‘Why don’t I take the girls to the park this morning?’ he told Kate when they woke up on Saturday. ‘You could have a nice long bath or go and get your nails done, and then we can meet at the usual café for brunch together.’
‘That would be lovely,’ she said. ‘Thanks, Pete.’
In the playground he watched as the two girls ran around together, racing over the equipment and flying down the slides on their bellies. He looked around at all the other dads who were on Saturday morning parent duty while their wives did chores, worked or met with friends. He was one of them too, he realised, and it really wasn’t that bad. So, he didn’t have sex with his wife anymore, but all couples struggled with that after kids. They just needed to start making an effort again and this week had proven that they could still get along and enjoy each other’s company with a bit of effort. It had to stop now, he decided, he’d had his fun and now it was time to concentrate on his marriage. He had too much to lose.
As he was pushing Lily and Maggie on the swings, his phone beeped. He pulled it out of his pocket and read the WhatsApp message.
Bonjour stranger. I’m back from France and I can’t wait to see you. Wednesday? Xx
He quickly pocketed the phone and concentrated on pushing the girls. But already he was imagining being in Claire’s flat and the need to see her was instant. Feeling all his resolve from just minutes ago dissolving he tried to ignore the urge to reply.
‘Come on, girls,’ he said. ‘Time to go and meet Mummy for brunch.’
That evening, as he was reading a bedtime story to Maggie, he heard his phone beep again in his pocket. Kissing his daughter goodnight, he stepped out of the room and scanned the message.
You okay? Xx
Once again he put the phone back in his pocket and went downstairs to help Kate make dinner. He could feel it burning a hole in his jeans and he desperately tried to forget about it. ‘Shall we watch a film on Netflix tonight?’ he asked Kate.
‘Sounds good,’ she replied.
‘And maybe an early night?’ he ventured, raising his eyebrows at her suggestively.
‘Not tonight, Pete,’ she said without hesitation. Then looking at him she added: ‘Wrong time of the month.’
‘Fair enough,’ he replied. ‘Netflix it is.’
By Monday he still hadn’t replied to Claire. She had sent him one more message on Sunday.
Pete, I’m worried now, is everything okay?
He knew he couldn’t ignore her forever, he would have to face up to it sooner or later and it should probably be sooner in case she did something stupid like try to call him when Kate was around. On his way into work he typed out a quick message to her.
Sorry, Claire, busy weekend. Are you free this evening? We need to talk.
Her reply came quickly.
Sounds ominous. Okay, see you later.
The day dragged on and on and he struggled to concentrate on anything else. By the time he was ready to leave for Claire’s flat he was feeling nervous but resigned. He knew what he had to do. Taking a deep breath, he knocked on the door of her flat. She answered in a silk dressing gown, despite only having been home for twenty minutes herself. ‘Hi, Pete, I was just about to take a bath, fancy joining me?’
She wasn’t going to make this easy for him. ‘No thanks, Claire, can we go and sit down?’
‘Sure,’ she replied. She curled up on the sofa, wrapping her long legs underneath her and looked at him expectantly.
‘How was France?’ he asked, putting off the inevitable for a few more minutes.
‘Oh it was glorious,’ she said, her face lighting up. ‘I was nervous about going to my dad’s house but with Michael with me it gave me the strength I needed to rip off the plaster and open that front door. And when I was in there I felt… I don’t know… sad of course but also excited. Michael was excited too, he said the place had so much potential. And of course we spent lots of time drinking wine, eating far too much bread and cheese and coming up with ideas for the house. It was lovely.’
‘Great,’ he said, feeling anything but great.
‘How about you? Good week?’ she asked.
‘Yes, fine thanks. Look, Claire, I’ve been thinking. What I’m doing… it’s wrong and it’s unfair to my family. Clearly Kate and I have our issues – this whole thing wouldn’t have started if we didn’t – but I’ve had time to think while you’ve been away and we need to stop this. I adore you, you know I do, you’re an amazing woman and if I’d met you in another lifetime, things would be different. I’m sorry.’
‘Okay.’ She shrugged.
He wasn’t sure what he’d been expecting but it wasn’t this. ‘Are you okay?’ he asked.
‘Sure, Pete, I’m fine,’ she said and smiled at him. Why wasn’t she more pissed off? Shouldn’t she be crying or raging at him? She seemed so cool with it.
‘So, I’ll see you at work?’ he asked.
‘Yep, see you at work. I’m off for my
