# Chapter 16: When the Pizza Loses Its Cheese
Hello everyone, it's me again! How are you all doing? Today I will continue to walk with you and review Chapter 16 of *Married at first swipe free digital audiobook*. This is the chapter where the spotlight shifts away from the newlyweds for a while and lands on the steady, reliable, always-there friend who has been quietly crumbling behind the scenes. Because sometimes, the ones who hold everyone else together need the most holding themselves. So grab a warm drink and let's dive in.
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It was Hannah's first day back in the office after her dreamlike, sun-drenched honeymoon in St Lucia, and Jess greeted her with a teasing grin.
"Well, hello Mrs Sutton!"
But Hannah was quick to put that right. "I think you'll find I'm still Ms Edwards, thank you very much. I've been Hannah Laura Edwards for thirty-five years and getting married doesn't change who I am, so why would I change my name? And before you ask, Toby is completely fine with it, not that it's his decision to make anyway."
Jess held up her hands in playful surrender. She knew better than to argue, especially since she herself had been desperate to ditch the last name "Shufflebottom" the moment she tied the knot and became a Taylor. But Hannah was clearly running on empty — the jet lag had caught up with her, and despite her sunny memories of white sand and blazing sunshine, the woman standing before Jess looked exhausted.
Once the two friends settled in, Jess's curiosity got the better of her. She wanted details. Every single detail. How were things between Hannah and Toby? Did they "get to know" each other properly?
Hannah laughed, but there was something guarded in her voice. St Lucia had been beautiful — beyond her wildest dreams beautiful. Yet, when Jess pressed a little harder, Hannah admitted that Toby had written things in his blog about his feelings for her that he'd never actually said out loud during the trip. In turn, Hannah had revealed her deepest anxieties to the world through her own blog rather than telling Toby face to face.
Jess, ever the pragmatist, pointed out the irony: Hannah couldn't be upset that Toby was more emotionally expressive online than in person, when she was doing the exact same thing herself. And as usual, Jess spoke sense. It was early days, only two weeks since two strangers had become husband and wife. There would be time to figure out the uncomfortable in-between spaces.
Still, despite Hannah's lighthearted jokes, Jess couldn't shake the feeling that her friend wasn't as happy as she pretended to be. Hannah admitted she was confused. One part of her wanted Toby to declare his love; the other part wanted to keep things safe at the hand-holding stage. It was a mess of emotions, and poor Toby couldn't win. But Jess, wise as a big sister, reminded her that sound marriages were built on talking, and that they should go at their own gentle pace.
Then Hannah turned the tables. "Anyway, how are *you*? What's happened while I've been away?"
And that was when the cracks in Jess's carefully painted smile started to show.
Jess's eyes darted to a heap of material crumpled in the corner of the small summerhouse office. Before she could offer a convincing excuse, Hannah yanked at the pile and pulled out a sleeping bag and camping mat. Jess had tried to brush it off — the kids were "camping" in the office, she said. But Hannah knew her too well for that lie. The truth came tumbling out in a choked confession.
Jess had been sleeping in the office. Not because she was overworking herself. Not because Save The Date was drowning. But because she and Tom were drifting. Arguing. Snapping at each other over nothing. And she needed space. Just a little corner of the world where she wasn't the one waking up at 2 a.m. to rescue Lily from falling out of bed, or scolding Sam for putting his hands down his pants, or fighting a never-ending battle against the avalanche of household admin.
Hannah was stunned. She had no idea that her best friend's marriage was struggling, especially since she'd just married a man she'd met only two weeks ago. But when Hannah gently suggested that maybe a spare room would have done the trick, Jess's real pain surfaced.
"I needed to escape. To have a break. To not be the one everyone looks to for answers."
The confession hung in the air, heavy and raw. And just as Hannah opened her mouth to ask another difficult question, Jess's phone rang — a blessed interruption. Subscriptions had soared since she'd shared the wedding photos online, and every magazine in town wanted to interview the happy couple. It was busy. It was brilliant. But beneath the surface, Jess was drowning. She already knew some of the public comments were saying Hannah didn't seem as into the marriage as Toby. That was yet another thing to worry about. And then there was Tom.
