‘You have nothing to be embarrassed about, don’t give it another thought.’

She smiled at him and a warm sensation crept over her body. He had checked up on her. He cared about her. Suddenly she didn’t want him to leave and she was relieved when he accepted her offer of a coffee. He sat down on one of the bar stools and watched her as she made the drinks. She felt his eyes on her and subconsciously smoothed down her hair.

‘Have you spoken to Jack?’ he asked.

‘No,’ she admitted, handing him his coffee and sitting on the stool next to him.

‘Why not?’

‘Well that’s the million-pound question, isn’t it?’

Alan regarded her, waiting for a better response, until she was compelled to say more. ‘I’ve never been good at talking about my feelings, I have no idea why I blurted it all out to you. You’re wasted on property, Alan; you should be a therapist. Anyway, I’ve always been more of a stiff upper lip type of person and until recently I thought it was working rather well for me.’

‘But it’s not.’

‘Well clearly not. But every time I think I should say something to Jack, I convince myself that it’s all in my head, and that if I tell him then at best, he’ll think I’m a paranoid, jealous wife and at worst that I’ve actually lost my mind.’

‘No man should ever make you feel any of those things.’

‘Are you saying I deserve more?’ The words were out of her mouth before she’d even processed them in her head. As soon as she said it, she realised it sounded like an innuendo.

But Alan didn’t seem fazed. ‘You definitely deserve more.’

‘Do you think I’m losing my mind?’

‘No, I don’t. And I think that anyone who makes you feel like that isn’t good enough for you.’

‘So you don’t think Jack is good enough for me?’ She was challenging him now, and perversely enjoying herself, but he still seemed unruffled. She was quite impressed actually.

‘Not if he makes you feel like this, no. From what you’ve told me, he’s acted like a bit of an arsehole in the past, so it’s understandable that you feel anxious. He’s done that to you. But you’re not being fair to him either, if you don’t tell him how you feel. You’re assuming that you know how he’s going to react but you don’t.’

She knew he was right but why was he so much easier to talk to than her own husband?

‘I just feel so guilty,’ she admitted. ‘I feel like it’s all my fault. I put my own needs before those of my husband and my children and now I’m being punished.’

‘I don’t like to hear you talking like this, Angie,’ Alan said. ‘None of this is your fault. You’re an incredible person, come on now, you know that. You’ve achieved so much. Most women worship you and the men… Well, you know the effect that you have on men.’