'Why are you hanging on to these kitchen blinds?' I asked Dad.
'They might come in handy one day,' he said.
I gazed at the heap of junk that filled the garage. Apart from the blinds, there were piles of books, a stack of CDs and old VHS videos, and a collection of dusty board games.
There were pots of left- over paint, plus gardening and DIY equipment, old kettles and broken laptops and – oh, I could go on!
I'd forgotten about the extent of my widowed dad's hoarding habit.
He looked shame- faced. 'Sorry love.'
I'd rent a storage unit instead...I hadn't anticipated moving back home at this mid- life stage. Well, he had a spare room and it was nearer to work for me.
I worked as a receptionist at a dental surgery.
At weekends, I didn't have the inclination for housework, so it was a good job that Dad had a cleaner. Audrey was a decade younger than Dad - red- haired, cheerful and efficient.
I sighed. I hadn't expected to be a 'silver splitter' – that's a fancy media term for couples over the age of 50 who had broken up.
I thought back to when James and I had first met...
***
James, a vet, was on the verge of getting engaged to someone else.
We begun chatting at the local Am Dram group.
The group usually went for a drink after rehearsals, but in the pub, James and I drifted towards our own table.
At the time, he'd lived with a woman called Ella for around fifteen years. She was a personal trainer.
He showed me a pic of him and Ella on his phone – it was a silly snap, taken in their kitchen, with them grinning over a plate of pasta. They looked happy, but...
'That was taken a long time ago,' James muttered.
Ella was slim, pretty, freckled- faced and brown- haired. James told me she was always in the gym.
'I suppose I'd better propose,' he announced glumly.
'If you don't mind me saying, it doesn't sound as if you want to,' I remarked.
He pulled a face. 'She's been dropping hints.'
One thing led to another between us, so he split from Ella.
When we found a riverside apartment, busy with setting up home, we temporarily bid farewell to the Am Dram group.
We were in our late forties, and as we'd hadn't married, I hoped for a whirlwind engagement and wedding.
'I wouldn't push him into it Bel, if I were you,' my colleague Amy had advised. 'Let's face it, he wasn't keen on committing to his ex, was he?'
It was a fair point but he was with me now, not Ella. Yet I kept my counsel. Amy was turning into a good friend.
Well, James and I had our careers to focus on. We often worked extra hours.
Time passed and sadly, intimacy wasn't the priority it should have been.
Tired and stressed, James went to bed early.
***
When James announced that he wanted a separation, it came as a shock.
'Do you want me to move out?' I asked.
He shook his head. 'There's an empty flat above the vet's. I can stay there for the time being.'
I blinked back tears. 'Do you still love me, James?'
He hesitated. 'I think so.'
I nodded. 'I think so' was better than an outright no. It gave me hope.
When he packed, I told myself that he just needed time out.
In a few weeks, I mused, he'll return with a rueful grin and admit to missing his home comforts - the river view, my cooking, and his office.
***
He didn't. James stopped answering my calls and texts. But I needed to talk to him about an unexpected bill.
The flat didn't have a landline apparently and he wasn't on social media, either.
I'd visited James's flat in the evening, but strangely there were no lights on and there wasn't a reply from the Intercom.
He was clearly out – but where had he gone? Had he re-joined the Am Dram group?
I didn't know what to do!
I could hardly storm into the vets and demand to see him.
Even if I did.. what if he was in the middle of an operation? I'd look a fool as I took a seat in the waiting area with a clutch of clients.
Eventually, I rang the vet's, only be told by a receptionist that she'd pass the message on to James.
The subtle tone was – don't pester us again, please Miss Crawford!
I sensed something amiss.
***
'You keep on nagging, Bella. Look, I'll have a clear out when I'm good and ready.' Dad adjusted his tie in the mirror.
Irritation pricked. 'Hoarders always say that.'
He was dressed smart and I wondered if, instead of going to a pub darts night, he was actually seeing Audrey.
She was single, too. I couldn't blame him. We all needed company, didn't we?
'See you later, love. Don't wait up.' He trotted off, whistling.
I switched the TV on, ready for my favourite house hunting programme.
James and I had enjoyed watching this, too. Oh, how had our relationship dissolved beyond repair?
When my mobile rang, my spirit soared. It was James!
'Hi Bel. I'm ringing about the furniture.'
I was taken aback. 'Furniture?'
'My flat is missing the bare essentials. I wondered if we could come to some kind of arrangement? You're living with your dad, so you don't need a washing machine or a fridge freezer, do you?'
His bare- faced cheek took my breath way.
'It's all in storage, James.' In the background, I thought I heard a muffled woman's voice.
'Well, if I had it, you wouldn't need to pay the storage company fees,' he concluded chirpily.
'I guess not.'
The next day at work, I relayed the conversation to Amy, over lunch in a quiet cafe.
'There's no point dwelling on it, Bel. Move on. See it as a new start,' she urged.
'Hmm. I think he's secretly seeing someone.' I blurted it out without thinking.
Amy thought for a moment. 'You need to confront him about this other woman.'
I sighed. 'Why bother causing a fuss? I'm emotionally drained.'
'But surely you'd like to know why he's kept it secret? I mean, how long has this affair been going on?'
My mind flew back to the lack of intimacy, those early nights...he'd probably been talking to her on his phone.
So I took Amy's advice and rung him.
He finally fessed up. 'Yes, I've gone back to Ella. We're - er engaged.'
'Right.'
I should have known. They'd looked so content in that pasta snap.
He apologised for the deceit, but to be honest, I was past caring. Then I realised that I'd stopped loving him.
Three months later, Amy's taken me on as a lodger. I've re-joined my Am dram group, too!
Oh, and I discovered that Dad was seeing Audrey - they're a couple now.
I'm pleased for them. I just hope, as a neat freak, that she can get cracking clearing out his garage...
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