"What was all that about earlier?"
"Hmm?" She didn't glance up from the journal article, pretending she had no idea what he was talking about.
"At the beach." He prompted. He turned more fully to face her in his position at the opposite end of the settee.
She flipped over a page of the journal, hoping to give off an air of nonchalance. "Nothing happened at the beach."
"Oh come off it Jill!"
Any pretence of normalcy was broken when his sharp tone reached her. She blinked back the tears, determined not to give in to weakness, and forced her voice to steady. "I really don't know what you're talking about Gordon." She was playing a dangerous game, she knew it; Gordon was angry, yet she couldn't bring herself to admit to him, let alone herself, just how scared she'd been on the beach.
"You know what I'm talking about."
His voice was incredibly hard, yet she still pretended to read her journal article.
"How can you sit there and ignore me? Why can't you let me in?" His shout resounded around the room, ringing off the glass-wear long after he had fallen silent. He sat glaring at his wife, his chest heaving, waiting for some show of emotion. He forced his voice to quiet, mindful of the children asleep upstairs. "What's wrong with you? Why can't you be normal and admit when things are bothering you? I knew you were tough when I married you, but this..."
She didn't take her eyes off the paper, yet she absorbed every word. To know that he felt that way about her... That he wanted her to change... to be 'normal'. The pressure of tears was becoming too much, she trembled as she fought to hold them in.
"I don't think I can love this new you." Gordon continued quietly, uttering the words which finally made Jill snap.
"I thought I saw him!" She shouted, whipping her head up to meet her husband's glare.
"The policeman?" Gordon whispered after a long moment of silence.
She nodded, quickly brushing away a tear that had appeared at the corner of her eye. Gordon moved towards her, but she stood up abruptly, surprising him. "I'm going to bed." Her voice was bitter, and she didn't look at him as she stalked out the room.
Gordon stayed in the living room for some time, a sigh escaping him every once in a while, as he tried to figure out just what to do to deal with the mess their lives had become.
Jill meanwhile perched upon the edge of the bath behind the locked bathroom door, breathing deeply, fists clenched, nails digging deeply into the palms of her hands, as she forced herself to gain control of her emotions. She felt sure that someone out there wanted to hurt Gordon, to take him away from her. Little did he know he was succeeding, but in a completely different way.
