What is wrong with a dominant man who wants to take charge, be in control, and look after their partner? To be the one to plan things and make sure that we are both on the same wavelength.

But apparently, that is not what the modern woman wants. When I say controlling, I don’t mean I tell them what to do, God, I’m not that much of a dick. But for me, I like to have control of the situations around me, which means that also flows into my relationship with them.

Flynn is always telling me that I need to “chill out” more and relax. That’s easy for him to say. He grew up living his life on the edge, no responsibility and only caring about himself. I was the one who was left with looking after our parents and everything else. I don’t think he ever knew all the things that happened while he was in Australia. How Dad lost his job and they were without income for a while. I was the one who made sure they had money in their account for the time he was off.

I was more worried than they were, but I couldn’t stand to watch them counting every penny each week when they were doing their shopping. I had plenty of money by that stage, because I had started to invest a little and it was doing well.

Mum made me promise not to say anything to Flynn because they knew he didn’t have the money to get a ticket home or that his job might not be there if he went back.

I’m not one who likes to keep secrets, but I found myself keeping things from him as he traveled, carefree, while I shouldered all the worries of the family. Helping my parents plan the funerals for grandparents that passed away while he was on the other side of the world, and the day they thought Mum was having a heart attack and rushed her to the hospital. It was me in the emergency room with her while Dad was stuck trying to get back from York four hours away in traffic. Not sure the nurses appreciated my curt tone that day, but I didn’t think they were doing anything quick enough, and there was no way we were losing Mum on my watch. Turned out to be severe angina, and now she has medication to take when it comes on and monitoring her blood pressure all the time. Of course, Flynn knows about her health issues now, but it’s under control and nothing really to worry about.