He’s nice. Unassuming. And attractive. It’s been a long time since I found anyone attractive. Obsession has no space for attraction.

‘Yes. I’d like that. But can I just ask …’

He moves a little closer.

‘All this.’ He looks around to the empty space he’s made in my life. ‘All that stuff. No one’s perfect. You’ve been through a bad time. You’re not the only one, you know. You don’t get to our age unscathed. And anyway, you haven’t seen my gaff yet!’ He smiles and blushes a little. ‘I like you. Just want to spend some time around you. That’s all. Take a chance.’

He’s staring at the floor, embarrassed. So he’s been hurt as well. Take a chance or be alone. I nod.

He’s gone and I’m alone with my tea. It’s suddenly very quiet and I look around. The house is beautiful. I go up to my bedroom and it’s the only room left that reminds me of what happened. The door is damaged and the mattress is missing. I switch on the light and immediately hundreds of seed pearls glitter through the pile of the carpet. I reach up to the back of the wardrobe, to behind where I kept my wedding dress, and I pull down a box.

I open it and take out the pressed buttonhole flowers and the ring boxes. Underneath are all the wedding cards, and the standard Valentine’s cards he sent me. To my wife. Inside. From Jack. No romance. No mystery. No fun. Yes. That was it. No fun. It was all very functional. Going through the motions. I’d kept all these things. All the letters from him when we were actually in love. Every concert ticket. Pictures of us together.

What did he keep? Nothing. Instead, he kept a perfect ten record of things he enjoyed. I enjoyed him, he enjoyed them. I take the box downstairs and throw it in the skip. No point keeping it now it doesn’t mean anything. I’ll always have the memories, but if this is going to be over it really has to be.

It’s seven o’clock and it’s going dark. I stand outside for a while and look over to the park. I need to get rid of that car somehow, but that can wait for another day. It’s well hidden. It should be OK. I go into the lounge again and sit on the sofa. I switch on the TV. It’s odd.