Dear Audrey,
With less than 48 hours to go before the royal nuptials it is important that we address the sanctity of marriage and all that follows the big day. You will not be unfamiliar with the idea that marriage is a contract between two people and therefore once the initial corporate schmoozing dies down, the success of any union be it romantic or commercial is ultimately built on those involved investing the time and effort required for the greater good of the partnership.
Your email is strewn with the words such as 'I' and 'my' and it is this singular confetti that gives me clear insight into your issues and why your marriage is in trouble. You no longer operate as a team and have long since given up on working towards common goals and objectives. You say there is no love in the marriage although reading on you clearly still have chemistry, replacing love with rivalry opens a destructive and dangerous game of one upmanship. Indeed reading between the lines you are now both deep in David Brent territory and closer than you think to having your wedding vows set in jelly.
If you really do not want to throw away this marriage and the positives you both initially invested, then you have to call a truce and an emergency board meeting to discuss the future of the company openly and objectively. You both need to be able to listen to the other's point of view in order to be able to truly relate. You could find that when you truly take the time to listen to each other that your husband's alleged 'resentment' is nothing more than his personal feelings of shame and fear in a party dress, and he may learn that your singular determination and ambition and over use of the letter 'I' is purely fighting talk for " 'I' am frightened by your professional inertia" and 'I' do not want to end up relying on someone who clearly cannot support me. 'I' cannot join you in that place, therefore 'I' am going to beat you every way I can.
Take time to identify the better and the worse, the sick and the healthy in your relationship and recommit to jointly building on the positives that drew you together in the first place. You are clearly very talented people, an idea could be to harness this experience and combine your talents for the greater good by producing a series of reality tv style video diaries. Turn your negatives into a project that will unite you professionally and reunite you personally, sounds like something the Wedding Channel ought to be airing to all prospective couples.
In life some people absolutely compliment one another and together make a winning combination. In my Parmesan and Prociutto Flavour Bomb both these tasty ingredients come together with explosive results. Try the taste test and eat each ingredient separately and then the taste the power of the two combined. You will literally taste the answer to our question on the tip of your tongue, whenever you have any doubt whizz up this magical paste and drop it into hot pasta with some chopped fresh tomato or pack it on a chicken of fish fillet and bake in the oven to remind you that a delicious marriage is all about the combined sum of its simple parts.
Parmesan & Prosciutto Paste (a match made in heaven)
65g lean prosciutto di Parma
45g Parmigiano Reggiano
2 long strips of lemon zest (yellow only)
3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
5g flat leaf parsley leaves
splash of warm water to blend
Mix all ingredients a hand blender. Will store in fridge covered in oil for a week.
Note: Prosciutto can be substituted for pre-cooked tinned white beans. Drain and rinse beans. Mix half with a handful of grated Parmesan plus the above ingredients. U-mamma! Bombtastic. Walnuts can also be added to this mix to make a protein packed flavour bomb, or to replace the prosciutto as an ideal fix for vegetarians.