When everything had been cleared away, he went into the lounge and sat on the sofa, waiting, his heart thudding. The ticking sound of the clock over the fireplace seemed to echo loudly around the room and Ben wondered why he had never noticed it before. Finally, as the hands of the clock clicked round to one o’clock, he heard the key in the front door and stiffened as a wave of anger surged through him. How dare she show him up in front of his oldest friends? And what was wrong with having them round on a Friday night? It was his bloody flat, after all!

He listened as Bella dropped her bag in the hallway and made her way straight through to the bedroom. With his anger growing, he leaped up and marched into the bedroom behind her. ‘Where the bloody hell have you been?’ he hissed, through gritted teeth.

Bella, who was sitting on the edge of the bed with her back to him, shook her head.

Ben rolled his eyes. ‘Well?’ he demanded, a deep torrent of rage soaring up inside his chest. ‘Answer me! Do you have any idea how embarrassing that was?’

Bella turned her face towards him and he immediately recoiled in shame. Her make-up had run and the tracks of her tears were still visible. Her large, brown eyes were ringed with dark circles and she was deathly pale. ‘I’ve been at the hospital,’ she whispered. ‘I thought I was losing the baby.’ As she finished speaking, she dissolved into tears and put her head in her hands.

‘Oh my God! Why didn’t you call me?’ Ben dashed to her side and put his arms around her slim, shaking shoulders. All his anger had evaporated in an instant and he now felt like the lousiest husband in the world.

‘There wasn’t time … I just wanted to get there. Marcus took me.’

Ben bristled. Marcus was Bella’s boss and a very successful banker, with whom he knew she had had an affair in the past. ‘Right,’ he managed.

‘He was so lovely,’ she continued, her sobs beginning to abate. ‘He waited while they checked me over and then insisted on bringing me home.’

‘That was very nice of him,’ Ben agreed, stroking her silky hair. ‘But of course, if you’d rung me, or not had your phone switched off, I would have come straight away.’

Bella nodded and wiped her eyes, further smudging her mascara. ‘I know, I’m sorry – but I didn’t want to spoil your evening with Matt and Freya …’ She let her words hang in the air. Without her having to say it, the unspoken suggestion that he had prioritized a night of drinking with his mates over looking after his pregnant wife was loud and clear.

Ben swallowed the lump in his throat. ‘So what happened? What made you think you were losing the baby … and is it OK?’

Bella shook her head and made a swatting motion with her hand. ‘I don’t want to talk about it. But the main thing is that everything is OK and the baby’s fine.’