I’ll give her a ring, I muttered, backing away from the kitchen door.
Emily’s voice floated from the stove, where a familiar sizzle rose from a pansomething as ordinary as the life we’d built together.
Andrew froze on the kitchen threshold. Two decadesan entire lifeflashed before his eyes in an instant. The keys slipped from his fingers, clattered onto the floor with a harsh metallic clang that seemed to pierce the quiet.
What are you talking about? A lover? His voice trembled, laying bare the fear and turmoil that had been gnawing at him for months. The ground felt as if it were giving way beneath him.
Alice, Emily finally said, crossing her arms over her chest. Your assistant, I suppose? Shes only twentyfive, says shes been seeing you for four months now. Congratulations, dad.
The pain in her eyes made Andrew want to sink into the earthor wake up, as if it were all a nightmare.
Emily, Ill explain He started, but the words lodged in his throat.
Explain what? How you had fun with your secretary while I was running from doctor to doctor? Or how you lied, saying you were working late? Emilys hoarse laugh cut through the kitchen, where the pan was now hissing and the smell of burnt meat filled the air. She flicked the gas off as if that could halt the ache, the bitterness, the betrayal.
You know whats the most disgusting? she whispered. I saw it coming. All those latenight meetings, the trips, the calls I believed you, like a fool!
Emily, listen Andrew took a step toward her, but she thrust her arm out, as if building an invisible wall.
Dont come any nearer! Tears flashed in her eyes. Good heavens, after twenty years, youve been a cat on a hot tin roof!
Stop it, he tried to steady his voice, his own shaking. Lets just talk calmly. Its all complicated.
Complicated? Emily laughed again, a laugh that sounded more like sobbing. Whats so complicated? Youve taken a young lover. She flew in, and I Her voice cracked. Im just an old woman who cant have children, is that it?
Dont say that! He stepped forward, attempting to embrace her.
Emily jerked away as if burned, and a sharp slap ripped through the kitchens silence.
Get out, she hissed, her voice trembling. Leave me to her to her, if she can give you what I never could.
Emily
Go! She snatched the salt shaker from the table and flung it at him.
Andrew staggered back, the grains scattering across the floor, glinting in the lamplight. Bad omen, he thought.
I’ll call, he muttered again, backing toward the door.
Emily turned to the window, shoulders shivering as if from cold, though the night outside was already warm.
In the hallway, pulling his coat on hurriedly, he heard muffled sobs. His hand froze on the doorknob. What could he possibly say? How could he justify the betrayal?
The front door slammed shut. The empty house fell into a deafening hush, broken only by the ticking of the mantel clocka wedding gift from his parents. It had ticked for twenty years, marking each second of their shared life.
Emily sank into a kitchen chair, eyes landing on the spilled salt. They say that brings bad luck, she mused, then burst out laughing hysterically, as if the absurdity of it all explained her lifes sudden crumble, like those white crystals on the dark floor.
His coat pocket buzzed. He fished out his phone with trembling fingers. A text from an unknown number: Sorry. I didnt want it to end like this. Alice.
Wretch, Emily whispered, clenching the phone to her chest. Little devil
Rain began to patter against the window. The first drops hit the sill, a melancholy melody on an invisible xylophone.
Emily rose, grabbed a broom and a dustpan, and while sweeping up the salt, a ridiculous thought crossed her mind: I never even asked what she was waiting forboy or girl?
She paused, dustpan in hand. The rain, the ticking clock, the saltall blended into a single, relentless stream, as if her life now existed only in those trivial details. Nothing else remained.
Andrew sat in his car, staring at his phone. Fifteen missed calls from his motherEmily, of course, had called her motherinlaw, always doting on the daughterinlaw.
What now? he asked his reflection in the rearview mirror. A tired fortyfiveyearold man stared back, judging him.
His phone buzzed again. Alice flashed on the screen.
Right, love
Where are you? her voice trembled, on the brink of tears. I was so scared she was terrifying!
What? Andrew asked, confused.
Your wife! She showed up at my work, caused a scene
What? When?
An hour ago, Alice sobbed. She screamed in the whole office that Id ruined your family, threw papers at me they were her test results.
He slumped his head onto the steering wheel.
I didnt know Alice continued. I truly didnt know you couldnt have children. I thought you just didnt want them
Alice, I knew a thought flickered. I knew and still
Come over, she pleaded. Im scared alone.
Im on my way, he replied shortly.
He turned the engine on, but before he could pull away his mothers voice cracked through the speaker.
Yes, mum.
Ah, you wretched dog! she roared. What have you done? Lost your conscience?
Mum
Dont speak! Emilys crying, barely holding herself together after all these years. And youflirting with a young thing!
Im Im
Enough! I wont be your mother any longer. Until you pull yourself together, dont call, dont show up!
She hung up. Andrew let the phone fall to his lap, suddenly heavy. The engine idled, the cars hum a faint whisper.
He looked at Emilys house. Warm light spilled from the windows, but he couldnt go there. He couldnt go anywhere.
He switched off the ignition. The car sighed and fell silent. He was left alone in a sudden, deafening quiet.
The phone emitted a series of short beeps.
Bloody hell, he muttered, slamming the steering wheel until his fingers cramped.
Another buzz: a message from Emily: Divorce papers will be ready in a week. Collect your things this weekend. Im leaving.
He read it over and over. Divorce. Twenty years. Everything shattered.
A fresh call came inAlice.
You coming soon? My stomach hurts
On my way! he snapped, jerking the wheel as if to flee the nightmare.
Rain hammered harder, wipers fighting a losing battle, the city turning into a blur of grey on the windshield.
