Page 38 of Christmas at the Movies
Hehadlistened and felt terrible about the fact that his wife felt so unhappy and unfulfilled. He just felt powerless to do anything about it. The cinema was running him ragged. He’d love to be around more, but it just wasn’t possible. Not if he was to keep the Picture Palace going.
‘We’ll get through this,’ he said. ‘We’ve gone through rough patches before and we’ve got through them together. Like when my dad passed away, or after Nick was born. We’ve always helped each out.’
‘This feels too big to fix,’ replied Sarah sadly. ‘Maybe we should just cut our losses and walk away.’
James didn’t know whether she was talking about the cinema or their marriage. And he was too scared to ask.
‘You’re catastrophising,’ he said. ‘I’m concerned about you, Sarah. You’ve not been yourself lately.’
‘Exactly!’ cried Sarah. ‘That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you. I’ve lost all sense of who I am. I feel … invisible.’
James stared at her in disbelief. How could she feel this way? It didn’t make any sense. Of course she wasn’t invisible. She was the very centre of their family. They all adored her.
‘I think you should go to the doctor,’ suggested James. ‘You’re not sleeping well and you seem angry all the time.’
Sarah laughed humourlessly. ‘When would I even find the time to go to the doctor? I’m too busy ferrying Mum around toherdoctor’s appointments.’
‘I’m worried that your anxiety is back,’ said James.
Sarah slammed her mug down on the counter. ‘Howdareyou psychoanalyse me!’ she shouted. ‘Or pretend that this is all just in my head?’
‘Whoa! That’s not what I meant!’ protested James.
‘I’m not the only one with a problem. This isn’t aboutme, James. It’s aboutus.’
‘I’m just worried about you,’ said James. ‘The last time you were sick, I didn’t realise until too late. I don’t want to make that mistake again. I want to help.’
‘Well, you have an interesting way of showing it,’ said Sarah sarcastically. ‘By creating even more work for me.’
James held up his hands in defeat. ‘Look, if you really don’t want to go to the cinema tonight, I’ll go. It’s just that I promised Holly I would help her with her homework.’
‘No, of course I’ll go. I’ll do what’s needed, just like I always do.’ Sarah put on her coat, grabbed her bag and went out, slamming the door behind her.
Well, I made a complete mess of that,thought James despondently as he started to make dinner. Somehow he had only made things worse.
‘Where’s Mum?’ Nick asked, coming into the kitchen a while later.
‘She’s had to go to the cinema,’ explained James. ‘Someone called in sick, so she’s covering the evening shift.’ He pointed to the carrots. ‘Can you chop these for me, bud? I’m making shepherd’s pie for dinner.’
Nick washed his hands and started cutting the carrots into neat discs.
‘How was school today?’ asked James.
Nick shrugged. ‘I got a hundred per cent on my maths test. We’re doing geometry.’
‘That’s brilliant.’ James picked up one of the carrot discs. ‘Have you learnt how to calculate the circumference of a circle yet?’
‘Two times pi times the radius,’ said Nick flatly without looking up.
James knew something was wrong. ‘What’s up, Nick? I can tell something’s on your mind.’
‘I heard you and Mum fighting,’ said Nick.
James sighed and put down the peeler. ‘I’m really sorry you had to hear that, Nick. Did it make you feel upset?’
Nick nodded, his eyes welling with tears.
James pulled Nick into a hug. ‘You mustn’t worry, OK? Everybody argues sometimes – even people who love each other very much.’
