Pushing back on my chair and rising to my feet, disappointment begins to turn into resentment. This isn’t the man I married at all.

Aiden leaps out of his seat to stop me from leaving.

‘Ever since Grandma died, I’ve felt as if life is a ticking clock. Every single day that passes is a day I should be moving forward, but I feel stuck. Drained. Invisible even to myself, as if I’m some sort of automaton going through the motions instead of living in the moment.’

‘And you couldn’t open up to me, your wife? So instead you kept quiet and let it come between us like a growing chasm that gets bigger with each passing day?’ His face begins to swim in front of me as tears fill my eyes.

‘Don’t go, babe, please don’t turn your back on me.’ His arms around me are comforting and the warmth of his body is reassuring. ‘I will sort myself out, I promise,’ he whispers into my ear. For one moment, the old, self-assured Aiden is back and it’s a relief to know that maybe, just maybe, all is not yet lost.

‘I think we both need to do some thinking about where we go from here. I’m struggling because I feel you’re pushing me away. It hurts, but I can see that you’re as confused about this as I am. That’s a good thing, though, isn’t it?’ My words make him hug me even closer and if I ever doubted his love, his body language is firmly denying that.

‘It means I know I’d be lost without you. But maybe to find myself I need to discover who I am outside of our relationship.’

And there is it – the change that little inner voice was warning me was imminent.

The bottom suddenly drops out of my world. He isn’t depressed, as I was beginning to fear was the case. No, Aiden feels the life he has is constraining him – he feels trapped! The excitement of the unknown versus the comfort of a relationship spanning thirteen years. The life I knew – we knew – is already a thing of the past. And there’s nothing I can do to change that now.

Old words come back to haunt me. My father once said, ‘You need to discover who you are as individuals, Fern, before you can take those strengths forward into a relationship. Know yourself first and everything else will fall into place.’