‘George, do you agree?’

‘Umm. Yes. Absolutely.’

He tries to smile. Tries to pay attention but on each attempt to focus, his thoughts drift back to Leah. Were they too broken to fix? George doesn’t know. He doesn’t know if he wants them to be. In sickness and in health, George had promised, and it wasn’t that he hadn’t meant it, more that he never envisaged there being so much of the sickness. The minute he had opened the parcel yesterday and had seen the array of cleaning products, he knew. He just knew she was slipping backwards and it shamed him to admit that there was a split second when he had stood, rooted to the spot, with the thought that he could run away flickering across his mind. Never come back. Start a new life, one with love and laughter and happiness. But he couldn’t force his legs to move. He had too much to lose, but if he stayed, everything to gain.

‘George?’ The client stabs the last piece of sausage onto his fork with more force than necessary. George knows he’d been asked another question.

‘Sorry. I… My wife is unwell. I think I need to go. Sorry.’ He opens his wallet to throw some cash on the table but it is empty. Instead, he pulls out his credit card, hoping it won’t be refused.

‘It’s okay. I’ll settle up. You get home to your wife.’ The man sitting opposite him softens. George knows he has a family too, but that doesn’t always mean anything, does it? Families can cheat and lie. Betray each other in an instant.

He should know.

The needle on the fuel gauge hovers close to empty. He fills the tank with diesel and remembers he had forgotten to fill Leah’s car when he had promised to. Ashamed he’d let her down again, he picks up some yellow and orange flowers from the reduced-price bucket. The roses in the bouquet are browning and shrivelled but if he plucks them out the other flowers are fresh.

He hasn’t seen Leah since their row yesterday. They had eaten their lunch in silence. Even Archie had been quiet, chewing his crusts without complaint, finishing his carrot sticks before asking for a cookie. George doesn’t want him growing up in an atmosphere – it isn’t fair on anyone. Is having two unhappy parents under the same roof better for a child than being shuttled between argument-free homes? He just doesn’t know. Not that he can afford a second home, he is barely managing the first, sinking all his money into the mortgage on a property that’s not even in his name. That’s unfair, though. Leah didn’t have a mortgage before he’d wanted to set up a business. She’d believed in him enough to take on a job purely so the bank would give them more funds than they could feasibly afford to pay back. It wasn’t irresponsible money-lending but a calculated risk. They have plenty of capital. The house is worth much more than they owe. Even so, he feels the bank is just biding its time. Waiting to snatch their home away.