n.Reacting to a present partner as though they were a past one.
The Human Diary editorial term
The Dropped Plate
The plate hit the tiles and Marcus said, "Ah, shit," and bent down to pick it up.
Rosie was already against the wall.
Not moving towards it. Against it — spine flat, hands slightly out, in the corner by the fridge, having crossed a metre and a half of kitchen in the time it took a plate to break.
Marcus stopped, crouched, holding two pieces of crockery, and looked at his wife of four years standing pressed into a corner of their own kitchen.
"Rosie."
"Sorry. Sorry — I don't know why I—"