Three Men On Tour: 8

Of course, Jamie was easy. The real challenge lay at home. The next morning, I decided to raise the subject over the breakfast table.

“So I got another email from Harry yesterday.“

“You spend all of your time chatting to Harry at work. I thought you were going to speak to Jamie. The amount of work he’s making you do, you should walk into his office and insist he either gives you twice the money or half the load.“

“It’s funny you should mention that,“ I said, “because…“

“We could certainly do with the money,“ Alicia continued. “We only just get by on what we have.“

“We get by fine,“ I said, surprised. We had a nice enough lifestyle. It wasn’t caviar every night, but it wasn’t cup-a-soup either.

“We do now,“ pointed out Alicia. “But things change. What if we decided to move?“

“Why would we want to move?“ I asked, confused. “You love this flat.“

“We might decide to move. We won’t always be happy with three rooms and a view of the allotments. What if we want more space?“

“What for? We never have people round. Most nights we just sprawl in front of the TV on the sofa. You used to tell me that more space is just more to clean.“

Alicia paused. She was obviously thinking about something. “Ian, where do you think we’re going?“

I wasn’t sure what to say. ‘The Cotswolds’ didn’t seem like the answer she was looking for.

“I don’t know,“ I said eventually.

“But we’re doing alright, aren’t we?“

“Well, yeah, I think.“ I mentally checked things over. I couldn’t think of anything we were struggling with. I wondered if Alicia was trying to break up with me. A mental chill passed over me as I tried to think of any of the conversations we’d had where she’d mentioned guys from the office. “We are alright, aren’t we?“ I asked, slightly dreading the answer.

Alicia chewed a loose thread of hair thoughtfully before answering. Then she brightened. “Of course we are,“ she said. “I’m just being silly.“

“Oh, okay,“ I said wondering what I was missing this time. But by then it was too late to ask.