Feeling exposed, Jess fled the office after her call, claiming she had errands to run and kids to collect. But Hannah wasn't letting her disappear that easily. They arranged to meet for dinner on Friday — a plan that threw a rather awkward wrench into Hannah's dinner date with Toby. But Hannah didn't hesitate. "Don't worry, I'll rearrange with him. We just spent a week in each other's pockets. I need to spend time with you."
Jess should have felt grateful. Instead, she felt a hollow dread. The strongest emotion she had about seeing her best friend was dread. And she hated Tom for making her feel that way.
Friday evening arrived, and the two women settled into their local pizza restaurant, ordering wine and garlic bread. After a long, careful dance around what Jess was really feeling, she finally rolled up her sleeves and tried to play everything down. "There's nothing to worry about with me and Tom. I just needed a bit of space." She blamed the business, the pressure of being the one in charge, the exhaustion of it all.
But Hannah, who had been watching her closest friend for nearly two decades, wasn't buying it. With gentle persistence, she pushed deeper. And eventually, Jess cracked open the lid on the true source of her unhappiness.
It wasn't just the big things, she explained. It was the thousand tiny things women were expected to remember. The school calling *her* when one of the twins was sick. The Roman dress-up day. The harvest festival food boxes. The bin day — oh, the bin day. Even when Tom would take the rubbish out, she'd have to remind him three times which coloured week it was. Even when he did the supermarket shop, she'd have to write the list. Even when he cooked tea, he'd still ask her what they were having.
"It's just... knackering," she sighed. "And boring."
Hannah looked at her with a mixture of shock and sympathy. She tried to offer a solution: maybe Jess and Tom needed a proper week away, time just for them. But Jess dismissed that idea — the business was too busy, and money was too tight. Every excuse was a wall.
Then Hannah asked the question that cut through all the defenses.
"Jess, do you think you've been looking for excitement by putting all your efforts into my marriage? Are you living the spontaneity through us because you're tired of being the one everyone relies on for the boring answers to life admin?"
It was a sharp, uncomfortable truth. Jess immediately snapped back with a defensive reply — of course she wanted her best friend to be happy. But Hannah, wise in her own messy, wandering way, painted a picture of the future that made Jess's eyes fill with tears. She reminded her of the look on Tom's face at their wedding. The way they both clutched Sam and Lily when they were born. She said that Jess without Tom wouldn't be the Jess she knew and loved, and that a marriage that works is like pizza and melted cheese — one without the other is a bit rubbish.
Jess, teary-eyed and stubborn, hiccuped through a joke, "I happen to like melted cheese on its own!"
Hannah laughed and reached for her hand. "I know. Me too. That was a pretty crap comparison. But pizza without cheese is definitely rubbish. And you without Tom isn't you."
Jess nodded, wiping her sleeve across her face. She finally agreed to think about stepping away and spending time with her family. Then, with a smile breaking through the tears, she added one condition. "But there is one thing I need."
"What's that?" Hannah asked eagerly.
"That you tell me everything about St Lucia. I need my excitement fix after all!"
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## Reader's Impressions & Star Rating
This was a wonderfully human chapter that peeled back the glossy layer of newlywed bliss to reveal the heartbreak simmering beneath the surface of the woman who was supposed to be the strongest. Jess's confession about sleeping in the office was genuinely moving, and her gradual unraveling over pizza and wine felt real and painfully relatable. Hannah's affectionate but pointed observations reminded us why these two are such good friends — she sees through the mask without ever making Jess feel small. I loved the "pizza and melted cheese" analogy; it was both funny and devastating at the same time. This chapter was full of quiet emotional truth.
⭐️⭐️⭐⭐⭐ Rating: 4.8 / 5 Stars
## Next Chapter Prediction
With Jess finally admitting she needs time away from her everyday life, and Tom still unaware of just how deep the cracks have grown, the next chapter likely brings a difficult and long-awaited conversation between husband and wife. Will Tom finally step up and share the mental load? And will Hannah's new marriage start facing some of the same pressures she has just witnessed in Jess's? Something tells me the spotlight is about to move back to the Suttons, but the foundation of the Taylor household might need urgent repairs first.
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