Your Roots Are Showing by Elise Chidley

“I’m nearly finished here, anyway. Just hand over the watering can. You’ll have to douse them some more later.”
    “Can I at least bring you out a cup of tea?” Lizzie asked.
    “Nah, thanks anyway, but I have to get on,” Bruno grinned. “I’ll take you up on it next time, okay? When you’re alone.” And with a huge wink and nudging motion of his left elbow, he turned his back on them and set to work again.
    Tessa looked from Lizzie to Bruno and back again, a broad grin breaking out on her face. Ignoring this grin, Lizzie led the way inside and to the kitchen, where she turned on the electric kettle and opened a packet of chocolate digestive biscuits.
    “So that’s Bruno, is it?” Tessa asked quite unnecessarily as she took a biscuit and began to lick the top off it. She only ever allowed herself one and she liked to make it last.
    “So he tells me,” said Lizzie.
    “Not bad,” Tessa pronounced. “Why didn’t you say he was so yummy? The way you described him, I thought he was some pot-bellied, middle-aged loser with no mates.”
    Lizzie shrugged. “Is he yummy? I wouldn’t know. I’ve pretty much lost interest in that sort of thing.”
    Tessa snorted with derision. “Yes, he’s yummy. You
must
have noticed.”
    Lizzie sighed as she put tea bags in mismatched mugs. “Okay, so he’s not bad looking. I didn’t think that was so important. Why would you want to know? You’re happily married. Aren’t you?”
    “Yes, I’m happily married. But I’ve still got eyes in my head.”
    “All right, all right. So what’s going on? Why’d you take the time off? It’s not —? You didn’t come to tell me —?” She didn’t dare put the question into words — and surely Tessa wouldn’t be wearing quite such tight pants if she’d just found out she was pregnant.
    Tessa popped the last morsel of biscuit into her mouth and licked her fingers daintily. “No, it’s nothing like that,” she said. “I won’t know for a bit, will I? The thing is, Lizzie, I thought it was time we developed a bit of a campaign.”
    “A campaign?” Lizzie poured boiling water onto the tea bags and set the mugs on a tray with a bottle of milk and a recycled yogurt carton full of sugar. No milk jugs and sugar basins in this fine establishment. Tessa drank her tea black, of course, but Lizzie liked all the extras. “Come on, let’s go and sit down. Grab the biscuits, will you? What sort of a campaign are we talking about?”
    As they settled themselves on the sofa in the lounge, Tessa said, “We’re talking about a campaign for
you
, of course. To get things back to normal with James. Look, I just can’t stand by and watch you give up on him like this! The two of you are meant to be together! You know what, Lizzie? You’ve got to pull yourself together again. I mean, you really have to get to grips with this whole no-sex-drive problem. If you can just get back to being your old self, I’m sure things will sort themselves out on the marriage front.”
    Lizzie felt her color rising. “Tessa, really, I don’t want to talk about it . . .”
    “Lizzie, do you want him back or don’t you?”
    “God, Tessa, if only you knew how much.”
    “Well, then! You’ve got to get off your backside and do something! I’ve already mentioned I think you might be depressed. I mean, clinically depressed, not just sad. I think you should consider getting some counseling.”
    Lizzie was shaking her head in disbelief. “Tessa, talking to some stranger is never going to work. Not for me. It’s sort of — creepy and weird. And — you know, not very loyal to James.”
    Tessa pursed her lips. “Okay, okay. But did you read the research I brought you? Lack of libido is a common symptom of depression. Plus — I think you’re showing other symptoms too.”
    Lizzie raised her eyebrows and bit viciously into a biscuit. “Such as?” she asked with her mouth full.
    “Such as — erm, well, you must admit you’re not quite as much