The Half-Life Of Hannah (Hannah series Book 1)
Page 26
Cliff notices her bag now. “What’s in the bag?” he asks.
“Just some clothes. I’m leaving.”
“You’re leaving...” Cliff repeats.
Hannah dumps the bag on the sofa then crosses the room to her husband.
He stands to meet her, his expression a strange mixture of confusion and fear.
“I don’t understand,” he says.
Hannah takes his face between her hands and kisses him on the lips, then wraps her arms around him and hugs him tightly; “I love you Cliff, I do,” she says before releasing him. “But life’s too short for this. I only just worked that out, but life really is too short for this.”
“For what?”
“For all this...” Hannah says, gesturing vaguely. “For all this mucking around.”
She sighs deeply, then squeezes his arms and releases him. She returns to the sofa and hikes the bag over her shoulder.
“I still don’t get it,” Cliff says. “Where are you going?”
“I’m off on my holidays,” she says.
“Your holidays?”
“Yes Cliff. For one week I’m going to do whatever the fuck I fancy. I can only suggest that you do the same.”
As Hannah turns to the front door, Cliff says, “But I want... I mean, I don’t want... Hannah!”
She pulls the door open and steps out onto the porch.
The storm clouds have moved to the east and the setting sun is streaming out from beneath the band of cloud making every wet surface shine with its yellowy light. Steam is rising from the terracotta floor-tiles.
As she reaches the gate, Cliff calls out to her, and she pauses and looks back.
“I don’t understand where you’re going,” Cliff says.
“It’s OK, Cliff,” Hannah tells him. “You don’t need to.”
“But you can’t walk anywhere from here,” Cliff says. “You’re being stupid.”
Hannah wrinkles her nose. “Nah,” she says. “Nah, this isn’t stupid. The last fifteen years have been stupid, but this isn’t. This is fine.”
“Well, wait till Jill gets back at least,” Cliff says. “Wait until tomorrow, and they can drive you somewhere.”
Hannah shakes her head. “Relax Cliff. It’s all going to be OK.”
“But what am I going to do here on my own?” Cliff asks.
“I don’t know. Do whatever you want to do. Call Jean-Jacques on your Grindr thing. Knock yourself out. No one cares anymore.”
“I’m not gay, Hannah,” Cliff says. “I know you think I am, but I’m not.”
“Then Jean-Jacques is perfect,” she says. “He’s not gay either. Enjoy.”
And then she closes the gate behind her and starts to walk along the road, steam rising from the puddles around her.
She’s imagining James’ face when he sees her arrive in the auberge, and that image is, despite all of the trauma, making her smile. She doesn’t know quite what will happen when she gets there, but she trusts that instinct will tell her, that instinct for once, unconstrained by conditioning, or genes, or circumstance will tell her exactly what to do.
Because though she is still Hannah, she feels like an entirely different Hannah right now. She feels as free as the birds that are tweeting so crazily in the wet leaves of the trees; she feels light-footed and wise and centred and reborn.
Whatever happens next, it will be something new, something wonderful. She has, after all, a whole half-life ahead of her.
THE END
Other Halves
The hotly awaited sequel to The Half-Life of Hannah
by Nick Alexander
Hannah and Cliff’s marriage is over. After a traumatic family holiday, Cliff’s lies have been exposed and Hannah has been reunited with her lost love, Cliff’s brother, James. But after fifteen years together, and forever bound by love for their eleven-year-old son, Luke, breaking free and starting again seems impossible.
A new life in Australia with James beckons for Hannah but can she embark on this adventure without losing the love of her son? And can Cliff finally face up to issues he has suppressed since adolescence and find happiness in a confusing world?
Amid the turmoil of separation, and with Luke caught in the crossfire, both Hannah and Cliff face the challenge of rebuilding their lives. To make the other halves of their lives count, they need courage and determination. But perhaps it’s more than they possess . . .
Buy From: Kindle UK
The Photographer’s Wife
A Novel By Nick Alexander
Barbara – a child of the Blitz – has devoted her life to raising a family.
She has protected her children from many of the harsh realities of life and kept more than a few secrets about her marriage to famous photographer Tony Marsden.
But with such an incomplete picture of the past, her children have struggled to understand who their parents really are, and in turn, she sometimes worries, to build their own identities.
When daughter, Sophie, decides to organise a vast retrospective exhibition of her adored father's work, old photos are pulled from dusty boxes. And with them tumble stories from the past, stories and secrets that will challenge every aspect of how Sophie sees her family.
Buy From: Kindle UK • Kindle USA
Legal Notice
Text and cover design by Nick Alexander, Copyright © 2012. This edition © BIGfib Books.
The characters and situations in this book are entirely imaginary and bear no relation to any real person or actual happenings.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication can be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publishers and/or authors.
While every precaution has been taken in the preparation of this book, the publisher assumes no responsibilities for errors or omissions, or for damages resulting from the use of information contained herein.
Table of Contents
Nick Alexander
Acknowledgements
The Half-Life Of Hannah
ONE
TWO
THREE
FOUR
FIVE
SIX
SEVEN
EIGHT
NINE
TEN
ELEVEN
TWELVE
THIRTEEN
FOURTEEN
FIFTEEN
SIXTEEN
SEVENTEEN
EIGHTEEN
NINETEEN
TWENTY
TWENTY-ONE
TWENTY-TWO
TWENTY-THREE
TWENTY-FOUR
TWENTY-FIVE
TWENTY-SIX
TWENTY-SEVEN
TWENTY-EIGHT
TWENTY-NINE
THIRTY
THIRTY-ONE
THIRTY-TWO
THIRTY-THREE
THIRTY-FOUR
THIRTY-FIVE
THIRTY-SIX
THIRTY-SEVEN
THIRTY-EIGHT
THIRTY-NINE
Other Halves
The Photographer’s Wife
Legal Notice