Rescuing Rose Read Online Free PDF

'
    'Well… she… she… Mary-Claire
listens
to me, Rose, ' he said with sudden emphasis. 'She hears what I say. You don't. You take everyone else's problems seriously, don't you—but not mine, and would you please put that cloth
down
?
    'There's a nasty mark here, ' I said. 'It's very stubborn. I'll have to try Astonish if this doesn't work. '
    'Will you
stop cleaning
, Rose, for Chrissake!' He snatched the cloth out of my hand and hurled it into the sink with a flaccid slap. 'You're always cleaning things, ' he said. 'That's part of the problem—I can never relax. '
    'I just like things to be shipshape, ' I protested pleasantly. 'No need to snap. '
    'But you're always at it. It's bizarre! If you're not at work or the radio station you're cleaning or tidying, or polishing the furniture, or you're sorting drawers. Or you're colour spectrumming my shirts: or filing stuff away, or you're hoovering the floor, or telling me to hoover. '
    'But it's a very big house. '
    Ed shook his head. 'You can never relax, Rose, can you? You can never just sit and be. Look, ' he added with a painful sigh, 'you and I have got problems. What shall we do?'
    At this my ears pricked up like a husky. Ed was talking my lingo now. This was just like one of my monthly 'Dilemmas' when the readers, rather than me, give advice.
Rose (name changed to protect her identity), has just found her husband Ed (ditto), canoodling with their vertically-challenged marriage guidance counsellor, Mary-Claire Grey. Rose, understandably, feels shocked and betrayed. But, despite this, she still finds her husband desperately, knee-tremblingly, heartbreakingly attractive, so is wondering what to do
. And I was just about to open my mouth when I heard Ed say, 'Maybe we should have a trial separation. ' Separation. Oh. S, e, p, a, r… I reflected as I pulled the knife out of my heart.
    'One is apart, ' I said quietly.
    'What?'
    'One is apart. '
    'Well, yes—we will be. Just for a while. '
    'No, it's the anagram of separation, ' I explained.
    'Oh, ' he sighed. 'I see. But I think we should just have a breather… take a month off. '
    'So that you can shag that midget again?'
    'I haven't shagged her—and she is a not a midget!'
    'Yes you have—and she is!'
    'I have… not… slept with Mary-Claire, ' he insisted.
    'I have a diploma in Advanced Body Language! I
know
!
    'Well, I… '
    'Don't bother to deny it, Ed. '
    He clenched his jaw, as he does when he's cornered, and a small blue vein jumped by his left eye. 'It's just… ' he sighed, 'that I was feeling neglected and she—'
    'Paid you attention I suppose?'
    '
Yes
!' he said defiantly. 'She did. She
talked
to me, Rose. She
communicated
with me. Whereas you only communicate with strangers. That's why I wrote you that letter, ' he added. 'It's the only way I could get a response! You're… neurotic, Rose, ' he snapped, no longer contrite now, but angry. 'Sometimes I think you need help. '
    At that I put my J Cloth down and gave him a contemptuous stare. 'That is ridiculous, ' I said quietly. 'Help is what I provide. '
    'Look, Rose, ' he said exasperatedly, running his left hand through his hair, 'our marriage is not going well. We rushed into it because, being older, we thought we knew what we were doing—but we were wrong. And I found you so vibrant and so attractive, Rose—I still do. But I'm finding it hard to live with you, so for the time being let's give each other some space. '
    'You want more space?'
    'Yes, ' he said. 'Space. '
    'Well you can have
all
the space in the universe, ' I said calmly, 'because I'm going to file for divorce. '
    'Oh, ' he said. I'd shocked him. I think I'd shocked myself. But I knew exactly what 'let's give each other space' really meant, and I was going to be the one to quit first.
    'We'll discuss it tomorrow, ' he added wearily.
    'No, ' I said, ' there's no need. ' I'd been chewing so hard on my lower lip that I could taste the metallic tang of blood.
    'You want to call it a day