I sigh and click out of the spreadsheet that I’ve been working on all morning. Sometimes, accounting makes my head hurt, even though I’ve been doing it for the best part of my adulthood. And right now, the numbers are starting to spin in front of me.

I open up my phone to check out the texts in one of my group chats I know that my boss Julie would flip if she knew what I was doing on company time, but as long as I am certain she is not going to materialise next to my desk and look over my shoulder unexpectedly, I will just do what I want.

The chat I have open is one packed full of my mum friends, most of whom I haven’t seen in months. But we like to keep each other updated on our parenting wins – and, when we’re feeling honest, our fails. I start to read the texts absent-mindedly. I just want to read something that doesn’t have to do with the tax returns of our restaurateur client that I’ve been stuck working on all day.

Okay, so I’ve been doing a little research, Madeleine, one of my friends from college, has added to the chat. Can you guys tell me if this looks legit?

The link that she has added to the conversation catches my eye – I click on it, glad to let my procrastination take me down a rabbit hole.

The Weekend Club.

That’s the name of the website that she’s linked to. There’s not a whole lot on there that I can make out; just the title, along with a few links to apps and other methods of contact. I frown, trying to make sense of what this is, why she might have sent this to us.

I check back in the chat and find a small gathering around our virtual water-cooler, most of the replies to the link downright disbelieving.

What are you doing, looking up something like this, Maddy?

Didn’t take you for the type...

How bad are things getting with you and Ewan if this is what you’re turning to?

They seem to have worked out what it is, and it only bugs me more that I haven’t. I pull up a separate chat to Maddy directly and shoot off a message.

What’s this Weekend Club thing all about?

She replies a few seconds later. I can almost hear the playful giggle in her voice as she does – if there’s one thing that Maddy loves, it’s getting a reaction out of people.

Just some place that married couples go when they get tired of sleeping with each other.

My eyes widen. What the hell is she talking about? She’s been married to her husband, Ewan, for more than decade now, proper childhood sweethearts, and I can’t imagine that they’ve had any worse problems than what kind of coffee to put in their machine every morning.

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Why are you looking at something like that?

Oh, it’s not for me. I just thought some of the other girls in our group could use a nudge in that direction.

You’re sowing chaos in marriages across the country! I shoot back, shaking my head. This is always how Maddy’s been, wanting to push the boundaries and see what she can get away with.

It’s not about cheating, she replies. And then, a moment later, my phone springs to life with a video call from her. I answer it immediately.

"What do you mean not cheating?" I laugh as I answer. “Next you’re going to send us to Ashley Madison’s page!”

"I just told you, it’s not about cheating!” Maddy protests. "It’s about finding other partners to satisfy your needs, outside the marriage."

"So… cheating?" I reply, cocking an eyebrow. She shakes her head, her mess of strawberry-blonde curls bouncing around her face.

"Look, I’m not going to get into the specifics, but I’ve been talking to some of the girls privately, and some of them are having… trouble with their marriages," she explains, leaning forward and dropping her voice dramatically, even though we’re not even in the same room. "I wanted them to know there’s other things out there. I just want my friends to be happy, that’s all."

"You really think their husbands would go along with that?"

She shrugs. "Worth a try, isn’t it? Life is short, why shouldn’t we have everything we want?”

I frown as I take in everything she’s said. "There are women in the group who are… they’re having a hard time with their husbands?” I ask, trying to sound as casual as possible.

She nods. "Yeah, something about being married for years, the sex drying up, and being exhausted all the time from running around after the kids – that’s not exactly what dream marriages are made of. You and Sean are okay though, right?"

"Yeah, yeah, of course," I mutter vaguely, but in truth, my mind is beginning to wander.

Sean’s going a little grey around the edges now. After a few drinks, my friends tell me he’s turning into a downright silver fox. I wish I felt the same way. Honestly, I can still see that he’s objectively attractive, but there’s something about being around the same person all the time that pretty much nukes any kind of sexual attraction you might have had for them in the first place. And since I started working from home and he lost his job, our sex life has seriously dried up; down to once a month, if that. Even then, I can rarely get myself in the mood. We need to spice things up, go out and date again…

"You sound very convincing," she teases me lightly.

I shake my head. "Sorry, I've just been distracted with work. Which reminds me, I need to get back to it. Can I call you later?"

"Sure thing."

She hangs up, leaving me alone with my thoughts – and trying to work out just what I’m going to do with this new information.

I click back on the chat and follow the link again. The Weekend Club. Is there really that much call for women to find something outside of their marriage? Enough that someone would make a whole app to cater to it...?

As I begin to scroll through the posts on The Weekend Club’s Reviews page, I get my answer: yes, there is.

It’s a bit of a shock to see how many women out there have the same issues I do. I wonder if there are online forums for men complaining about the same thing – that they can’t figure out a way to inject a little more fun into their lives without accidentally nuking their marriage from orbit in the process. Because, like all of these people posting, there is no way that I want to end my marriage with Sean or upset our life together. I could just… use something else. Something more. Something that I can look forward to, just to make sure that neither of us finds ourselves in a rut. I don’t want him to look at me and feel his stomach sink, and I never want to think that way about him, either.

Soon, my eyes are racing down the page with excitement, and I am wondering just how much longer I can go on pretending everything is okay. I reach for my phone and fire up the app store. I have to find this. And I have to find it now.