I drifted home for supper, the meal Emily was conjuring in the kitchen that night. I wanted to speak to her, a conversation that felt as heavy as fog, and I began with, I have something to tell you She didnt answer; she turned back to the pots, and I saw a flicker of pain behind her eyes.
I needed to keep the talk going, so I blurted out that we should part ways. She asked simply, Why? I couldnt meet the question, and it slipped away from me.
In a burst of fury she threw a tantrum, hurling anything she could reach at me. Youre no proper man, she shouted. There was nothing left to say. I went to bed, lying awake while her sobs echoed through the room. Explaining the collapse of our marriage seemed impossible; I didnt know how to tell her I no longer loved her, that only pity remained, that I had given my heart to Jane.
The next morning I prepared all the paperwork for divorce and the split of our assets. I left Emily the house, the car, and thirty percent of the shares in my Londonbased tech firm. She smirked, tore the documents to shreds, and declared she wanted nothing from me. Then she began to weep again. A pang of regret for ten years together rose in me, but her reaction only sharpened my resolve to end it.
That evening I arrived home late, skipped dinner, and fell straight onto the bed. Emily sat at the table, scribbling something. In the dead of night I awoke to find her still writing, hunched over the desk. I felt indifferent; the intimacy that once bound our souls had vanished.
At dawn she told me she had conditions for the divorce. She insisted we preserve a cordial relationship for as long as we could. Her argument was compelling: in a month their son Harry would have his school exams, and she feared the news would unsettle his nerves. I could not argue. Her second demand seemed absurd: for a whole month I was to carry her out of the bedroom each morning, cradling her to the doorstep as a reminder of the night I first brought her into my home.
I said nothing, feeling detached. At work I mentioned the request to Jane, who replied with a sarcastic grin, Thats just your wifes feeble attempt to pull you back into the family. The first day I lifted Emily, I felt awkward. We became strangers to each other. Harry spotted us and cheered, Dad is carrying Mum! Emily whispered, Dont say anything to him I set her down by the front door, and she shuffled off toward the bus stop.
The second day the ritual felt more natural. I noticed, for the first time, the fine lines around her eyes and a few silver strands in her hair. How could I ever repay the warmth she had poured into our marriage?
A tiny spark ignited between us, growing brighter with each passing day. I also sensed Emily becoming lighter, as if her weight were slowly lifting. I kept silent to Jane.
On the final day, just as I was about to hoist Emily, I found her by the wardrobe, lamenting how much she had slimmed down lately. She truly had lost a great deal of weight. Was she mourning our bond? Harry burst in, asking when Papa would carry Mum again, as if it were a family tradition. I lifted her, feeling exactly as I had on our wedding night. She slipped her arms around my neck, barely touching. The only thing that unsettled me was her diminishing mass.
I set her down, grabbed the car keys, and fled to the office. Meeting Jane, I told her I didnt want the divorce, that our feelings had cooled only because wed stopped caring for each other. Jane slapped me hard and ran off, tears streaking her face.
I realized I wanted to see Emily more than anything. I bolted out of the building, bought the most splendid bouquet at the florist on Oxford Street, and when the clerk asked what to write on the card, I replied, It will be my joy to carry you in my arms forever.
I returned home, heart light, smile tugging at my lips, and raced up the stairs to the bedroom. Emily lay on the bedshe was dead.
Later I learned she had fought bravely against cancer for months, never saying a word to me because I was lost in my affairs with Jane. Emily was a remarkably wise woman; she had invented those bizarre divorce conditions so I wouldnt become a monster in Harrys eyes.
May my strange dreamlike tale help someone keep their family together. Many give up without knowing they are only a step away from salvation.
