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book. She’d kiss Ben on the cheek as she was flying in or out and thank him yet again for everything. She still held her twice-weekly cake and inspiration evenings, but everything else they’d done together was put on hold. And he noticed, as the weeks and months went by, that she flew out faster and no longer stopped to let her lips linger for long. He began to feel himself pushed to the edge of May’s world, and the only sure-fire way he could get her attention any more was to talk about the book. But Ben understood that the realisation of a lifelong dream always needed to be honoured, and he believed the obsession would settle down into pure passion once May saw her books on shelves and knew that the dream wasn’t an illusion after all. When she had really done it. When it had come true. Then Ben imagined May would start writing again; they would go out on dates again, make love more often and even have entire conversations that had absolutely nothing to do with literature or helping the female population with their love lives or weight worries at all. And until that day he would wait. Although he had to admit that, after almost four months of this, that day couldn’t come soon enough.

    â€˜Hum, it’s still not quite right,’ May mused. ‘What if we make the gold lettering shiny instead of matt?’
    It was long past midnight. Lily and May had been staring at the new book cover proofs for the last five hours, batting ideas back and forth.
    â€˜I really liked the other one by that other author,’ May said, waving one hand towards the computer.
    â€˜With the moon – can’t we make it more like that?’
    â€˜Sure,’ Lily said sleepily, ‘sure we can. But…’
    â€˜But?’ May looked up.
    â€˜Why don’t we talk about it tomorrow?’
    â€˜Yeah, okay, of course. I’ll study more covers, other authors’ websites, and bring you more ideas. It needs to be noticeable, so women pick it off the shelves, so they read it.’ May thought of her Tuesday and Thursday night audiences. ‘Otherwise it’ll be wasted, which would be such a shame. I really think it might touch a lot of lives, help a lot of people. I don’t mean to be arrogant, ’cause it’s not really about me; it’s about them. I never thought it possible before, but now I see how it touches the women who love it and… anyway, what time shall I come over?’
    â€˜Honey.’ Lily reached across the table and placed her palm over May’s, giving it a gentle squeeze. ‘I echo your feelings for wanting to help the whole world entirely – that’s why I’m publishing your wonderful little book – but you’re in danger of having your altruistic impulses corrupted by obsessing and thinking about it all too much. Also, given the lures of any venture into fame and fortune, no matter how slight, you must be careful about not getting sucked into the wild and not-at-all-wonderful world of Comparison, Control and Crazy. I think you might want to let go a little. Stop thinking about it. Step back. Why don’t you take a few days off ?’
    â€˜What?’ May frowned, nervous. ‘Why? I’m fine. Aren’t we fine? I thought we were fine.’
    Lily just looked at her with a kind smile. May bit her lip, puzzling.
    â€˜What do you mean anyway?’ May asked. ‘About the not-at-all-wonderful world of Comparison, Con–’
    â€˜Comparison, Control and Crazy,’ Lily finished, ‘is the world you step into whenever you leave your private comfort zone for the public arena. You stop to survey your surroundings; you take a look around to see who’s out there in the public eye with you. And if you’re not careful you lose yourself completely in comparing yourself to those materially more successful than you. Then in an attempt to gain back your sanity you lose yourself even more by desperately