**Thursday, 14th September**
I decided to surprise my husband by returning home three hours early from visiting Mum. When I walked into the house, I couldnt hold back the tears.
Emily gazed out of the train window, thinking of her mother. Shed spent three days nursing herendless bowls of soup, spoonfuls of medicine. The fever had only broken yesterday.
*»You could stay another day,»* Mum had said that morning.
*»Roberts on his own at home, Mum. Probably starving by now.»*
Now, swaying in her seat, she wished shed listened. Robert had called every evening, asking after Mum, complaining about the empty fridge. His voice had sounded oddtired, maybe.
*»Miss you,»* hed murmured last night before hanging up.
Emily had smiled then. Thirty-two years married, and he still missed her. A good man, shed always thought.
The woman across from her cracked sunflower seeds, nose buried in a crime novel. On the cover, a glamorous woman clung to a man in a suit. Emily caught her reflection in the windowfine lines, grey roots showing. When had she aged so much?
*»Heading home to your husband?»* the woman asked.
*»Yes.»*
*»Im off to see my lover,»* the woman laughed. *»Husband thinks Im at my sisters.»*
Emily flushed and turned away. How could someone say that so casually?
Her phone buzzed.
*»Hows it going? When are you back?»* Robert had texted.
She checked the time. Four more hours. Shed meant to reply honestly, then changed her mindlet it be a surprise. Shed cook dinner. Hed be pleased.
*»Tomorrow morning. Miss you too,»* she sent.
Robert hearted it instantly.
Fields and cottages blurred past. She sipped tea from the thermos Mum had insisted she take, along with sandwiches. *»Youve gotten thin,»* Mum had fretted. *»That Robert of yours isnt looking after you properly.»*
*»Mum, Im fifty-seven.»*
*»And? Youll always be my girl.»*
Chewing the ham sandwich, Emily thought of Mum, alone in the flat where shed grown up. Dad had died five years ago. Mum refused to move in with them. *»Youve your own life,»* she always said.
But Emily loved caring for peoplefirst her parents, then Robert, then the children. Shed taught briefly, but after Oliver was born, she stayed home. Then came Sophie, and somehow, decades slipped by.
*»Why work?»* Robert had said. *»I earn enough. Keep the house running.»*
So she had. Thirty years of cooking, cleaning, raising children. Oliver lived in Manchester now, with his own family. Sophie was married, a mother herself. And here she wasa grandmother.
What now?
The train slowed. She gathered her things, nodded goodbye to the woman. The station was noisy, crowded. The bus home took half an hour.
She imagined Roberts face when she walked in. He thought shed return tomorrow. Shed stop at Tesco, buy lamb, potatoes, make a proper dinner.
The cashier smiled as she packed the bags. *»Special occasion?»*
*»Just my husband waiting.»*
The bags were heavy. She struggled to the lift, fumbling for her keys.
Finally, the door swung open.
*»Robert? Im home!»*
Silence. Asleep, probably. Nearly ten.
She set the bags down, hung her coat. The lights were onodd. Robert never slept with them on.
Then she froze.
Black heels, polished, elegant, sat by the door. Not hers.
*»Robert?»* she whispered.
A womans laugh floated from the kitchen. Not Sophies voice.
She edged closer.
*»Youre hilarious,»* the woman was saying.
*»Emily wont be back till tomorrow. No rush.»* Roberts voice.
Emilys legs trembled. She leaned against the wall.
*»What if she comes early?»*
*»She wont. Shes always punctual.»*
They laughed.
Emily crept to the kitchen door, slightly ajar.
Robert, in his rumpled shirt, grinning. Opposite hima blonde, thirtyish, in *her* dressing gown. Coffee, cake, chocolates on the table. Robert held her hand.
*»Liz, youre incredible,»* he murmured.
*Liz?*
*»But your wifeyou said you love her.»*
*»I do. But this is different. With you, I feel young again.»*
Emily clutched the doorframe. Thirty-two years. Thirty-two years of trust.
*»Robert,»* she breathed.
They whirled around. Robert paled. Liz jumped up, tightening the gown.
*»Emily? You saidtomorrow»*
*»Who is this?»*
*»Liz. Neighbour. Flat 52.»*
*»Neighbour?»* Emily stared at the woman in her robe. *»In my dressing gown?»*
Liz edged toward the door. *»I should go.»*
*»Stay!»* Emily snapped. *»Explain whats happening!»*
Robert stammered. *»She needed help with a leak. I fixed it. We had coffee»*
*»At midnight?»*
*»It was nine!»*
*»Its one now! Four hours of coffee?»*
Roberts face reddened.
*»Im not stupid, Robert. Thirty-two years. I know when youre lying.»*
He caved. *»Six months. Just talking. Nothing more.»*
*»Six months?»* Emily sank to the floor. *»Six months of kisses goodnight, of I love youswhile you ran to her?»*
*»It wasnt like that»*
*»Enough.»* She pushed past him, grabbed her coat.
*»Where are you going?»*
*»Away. Anywhere but here.»*
Robert, pathetic in his boxers and loose shirt, begged her to stay.
*»Go to your Liz,»* Emily spat. *»Talk about life.»*
The door slammed.
Rain soaked her as she ran. Too late for Sophieshed wake the baby. The last train to Mums had gone.
She called Sarah, her oldest friend.
*»Emily? Whats wrong?»*
*»Can I come over?»*
Sarah listened, then cursed. *»Bastard. All men are bastards.»*
*»I dont know what to do.»*
*»Divorce him.»*
*»Thirty-two years, Sarah.»*
*»Exactly. He thinks youll put up with anything.»*
She lay awake on Sarahs sofa, replaying their life. When had he drifted away? Two years ago? Shed blamed midlife crisis.
Turns out, hed just fallen in love.
Robert called all morning. She ignored him. By evening, he turned up at Sarahs.
*»Its over with Liz,»* he pleaded.
Emily studied himrumpled, desperate. Sincere, maybe. For now.
*»Robert, Im fifty-seven. Maybe its time I lived for myself.»*
*»Were family»*
*»Family respects each other. You havent.»*
She suggested a separation. Time to think.
*»Ill fight for you,»* he said weakly.
*»Well see.»*
After he left, Sarah hugged her. *»Well done.»*
*»Im terrified.»*
*»Good. Means youre being honest.»*
Rain tapped the window. For the first time in days, Emily smiled.
Tomorrow, shed look for work. Visit Mum.
A new life at fifty-seven. Strange, but perhaps not bad.
Robert might change. Or she might realise shes happier alone.
Either way, shell live for herself now, toonot just for others.
The rain kept drumming. Emily exhaled.
It felt like the first real breath in years.
