I had seen such unease only a couple of times in the past: first when his mother died and then again when I refused his appeal to give our relationship a second chance. So whatever information he was now about to impart, I realised that it had to be pretty big and pretty grim. What I didn’t yet know was whether that information was stressful to him alone, or whether it was also about to impact on me.

I waited for him to settle himself and then, determined to get straight to the point and to remain as dispassionate as possible, I asked, ‘What is it you want to tell me?’

He folded his hands on the table and looked at me expressionlessly. ‘I’m getting help,’ he said.

Relief flooded through me and I relaxed back in my chair. ‘Well, congratulations. But is that it?’ I demanded, my sense of relief almost immediately displaced by a rising tide of irritation that he had dragged me here solely to boast about his efforts to be a better person.

He shook his head. ‘No. But part of the process involves being honest with myself and open with you about what I am and what I have done. I need to take ownership of that.’

I widened my eyes, his statement of intent only adding to my annoyance. ‘Well, that’s great if it makes you feel better, but what if you being open and honest makes everybody else feel like crap? Personally, I don’t feel like I need any more details, courtesy of you. The ones I discovered all by myself were quite enough.’

‘You have every right to be angry.’

‘Kudos for accepting that.’

‘But this isn’t about the past, it’s about now, and it’s not just about me, it’s about you too.’

‘About me now?’

‘Yes.’

I picked up my drink. ‘Go on.’

‘When we were together—’

‘I thought you said this was about now,’ I snapped, anxiety rather than anger causing me to lose my cool. ‘Let’s skip the historical background, Jason. I was there throughout, remember?’

‘Please, Edie…’ he said quietly. ‘I wouldn’t have asked you to come here if I didn’t think you needed to hear what I’m trying to tell you.’

I took a deep breath and gestured with my wine glass for him to continue.

‘When we were together, whenever Ruby was around…’

I closed my eyes and exhaled slowly at the mention of her name, realising that I had been unconsciously holding my breath.

‘Whenever Ruby was around, she made it clear that she was attracted to me.’ He delivered the information with no apparent emotion.

I opened my eyes and stared expressionlessly at him. ‘But isn’t everybody attracted to you?’ I said, trying to sound bored. ‘I’m pretty sure that’s why we’re no longer a couple.’