She could feel her grip on her wineglass loosening as her hands became sweaty. She watched the glass as it trembled due to the shaking of her hand. She didn't even bother to try and reassure herself; her mind had became blank with apprehension and dread of what was going to happen.

When Sandy had said 'We need to talk' the tone of his voice had shaken her to the very bone; she realised she had pushed him too far. And now she watched his car pull up the drive and stop. The door opened and Sandy climbed out; a single tear rolled down her face: how could she have hurt so badly someone she loved so much?

Sandy opened the front door and stood there for a few seconds, taking a deep breath and wondering how he had arrived at this situation; when he had married Kirsten, she had been perfect. They had both loved the unlikeliness of their marriage: she had been rich, beautiful, popular, clever and living the kind of charmed existence Sandy had stopped dreaming about only a few years before. He also was handsome, popular and clever but on a completely different level. It had been an unwritten rule that the two different societies remained separate and lived their lives without being involved in each other. When Sandy and Kirsten had fallen in love, the situation hadn't been unlike Romeo and Juliet.

Sandy wondered whether fate had plagued them all along like it had with the love of the fictional couple. However the fact that Romeo and Juliet's love never wavered and was so strong that they eventually died for each other made him realise their love was on a very different path to destruction. He closed the door and walked into the kitchen.

He said nothing when he saw her. She didn't want to look at his face; his emotions were always easy to read and she knew the look he wore at that moment would probably be enough to break her heart with guilt.

'Sandy' she whispered. She spoke pleadingly, begging him not to say what she dreaded. When he didn't reply she spoke again:

'I'm so sorry. I love you, I was just….' He suddenly looked at her and she turned away, flinching as if she had been hit.

'That's what you always say. And then you go and do something else. It's as if you're trying to destroy me, Kirsten. Is that what you're trying to do? Trying to break me right down? Because you're doing well so far.'

'No' she gasped, as her body jerked with a sob. Suddenly a thought shot through her numb brain:

'It's not as if you didn't hurt me, Sandy. All that with Rebecca. You lied to me; you said nothing happened, but you kissed her, Sandy. You kissed her'. She knew this argument was pathetic and could feel his eyes burning into her.

'I lied to you?' his voice was soft. 'How many times have you lied to me, Kirsten? Maybe I was just playing you at your own game. First there was Jimmy- he kissed you, and I heard about it from him instead of you? Oh yes, that hurt. But it was nothing compared to this thing with Carter.'

'We kissed, yes, but that was it. It was just the same as Ji…' she stopped, realising she was speaking his point herself. Sandy saw this, and wondered whether she was now beginning to understand he had been through.

'No it wasn't just a kiss. I'm not blind, I'm not stupid. You were obsessed with him Kirsten; and it is bloody difficult- and absolutely pointless- trying to keep a marriage going when one member is in love with someone else.'

Kirsten had known this confrontation was going to be bad, but the guilt and pain she felt she felt then exceeded all expectations. In her mind she knew that she had not at all been in love with Carter- it had partially been revenge for the jealousy and hurt she had felt about Rebecca. Another thing, which she could not possibly explain to Sandy, was that somehow she had used Carter as a kind of replacement for Sandy- she missed Sandy so hugely that she wanted Carter to be him in her mind. Sandy was having his own inner battles. He loved this woman so much but after a year of hoping things would readjust, and realising they never would, he knew he couldn't continue in the same way.

'I love you.' She pleaded with him to believe her. She didn't know how to prove it any longer.

'Well that doesn't seem to be enough any more.' He said. She was sobbing openly, her slight body rocking back and forth.

'No,Sandy, please..' she turned an anguished face to meet his: 'Please' she said in a louder voice that was racked with pain.

'I have to think, Kirsten. I don't know what to do. I can't continue to be hurt like this. I need to think…' he put his head in his hands. After another silent pause, he straightened and, not looking in her direction, walked out of the room.

Kirsten watched him go and, to her surprise, a new determination flooded her mind. Their marriage was held together by a strand of thread. She would let Sandy think as much as he needed, but she was not going to lose the only man she loved.