He’s leaving HOME

Reminders of him were everywhere – but Jenny knew it was time to let go

How am I going to get used to this?’ Jenny sighed as her friend Isabel arrived and put down her bags.

Jenny felt as if she’d been rattling around the house all morning. Even her eight-year-old Siamese cat Mikita seemed out of sorts and was complaining loudly. Like Jenny, she also found change difficult.

‘The house must feel empty without Antony,’ said Isabel, hugging her.

Jenny looked around. There were reminders of him everywhere – from the scenic photos taken on his backpacking holiday in Europe last year to the old trainers outside the back door. And she kept finding odd socks in the washing basket. Once, they had annoyed her. Now they felt like old friends.

Isabel smiled sympathetically. ‘But it won’t be empty for the next few days,’ she continued. ‘I’m staying to keep you company.’

Isabel had driven down to Cornwall in response to Jenny’s phone call. She was taking a week off from her job in advertising, and the prospect of a few days away from the busy metropolis had appealed to her. Jenny’s comfortable thatched cottage with its rambling garden would make a nice change to her small apartment in Notting Hill.