Agony Auntics by Julie Butterfield

Author:Julie Butterfield [Butterfield, Julie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2020-06-18T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 17

When Jasper came home that night, Fliss was waiting in the kitchen. She'd made toad in the hole as planned but she doubted that Jasper would be happy to sit at the kitchen table laughing as they reconnected over old memories.

The wine had been opened and Fliss, pale-faced and tense, had already poured them both a glass. For a moment Jasper simply stood in the doorway and then with a sigh he sank onto one of the chairs.

‘What’s going on Fliss?’ he asked wearily.

‘It was me at the Royal Hotel last night.’

For the first time in many, many months, Fliss was confident that she had her husband’s undivided attention as Jasper stared at her in astonishment.

‘What? You were there, Freddie saw you?’

She nodded.

‘But I don't understand. Freddie said you were half-dressed and shouting and they threw you out!’

She nodded again.

‘But I’d just spoken to you, at home. I mean, why, how … why were you at the hotel?’

‘Because yet again you had a reason for us not spending time together and I suddenly wondered, well I thought…’ Fliss let her head fall back slightly as she closed her eyes. What exactly had she allowed herself to believe?

‘I wondered if you were having an affair,’ she said quietly.

Jasper’s mouth fell open. ‘Oh not this again, I’ve already told you it's a ridiculous idea! I love you, I love being married to you, I am not having an affair!’

He banged his hand on the table and the glasses rocked slightly.

‘But you don't seem to love being married to me anymore Jasper. You are so involved with anything and anybody that isn't me.’

A look of exasperation came across the table. ‘I’m busy! I have an extremely busy schedule and …’

‘No. It’s more than that, I've been trying to tell you for weeks that I feel that somethings not quite right with us at the moment. Something has changed, I don't know what but you, me, we’re different and you don't seem to want to listen. I know you’re busy. I understand busy, and this isn't it. This is … I don't know what this is which is why I've been trying to reach out to you.’

‘You followed me to the Royal Hotel to reach out to me?’

‘I followed you to the hotel to make sure that there was no-one else in your life. I wore sexy underwear in the hope that you might look up from your phone for a few minutes and remember who I was. I filled your diary with hearts and put a jack in the box in your briefcase because I wanted you to stop for a moment and bring your mind back to our marriage.’

Jasper was staring across the table as though he had never seen her before. ‘I don't understand,’ he was shaking his head. ‘I don't understand why you would feel like this.’

Fliss watched him. She didn't understand it herself, but she needed to do something about it before it was too late.

Running a hand through his hair, Jasper sighed again.

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