Imaginary by Helen Walters

Author:Helen Walters [Walters, Helen]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781543409024
Publisher: Xlibris AU
Published: 2018-05-08T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter 28

Stephen sat there in his hotel room, staring at his phone, guilt seeping from every pore. It had been two days since Kat had yelled at him on the phone and refused to speak to him since; now she had turned her mobile off and taken the landline off the hook. He understood why she was angry at him, but she just didn’t understand the pressure on him from the corporate world he was a part of. It was expected of him to travel as part of his job, and it was expected of him to entertain clients, and if a client asked him to stay on a few days and join him for a fishing charter, then it was bad business to say no.

He loved Kat dearly, but over the past few years, he had fallen out of love with her. The passion and excitement had left their relationship. Stephen had married Katrina eleven years ago. It was a magical day. The moment he saw her walking down the aisle, he knew they were meant to be together forever and he would give her his heart and soul. Stephen was forty-five, only nine months older than Kat.

They met fourteen years ago at an art gallery, where a mutual acquaintance was hosting a show filled with pieces created by final-year art students from the local university. Stephen was standing in front of a sculpture of a man bending over his wife, who was lying down. He remembered the face of the man who had his hands on his head, looking up at the sky. The artist had captured mourning and devastation perfectly. The sculpture really got to him, which was what drew Katrina to his side. She had been watching him from the other side of the room, and when she saw the way the sculpture affected him, she had to come over and meet him. Katrina ended up buying the piece and gifting it to Stephen on their first official date. He knew from that moment she was the only woman he would ever truly love.

They had two young children, whom he adored, and much of his guilt was missing out on them growing up. Then there was her father. He had moved in with them a couple of years ago when his health started deteriorating and he was unable to continue to live independently. He had pleaded with her many times to move him into a facility that could care for him the way he needed so she wouldn’t be so stressed with all the additional responsibility that he would add to her life, but she refused to let anyone help her. The best he got was getting her to agree to use the day centre when she needed to work.

Stephen rubbed his brow and dialled his wife’s number again – straight to voicemail. He threw his head back in frustration and dropped the phone on the table. ‘OK, Kat, I get it. You’re pissed at me.

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