The Marriage Act(67)

‘That doesn’t sound too bad,’ said Luca.

‘I haven’t got to the best bit yet.’ Noah ceased to temper his tone. ‘Now imagine a woman old enough to be my grandmother reading from a list and asking me if I’m a “top or a bottom” and whether we’ve tried “S and M”, “watersports” or “rimming” to spice up our sex life? Then imagine her turning the computer monitor around to show me artists’ illustrations of suggested sex positions. Does that still not sound “too bad”?’

‘Oh my God,’ said Luca, covering his face with his hands. Jeffrey couldn’t be sure but Luca appeared more amused than annoyed.

‘I wanted the ground to open up and swallow me.’

‘Why did she do that?’

‘Because to remain on the Sanctity of Marriage Act’s five hundred Best Businesses list and get more Government funding, the hospital has to be seen to be providing a duty of care to their staff. Divorcees have a negative impact on their reputation and, these days, no one wants to work for a company that can’t look after its own, even if it’s in the old part of town. It’s why they organize those bloody awful mandatory family fun days every summer. If they slip off that list, they’ll get even less funding.’

‘I am sorry the work we’re doing here has had such a negative impact on you,’ said Jeffrey, ‘but I’m sure that HR is just following protocol.’

‘What did you tell her?’ Luca asked Noah.

‘That it wasn’t a conversation I wanted to have, and I asked to leave. She didn’t try and stop me.’ Noah looked to Jeffrey, as if daring him to scold him. ‘Well?’ he asked.

‘Well what, Noah?’ Jeffrey replied.

‘This is usually the part where you accuse me of something . . . Bullying, gaslighting, lying, emasculating . . . they’re normally top of your list of criticisms.’

‘You were perfectly entitled to respond to your HR department however you saw fit,’ Jeffrey said.

‘I sense a “but” coming.’

‘There’s no “but”. However . . .’

‘“However” is no different to a “but”.’

‘However, your employers will be asked to submit a report on the support offered and the response received. Your resistance will probably be noted.’

‘Babe,’ Luca exhaled and moved his hands to his brow. ‘Why couldn’t you play along?’

‘Would you have?’

‘Yes! I’d probably have died a little inside but we need to get through this any way we can. If everyone is telling us we have problems then we have to be open to the possibility our marriage might not be as perfect as we thought it was.’

Now it was Jeffrey’s turn to suppress a smile.

‘No marriage is perfect!’ Noah replied. ‘I don’t want a perfect relationship, I don’t want us to have identical viewpoints, I just want the relationship we used to have before he came along.’

‘It’s not Jeffrey’s fault.’

‘Before this gets too heated, there’s something I need to bring up with you both,’ Jeffrey interrupted. ‘As you were made aware, Beccy has temporarily withdrawn her offer to be your surrogate. I’ve also been informed that she has now been placed back upon the Government-approved surrogate list searching for intended parents.’

‘She’s replacing us?’ asked Luca.

‘She has been given the option since you’ve been removed from the process.’

‘Removed?’ he repeated.

‘Were you not aware? I believe an email was sent to Noah yesterday.’

Luca’s muscles tensed as he turned to Noah. ‘Did you know about this?’

Noah nodded. ‘Yes. I read it this morning.’

‘And you didn’t tell me?’

‘We aren’t supposed to be talking to one another as per Jeffrey’s Positive Disengagement bullshit.’

‘You mean you thought it’d sound better coming from him. Or did you keep it quiet to ease your conscience because you know that by fighting this process every step of the way, you’re making things worse? You keep blaming Jeffrey but he’s trying to save us from ourselves. Only you’re too stubborn to see it.’

Noah opened his mouth to respond but thought better of it. Instead, the two men drifted into another stifling silence as Jeffrey’s fingers glided lightly across the tablet’s screen, pretending to update his notes.





50


Corrine




Days had passed since Corrine and Mitchell had acknowledged each other’s presence in the house. When one walked into a room, the other exited. Their housekeeper Elena made different meals at different times for them. If Corrine ate in the kitchen-diner, he ate in the den. Their children had the same conversations with them twice over.

‘How long is this going on for?’ asked Freya. She found her mother in the utility room folding clothes from a tumble dryer. She passed her a bundle.

‘Until it’s empty,’ Corrine deadpanned.

‘You know what I mean. You and dad. You’ve had arguments before but they don’t normally drag on as long as this. He looks totally pissed off all the time.’