Peter cleaned up the kitchen while Tessa took a quick shower. Normally she showered at the office after her daily workout at the employee gym, but she’d been in a rush to get home to Peter and had skipped working out today.

She’d been so happy to see him, had rushed inside the apartment so quickly, that she hadn’t noticed his still unpacked bags until she reentered the living room after her shower. Tessa frowned as she towel dried her hair, especially when she realized there were a good half dozen bags piled together. Peter never took more than two bags with him on a trip, and he was usually always meticulous about unpacking not long after arriving home.

“Why haven’t you unpacked?” she asked, an uneasy feeling starting to overtake her once again. The premonitions she’d felt upon waking this morning were returning in full force and then some.

Peter shoved his hands into the pockets of his baggy cargo pants, a sure sign he was feeling agitated. “Because I’ve got to leave again. Soon.”

Tessa stared at him in dismay. “What? I don’t understand. Why would the agency fly you all the way home from Cambodia just to send you back out again so soon? Especially with the tight budget they always have you on.”

The international news agency that Peter worked for was notoriously cheap. The flights they scheduled for him always involved multiple stops and connections, and the accommodations they booked for him were anything but first class. But he’d always considered those drawbacks a small price to pay for being able to do the work he loved.

Peter’s thin mouth tightened into an even narrower line. “Tess, let’s sit down, okay? We have some stuff to talk about.”

Her legs suddenly felt wobbly, and the pizza she’d so eagerly devoured was beginning to turn to acid in her stomach. “Peter, you’re starting to freak me out,” she told him in a pleading little voice. “What’s going on?”

“Sit down and I’ll tell you.” His voice was gentle but firm.

She sank down onto the futon that had originally been their bed, until they’d finally been able to afford a real one. She was starting to tremble, and wrapped her arms around her torso in an effort to quell the tremors.

“Peter, please. I’ve got a really bad feeling about this now. What’s wrong?”

He sat down next to her, taking her hands in his, his expression solemn. “I’ve got a new job, Tess. A hell of a lot better than this lousy gig. Better pay and actual benefits, a regular salary, living allowance. I’ve got to fly to New York to go through a two-week orientation before I actually start work.”

Tessa almost laughed with relief. She had been convinced he was going to tell her something awful, but instead it was really, really good news. “But that’s fantastic, Peter! I’m so happy for you!”

She flung her arms around his neck, hugging him close. Tessa pressed a kiss on his cheek, hoping, wishing, that tonight he might actually return her affections, might be able to make love to her for the first time in months.

But her hopes were dashed when he once again gently disengaged himself from her embrace and moved a short distance away from her. He kept her hands firmly clasped in his. “Thanks, Tess. It’s a great opportunity, exactly what I’ve wanted for a really long time. And I’m glad to know you’re happy for me. Though I’m guessing you won’t be when you hear all the details.”

Tessa regarded her husband warily. “What sort of details?”

Peter sighed, and ran a hand through his unruly hair. “The job is based in the Middle East,” he told her quietly. “That’s going to be my new territory. No more Asian trips.”

She gave a small shrug. “Is that a bad thing? I mean, how much longer are the flights to and from the Middle East than they were to Asia?”

He paused, as though choosing his words very carefully. “You don’t get it, Tess. I’m going to be based in the Middle East. Bahrain, to be exact. I’ll be relocating there, living there full time.”

Tessa felt like she’d taken a blow to the solar plexus, and struggled suddenly to breathe. “So – so we’re moving? Leaving San Francisco and moving to Bahrain?”

He shook his head. “Not we – me. I can’t take you with me, Tess. That’s not part of the job offer. I’ll be sharing a residence with three other journalists and photographers. And even if that wasn’t the set-up there’s no way I’d leave you alone for weeks on end over there. It’s a very different world for a female in the Middle East. You wouldn’t be able to get a decent job or go out and about anytime you wanted. Bahrain is a more modern country in that part of the world, but you still wouldn’t have the sort of freedom you have here and would have to be very careful all the time. I’d worry about you constantly every time I was away.”

The tears were beginning to well up hotly behind her eyes. “I’d be okay,” she whispered. “I’ll do whatever is necessary, just as long as I can go with you, so we can be together.”

“No, Tess. It wouldn’t be any kind of life for you. You’d be almost like a prisoner every time I was away,” he explained. “And I’m expecting to be away for even longer stretches than I am now – maybe a month or two at a time – places like Syria and Egypt and Iraq.”

The tears starting tracking slowly down her cheeks. “So – so how often will you be able to come home to see me?” she asked, her voice breaking.

Peter closed his eyes and took a deep breath. “I get two weeks off each quarter.”

“That’s it?” she cried. “I’ll only get to see you eight weeks a year?”

“No. Let me finish. I’m not coming back to San Francisco. When I leave – that’s it. We need to end this, Tess. It’s way past time for that and we both know it. I’ve bided my time, tried to be patient, and even hoped that you’d finally be the one to throw in the towel, realize that neither of us can live this way any longer. But I finally realized that you’d never be the one to make the first move. So it’s up to me to end this thing, to make that decision for us. And that’s what I’ve finally found the guts to do. For your sake, Tess.”

She was weeping openly now, hiding her face in her hands as her body shook with sobs. “Please don’t do this,” she begged. “Don’t leave me, Peter. I don’t care if I can only see you a few weeks a year. Just don’t leave me alone forever.”