One Saturday, she arrived home and felt stripped of energy. She had never thought writing could be so physically and mentally draining. She’d acted out more scenes, cried, laughed, and developed a stiff neck and even sore knees from sitting at the desk. She longed to flop on the sofa and zone out in front of the TV. Each Saturday night, the Green family got together to watch a film and she wondered whose turn it was to choose.

Liv liked comedies the most. Jake was a thriller kind of guy and Johnny enjoyed action movies. Mack had developed a worrying taste for killer clowns that no one else shared. Now he was home from university for the summer, Liv worried they’d all have to sit through blood, gore and greasepaint.

As she took off her shoes and shrugged off her blazer in the hallway, she froze and wondered if she’d entered the wrong house. This one had no music blaring, or shouting going on. “Um, hello?” she called out and stuck her head around the living room door.

Jake sat on the sofa alone. The TV was on low volume and all the cushions were placed neatly on the sofa, instead of lying on the floor where the boys usually left them. “Had a good day?” he said.

She arched an eyebrow at how tidy the room looked. “Is everything okay?” she said.

“Yep, all’s fine. You shouldn’t be working at the weekend, though.” He patted the seat next to him. “Fancy a sit down? The boys have gone out.”

“Both of them?”

Jake grinned. “I may have bribed them with pizza vouchers. They were free in a newspaper.”

It was then Liv noticed the scented candle flickering on the coffee table, even though it was bright outside. Rather than his weekend jeans and T-shirt, Jake wore trousers and a smart blue sweater, his date night attire. Usually she’d feel a gush of tenderness toward him, but she was so tired her bones felt like they’d been replaced with mashed potato.

“I thought we could watch a film together,” he said. “Just you and me.”

Upstairs, Liv took off her floral dress and tie, and put on her black dress and pink socks instead.

When she slumped next to Jake on the sofa, he took hold of her hand and stroked it, as if it was a pet gerbil.

“I thought we could watch something, um...” He gave her a coy shrug. “Romantic.”

Something inside Liv slid like an avalanche. All she wanted to do was stare at the TV screen. “Sure,” she said blankly.

“We’ve both been working so hard. We could do with relaxing and forgetting everything else for a while.”