How do I tell my partner that a quiet pause doesn't need pretend hold music?
Funny'Please enjoy our waiting music,' my partner said, humming a very determined saxophone noise.
We were sitting on the sofa after dinner. Neither of us had said anything for a minute. I was comfortable. He thought the silence needed rescuing.
He started the fake hold music a few weeks ago when we were waiting for someone to answer a phone. I liked it then. Now he uses it whenever our conversation pauses. Sometimes he adds, 'Your next thought is important to us.'
I laugh because the line is good. I also want to sit together without continually supplying a next thought. When I asked for a little quiet, he said he hadn't realised I was annoyed. I wasn't annoyed before the third saxophone solo.
How do I explain that silence can be comfortable for me without making him feel his attempts to keep us cheerful are unwanted?