[he snorted at the lie, but accepted it. By the time Anthony returned he was dozing lightly but stirred awake at the prospect of tea. It was not a story he wanted to tell, but may as well say it.]

A long time ago, I was engaged. We had been together for...two years. [it still left a bitter taste in his mouth] You never knew her. No one did. I wanted it that way. Wanted to pretend I was someone else.

Long story short, it went to shit.