lights coming to life along the tree lined driveway as she watched for Jasper’s car. Her stomach was growling, other than a slice of toast with her morning coffee she’d had nothing but champagne.
A further hour passed and it was now pitch black apart from the myriad of lights wound around the tree branches and the illuminated fountain by the front door which was casting an eerie wash of silvery-blue across the entrance to the hotel. The bottle of champagne was empty, the minibar had been stripped of nuts and snacks and it took Fliss several attempts to text Jasper and ask how far away he was as she fought against the growing tide of hunger and irritation at his absence.
The response came back quickly, a grovelling apology, an admission that on his return to the house he’d been ‘caught up in something’ but an assurance that he was now on his way and would soon be there, complete with her case. Pulling a face, Fliss held a hand to her stomach, if she didn't eat something soon she would fall over. When Jasper arrived, all he would find would be his comatose wife. Not the romantic evening she had planned.
Waiting another 45 minutes, Fliss sent a further text, slightly less coherent than her last and with several typing errors, demanding to know when he would arrive. The reply took a little longer this time and she had an image of him speeding desperately through the night, trying to make up for lost time. It would be very soon he said, only another hour or so.
Throwing the phone on the bed, Fliss debated whether to order room service and forget about the restaurant reservation. She was hungry and the champagne had gone to her head. At this rate when Jasper finally arrived, she wouldn't be capable of holding a simple conversation with him let alone dissect their marriage. Frowning, she recovered her phone. An hour, he had said, he would be there in an hour. It had taken them an hour to drive here earlier that afternoon which meant, calculated an outraged Fliss, that he was currently still at their home and nowhere near the romantic hotel suite or his wife, the wife he had promised faithfully would be the sole focus of his attention for the entire weekend.
Staring at the phone, Fliss felt the anger begin to grow. Why had she let him leave in the first place, she chastised herself. She should have known the minute she was out of sight, she would also be out of mind. Despite anything he might say to the contrary, her husband didn't want to spend a romantic evening with her talking about their relationship, he didn't want to talk to her at all.
Well, enough was enough. Throwing the bathrobe to the floor and tripping over the empty champagne bottle which went spinning under the bed, Fliss pulled on her leggings and t-shirt. It took several attempts and she ended up with both legs down one legging for a while, hopping around the room as she tried to work out what the problem was. As far as she was concerned, Jasper had just blown his last chance. When he made it back to the hotel, he would find the room empty as she so often had of late and he could sit here and wonder where his wife was and why she hadn't waited for him. Who knew, it might actually make him think about what was going wrong in their lives and with a last regretful look around the beautiful suite, Fliss grabbed her phone and walked out.
FROM: Fliss Carmichael
To: Ellie Henshaw
Date: 17/04/2020
Hi Ellie
I’m so proud of you for putting the record straight with Jeff. It takes tremendous courage to be completely honest but it is kinder to Jeff in the long run, to tell him the truth about how you feel rather than to let him keep hoping. There are few things more debilitating than losing hope.
The next step and I know that you won't want to hear this, is to be equally open with Logan. You shouldn't waste any more time hoping that you’ll bump into each other in the lift, or hanging around football pitches. It seems to me that you've given up a great deal to be with him. Carl was your future and you've changed the course of your destiny because you fell in love with someone else. Make it count for something. Logan