'Okay,' Tammy said. There was a hint of sadness in her voice, because she felt she had hurt him - exposed him to more dangerous things than the shame of being caught with such a risqué secret. She felt now that she had exposed him to the danger of losing everything he loved her for. 'this changes nothing, okay?'

'Thank you, mom,' he said and hung up.

7

At two o'clock in the morning, sleep hadn't yet come and so Tammy found herself wide awake and fidgeting. After the storm of anxiety and self-loathing had passed, she was left depressed and restless. She checked her messages, roamed Twitter fleetingly and...