Another buzzprobably his mother again. He didnt even look. What did it matter? Everything was spilling, and he couldnt grasp how it had all collapsed.
A year earlier, Alice had joined his firm as an internbright, eyes full of hope, looking at him the way Emily once had in university. Then a corporate party, a flirty touch, and the rest. He remembered feeding her flowers, taking her out, feeling young again. Hed rented a flat for secret meetings, watched her glow with happiness, dreaming of a future.
Stupid old fool, he thought, staring at the rainslick road.
The phone rang again.
Andrew
It isnt Alice, Emilys voice, oddly calm, cut through. I did a test. Guess what? Im expecting.
Time seemed to freeze. A sudden crash of brakes, a thud, darkness.
Heart attack, the doctor said flatly. Plus head injury. Critical but stable.
Emily stood by the ICU window, watching the man tangled in tubes and wires. Beside her, Alice, her cheek pressed into her hand, sobbing quietly.
Stop wailing, Emily snapped. This isnt a drama.
Sorry Alice whispered, wiping her eyes. Its just a baby.
Right, a baby without a dad, Emily smirked. How funny. And Im without a husband. Lovely, isnt it?
Did you also? Alice asked, eyes flickering to Emilys slight belly.
Got knocked up too? Emily chuckled. Twenty years of nothing and nowboom! Stress, I guess.
The monitor ticked softly. Rain pattered against the panes, a relentless reminder that life outside continued.
Emilys voice softened. I loved him from the first year of university. He was skinny, glasses, the odd one out. All the girls teased, what do you see in him? Yet I saw the real him.
Alice stared at the thin hospital curtain, as if something hidden might save her.
Then the wedding, the rings, the veil, everything proper. His mother even said, Shell be a good daughterinlaw. And here I am, a defective wife.
Dont say that, Alice whispered, her voice as thin as an autumn leaf.
How do you speak? Emily snapped, eyes sharp. Do you know how many doctors Ive seen? How many procedures? He kept telling me, Dont worry, love, well manage without kids. He lied. He lied through his teeth.
He loves you, Alice said, though doubt lingered.
Even when he used you? Emily laughed, a harsh bark. He was a fool, a cheatstill a fool.
Alice shivered, instinctively covering her belly.
I thought we had love, she murmured, eyes downcast. He was gentle, attentive
And Im what? A careerdriven, childless wife? Emily retorted, sarcasm dripping. No, youre not.
Nothing funny? Alice asked.
No.
Emily sighed, looking at the man in the bed. Whats funny is that I almost understand you. Young, in love, lost your head over a successful man. I was the same. Only my mistake is that the man is my husband.
Andrew shifted slightly in his chair. Both women leaned forward, but the room fell silent again.
What will we do? Alice asked.
What will you do? Emily asked, weary. Andrew will have two heirs or heirtobe. Does it matter?
And him? Alice queried, voice breaking.
What about him? Emily replied, bitterness lacing her tone. He can chooseold wife with a safety net or young lover with a bonus.
Im not Im not competing, Alice started, then stopped.
Exactly, you are, Emily cut in. All of you are. And heres the truth, girltwenty years is mine. You jumped onto a train that isnt yours. Its not your station.
A nurse coughed softly from the doorway.
Visiting hours are over, she announced.
Of course, Emily said, smoothing her skirt. Lets go, love. Ill show you where the tea machine is. Weve got a long day ahead.
A week later, Andrew awoke to find Emily sitting beside his hospital bed, a hand gently resting on his belly. A thought flickered: How did I never notice?
Emily his voice rasped, foreign to his own ears.
She startled, eyes widening.
Arrived, handsome? she teased, a faint smile playing on her lips. I thought you were up there, flirting with angels.
Sorry
Dont start, Emily snapped, her face tightening. Theres a solicitor. I wont split the flatkeep it. The car, you can have it; youll need it more. Ive quit my job.
What? Andrew tried to rise, panic rising in his throat. Why?
Im moving back to Leeds, to my parents, she said calmly, as if discussing the weather. The air is cleaner. Better for the child.
Emily, stop
Its necessary, Andrew. It has to be, she said, finally smiling, a relief in her eyes. Ive thought a lot while you lay here, useless. Youre rightI was a foolish old woman. Not because I believed you, but because I was terrified of living without you.
I love you, he whispered, as if those words might change anything.
You love? Emily tilted her head, not meeting his gaze. Perhaps, in your own way. Like a habit, a part of life. I dont want to be just a habit, understand?
She stood, shaking off her dress as if a heavy burden had fallen from it.
Alice used to come every day. Shed cry, say she gave up all claims. Silly thing I gave her the number of a good gynaecologist and a realtor to find a bigger flat. A onebedroom wont do with a baby.
You what? Andrew could barely believe his ears, staring at his wife.
Whats so shocking? she shrugged. Were now in the same boatwell, the same position. Funny, isnt it? All those years of emptiness and nowtwo lives at once. They say misfortune never comes alone. Happiness doesnt either.
Outside, the first spring thunderstorm rolled in, tearing the day into pieces.
Dont linger, Emily leaned in, kissing his forehead, a simple, ordinary gesture. Ive called a taxi, sent my things. Sign the divorce papers when youre betterwhere else to rush?
Emily
You know, she paused at the door, turning back, I truly loved you. To the point of madness, of trembling and now its like Ive let it go. Like a breath of air. Thank you, truly.
She closed the door quietly. A faint scent of her perfume lingeredthe same shed given him each anniversary.
Andrew stared out at the spring storm, rain mixing with the early March snow, in a quiet English town where two women now bore his children in their hearts. Two different worlds, yet oddly alike. Two paths, one story.
He thought, I wonder if the children will be friends, or if theyll share everything.
