Bad Day at the Office?

Max dropped his briefcase on the floor by the hall table, took off his jacket and sighed. It was good to be home. The house was silent so he guessed that Ceri was probably down in her studio at Bron and Ed’s.

He walked through to the bedroom, threw off his clothes and took a refreshing shower. Dressed in shorts and a t-shirt, he wandered into the kitchen, rubbing his hair dry with a towel. He took a cold beer out of the fridge and went out to the back patio.

He stopped when he saw Ceri, fast asleep on a lounger. Turning round, he headed back into the kitchen, replacing the unopened beer and grabbing a bottle of chilled wine instead. He went back outside and placed the ice bucket containing the bottle on the bistro table along with the glasses.

Ceri woke at the sound of chinking crystal and smiled when she saw Max pouring her a drink. “Hello, darling. How long have you been home?”

“Long enough to have a shower and change,” Max replied, kissing her soundly before handing her a full glass. He sank into a chair next to her, shut his eyes and sighed once again.

“Bad day at the office, Love?”

“Well, not exactly bad, I’d call it a sad day more than anything.”

“Want to talk about it?”

“Terry dropped in this morning.”

“Oh, it’s good to hear he’s getting out and about.”

“He came in to settle his affairs.”

“Max, you make it sound as if he’s dying or something. What happened?”

“He’s taken his name off the joint account with M and opened up a personal account in his name only.”

“Ah, I guess that’s the right thing to do. How did he work out how to split the balance?”

“He told me to split it 50-50.”

“Wow. That was generous of him.”

“I think it’s his way of making a clean break. We went for a bite to eat and he said that now he’s done some work on Toni’s old place, he’s going to pop round to see her and Travis to make an offer on the place.”

“I think that’s a good idea. He’d already told her he would like the option to buy didn’t he. It will be a nice new start for him. Maybe when he’s feeling a bit better we can give him a housewarming dinner.”

“That would be nice, just a few friends rather than a big party. I think it will be quite a while before he feels like letting his hair down.”

“Well, my love, it sounds like you took good care of Terry today, so now it’s my turn to take care of you. Come inside and let me take away your work-day stress.”

Max smiled as he jumped up to follow Ceri to their bedroom.