“Do you want to share a bbq chicken and chips?”
“Yes, that sounds good.”
Cal pulls a chair out for me at the kitchen table as he dials the number to order the food.
Sitting on the hard leather chair, my bottom pinches a little as the ghost of him inside me still lingers, sending a twinge of the ecstasy he gave me straight to my centre.
“When did Priya and the girls move?”
He sits opposite, placing the phone on the table. “Two weeks ago now. It’s been planned for three months. I've been sorting everything out and trying to get a job over there.”
“I hope you’ll be happy, Cal.”
“I’ll be happy when I get to Australia, and I can hold my girls again.”
“It might be a fresh start for us.”
“I want you to be happy, Steph. That’s why I left work, but I know you’re not happy, or you wouldn’t keep showing up here.”
“I’ve spent a lifetime with Justin. We've shared things, a lifetime of things, since we married fifteen years ago. I do care about him, but I'm so tied to you, even though we only knew each other intimately for a year.”
“We’ve known each other for 35 years, Steph. Since we were five. We shared a lot of moments, not just when we were together.”
“You'd think I would have moved on. Why can't I move on, Cal?”
“Perhaps you can when I go to Sydney.”
“Perhaps.” I slump on the table, letting my shoulders drop.
“I got you something. I was gonna hand it into work for you tomorrow before I left.”
“What is it?”
He disappears into the living room and returns with a gift. “It’s for your birthday next month.”