The Way We Were by Sinéad Moriarty

just wasn’t enough for him. He needed something else. He wanted more. Maybe he was selfish, but he couldn’t help how he felt. His life seemed mundane and monotonous. He needed this trip.
    ‘I can’t really explain it. Maybe it’s turning forty-five – I don’t know. But this opportunity has come at the right time. I’m excited about it. I haven’t felt that in a while.’
    Alice rolled her eyes. ‘I suppose a week in Eritrea is better than an affair.’
    ‘It’ll be totally safe. We’ll be very well cared for. After all, we’ll be operating on a senior government official.’
    ‘Make sure you don’t kill him.’ Alice walked back towards the kitchen.
    ‘I will.’
    ‘Oh, and Ben?’ Alice turned around. ‘You can leave your mid-life crisis in Eritrea. I want a happy husband after this trip.’

Ben
    As Ben packed, Alice sat on the bed and watched him. ‘Call me every day. I’ll be worried.’
    ‘I will. Listen, why don’t we go on a trip when I get back? Christmas isn’t too far off. We could go somewhere nice. How about Paris? I know it’s your favourite place and we haven’t been for so long.’
    ‘That would be nice.’
    ‘Paris, here we come!’ Ben leant down to kiss her.
    ‘Why are you talking about Paris? OMG, you’re so gross. Stop kissing – it’s embarrassing. Old people should never kiss.’ Jools stood in the doorway, hands on hips, wearing her favourite bright pink tracksuit with ‘Babe’ emblazoned across the front in some kind of sparkly writing. It was appalling, but Kevin had bought it for her so Ben wasn’t allowed to criticize.
    No one was allowed to criticize Kevin, except Alice. Even when Kevin had got drunk and tried to shove his tongue down the throat of Clive Hetherington, a friend of Ben who was about as straight as it was possible to be, Ben hadn’t been permitted to say anything. Alice said that ‘poor Kevin’ was having a hard time meeting a nice man and he was upset and confused. He wasn’t confused: he was the horniest gay man Ben had ever met.
    Alice said Kevin’s ‘enthusiasm’ was because he’d grown
up suppressing his gayness and only come out when he’d moved to London so he had a lot of years to catch up on. Ben pointed out, reasonably, that he could do all the catching up he wanted, just not with his heterosexual friends. Kevin was, as it were, barking up the wrong tree. Alice said he was unsympathetic and needed to be kinder to him. Ben said no more, but decided to keep his friends away from his brother-in-law in future.
    ‘I thought it would be nice for us to go on a family holiday. So when I get back from Eritrea, we’ll fix up a trip to Paris.’
    ‘I still can’t believe you’re missing my birthday,’ Jools said.
    Ben went over to his sulky-faced daughter. ‘I promise to make it up to you with a huge present.’
    ‘How huge?’
    ‘Hugely huge.’ Ben hugged his daughter. He felt brilliant. He couldn’t wait to get on the plane. Everything looked brighter this morning. He must have been suffering from mild depression: he felt light and full of energy.
    ‘Well, I’m amazing so I deserve a huge present. Besides, turning sixteen is a big deal. I can’t wait for my party next weekend.’
    ‘I’m so sorry, Jools, it looks like I’ll miss that too.’
    Jools rolled her eyes. ‘I’m actually glad you’re away for it. I’m having my seven best friends for a sleepover and I don’t need you coming in and checking up on us every five minutes and saying really embarrassing things, like “One Direction rock.” ’
    Ben grinned at her. At almost sixteen, Jools had already decided he was an embarrassment. It seemed like only
yesterday when she’d climb onto his lap and ask him to read her stories.
    ‘Don’t be rude to your father or there’ll be no sleepover and no Paris.’ Alice’s arms were crossed and she was pacing.
    ‘Relax, Mum, you don’t have to jump down my throat. I know you’re worried about Dad going to Erimea or