Saif is getting out of a taxi just as I am parking my car. It is such a surprise that I almost bump the curb and forget to undo my seat belt. ‘Careful’, he calls out as he lifts his rig bag from the boot and pays off the taxi. He is smiling and tousled like he always is when he first comes home, still with the noise of the machines ringing in his ears, the wobble of the platform, the stinging wind of the North Sea. Now he can put all this behind him and have everything he’s been looking forward to. How perfect of him to be here today! I need the weight of his arms, his voice telling me off, his fingers rummaging through the things I just bought. I run into his arms. He explains that there’s been a false alarm at the rig and non-essential staff for the ongoing operation were evacuated as a precaution. Lucky for me he was one of them. He is still in his rig coveralls and the smell of the oil pushes its way up my nose, black grease down my throat, fumes in my gullet. I move my face as a burp turns into a gag, into a retch.

‘What’s wrong?’ He holds me but I twist away. I stagger to the side of the road and aim my mouth at the nearest bushes. The ground is pink with fallen cherry blossoms. ‘It’s the smell,’ I splutter. ‘I’m sorry. It’s not you. Don’t be hurt.’

He is though, a little. It’s in his voice when he says, ‘We’ll be together tomorrow at the hospital for the ultrasound.’

This does make me feel better. The nausea ebbs and I want to doze off, just for a short nap. Tomorrow, after the appointment, we can go for lunch in town. Pizza, this time. Pizza with extra tomatoes.

The Aromatherapist’s Husband

She told him that Mother Teresa had visited her in a dream. Adam braced himself for the consequences. ‘She wants me to work in her orphanage in Calcutta.’ The steam from Elaine’s green tea shimmered between them.

‘We’ll save up to get you there,’ he replied. This was his style, to humour her and at the same time nudge her towards practicality. She had tears in her eyes now as she launched into a description of the dream. The feeling of being chosen, of having the ability to help others, of possessing a power, a gift. There were so many things Adam would rather save up for than trekking halfway across the world. It startled him that he could imagine her travelling without him.