Me too, I thought, scrutinizing the photograph of the two of you – a classic Norwegian shot of an outdoorsy couple climbing some mountain or other, beaming at each other, a broody and barren valley rolling away behind you.

It must be nice to be loved like that.

Someday, your husband will be prime minister if he has his way. And it seems to me that this guy mostly has his way. You’ll be propelled to the forefront of our society then; the intriguing other half of Norway’s leader. The media and the public will be interested in you – you’re rather different from those who have gone before you. Much younger, with a fresh look and a rock-solid education, a respectable career and a winning, unassuming way of being. You have made yourself so inoffensive, so inconspicuous. You’ve built a life so ordinary, but so beautiful.

They’ll find out about your past, of course. It’s not like it’s a secret anyway – a simple Google search will give it away. It’s a long time ago now, but your past will without doubt be brought back out into the light when your husband ascends to the very top of the political hierarchy. Perhaps you’ll give a tell-all interview to avoid any rumors and to elicit even more sympathy. People will cry for you. You will cry for yourself, too, like I already know you do. At night. Right now, probably. Sometimes when you’re driving. On Friday evenings, walking back home, your eyes locked hard on the blur of pavement, not noticing your surroundings, or me, twenty yards behind you.

You’ll realize by now that I’ve done quite a bit of homework. Learned to talk your talk. According to betterhealth.com, dissociation is, ‘a mental process of disconnecting from one’s thoughts, feelings, memories or sense of identity. The dissociative disorders that need professional treatment include dissociative amnesia, dissociative fugue, depersonalization disorder and dissociative identity disorder.’