The Broken by Tamar Cohen

could snap like dry twigs. She’d lost weight in just two days, if that was possible. It was like holding a ghost.
    ‘I’m sorry.’ Even Sasha’s voice seemed to have lost weight, sounding fainter and less robust. ‘I shouldn’t have turned on you.’
    ‘No, it’s my fault. I should have told you straight away. I should never have promised Josh to keep quiet.’
    The two women made their way into the living room and sat down curled up at opposite ends of the sofa.
    ‘Feels weird knowing Dan was probably right here just a few hours ago,’ said Sasha. Her face, Hannah now saw, was pinched like a pastry edge and there were greasy violet smudges under her eyes.
    ‘I can’t imagine.’
    ‘I keep thinking it’s all just a dream, you know, or some kind of misunderstanding and any minute he’s just going to rock up with his key in the door.’
    ‘Well, he has tried to come round a couple of times.’
    ‘No, he hasn’t.’
    ‘Really? I’m sure he said he—’
    ‘The thing is, though, I’ve been Googling this a lot and I do think this is just a phase Dan’s going through.’
    ‘You’ve Googled it?’
    ‘Yes, you’d be amazed how many forums and chat rooms there are for people whose husbands or wives have left them out of the blue. They call it being “blindsided”. Anyway, they all seem to think this is a stupid phase he’s going through. It’s called “being in the fog”. That’s why I’m feeling a bit better about it. So he had a fling with some bimbo? He’s not the first person to have a mid-life crisis. That isn’t to say I wouldn’t wring his bloody neck. Sometimes I feel I’d like to just . . . I don’t know . . . smash his smug face in.’
    Sasha pounded her little fist into the sofa in demonstration and, despite herself, Hannah stifled a smile.
    ‘But the thing is, I miss the bastard,’ Sasha went on. ‘I miss him so much it’s like a physical hurt. I always said I’d never forgive a man who cheated, but the truth is she probably threw herself at him. Girls always do with Dan. You must have noticed that. And he was weak. So I’ve decided to take him back.’
    Hannah’s face must have betrayed her confusion because Sasha went on, ‘I know you probably think I’m mad. But I’ve seen first hand what divorce does to families and I won’t let it happen to my daughter.’
    For a moment, Hannah thought Sasha was about to open up about what had happened to her as a child, after her parents split up, but instead her voice rose as she repeated, ‘I won’t allow our family to break apart.’
    By now Sasha’s dainty features had taken on an unfamiliar intensity Hannah found quite unsettling. She felt nonplussed. As far as she knew, it was Dan who’d left Sasha, and yet here was Sasha talking about forgiveness and taking him back. Had she perhaps missed something – a conversation between the two of them that neither had seen fit to disclose?
    ‘Anyway,’ said Sasha, her expression suddenly relaxing, ‘he doesn’t know it yet but he’s going to spend the rest of his life making it up to me in exotic holidays and extortionate jewellery!’
    The laugh that followed came out more like a sob, and Hannah melted, realizing with a pang how strong her friend was having to be and how much it must be costing her to hold it together.
    ‘You’re doing so well, Sash. I’d be a basketcase if it was me. Oh shit!’ She had a sudden realization. ‘What’s the time? We’re going to be late picking up the girls. September’s at nursery, isn’t she?’
    Now it was Sasha who looked confused.
    ‘September. You must have taken her in quite late. I waited ages to see if you’d come.’
    ‘Oh fuck!’ Sasha leapt up as if the sofa had suddenly burst into flames. ‘September! She’s in the car. I completely forgot. She was asleep when we left, so I carried her into the back of the car.’
    Hannah held the door open while Sasha sprinted down the front path, reappearing a minute or so later