Sarah was chewing on her bottom lip as they left the premises and said to Lena, ‘Maybe I should talk to George before I sign the rental agreement. He might not want to go into business with me.’

‘Of course he will. He’ll be over the moon. Just make sure I’m there when you tell him.’

‘All right,’ Sarah agreed. ‘When everything is done and dusted we’ll bring him here and tell him together.’

Once she’d struggled to get out of bed and see any future for herself or any light at the end of a very dark tunnel. Now she was about to embark on a new venture as a business owner. Sarah smiled to herself. Things were looking up.

George was packing up his stall when he spotted the little bent old woman who had spoken to him in riddles. He’d met her once before, only briefly, and remembered he thought she was a bit odd. She was making a beeline for him again, and he braced himself.

‘Young man,’ she croaked. ‘You’re not with the woman you’re destined to be with!’

George shook his head, thinking the daft old bat made no sense, but then she scuttled off. Yet the more he thought about it, the more he knew she was right. He liked Julie, but she wasn’t the one for him. He didn’t know if he was destined to be with Sarah, but if he couldn’t have her, he didn’t want anyone.

George finished packing up his stall and went home. His journey passed quickly as his mind turned, mulling over the Julie problem. It was early evening when he arrived home. Sarah appeared to be in an extremely good mood, though his own didn’t match hers. He was supposed to be taking Julie out again next week, but wasn’t looking forward to it. He knew he had to tell her that he wasn’t going to be seeing her again, but worried that it would upset her.

‘What’s bothering you, George?’ Sarah asked later that evening as they sat together in front of the black and white images on the television.

‘Nothing,’ George answered.

‘Don’t give me that. You only rub your chin like that when you’ve got stuff on your mind.’

George smiled. Sarah knew him too well. ‘All right. It’s Julie,’ George said.

‘What’s the matter, has she given you the elbow?’

‘No, it’s the other way round. I’m gonna tell her I don’t want to see her any more. She’s nice, but she ain’t the one for me. I just don’t know how to tell her. I don’t want to hurt the girl. Any suggestions?’

‘You could say it’s you who has the problem.’

‘How do you mean?’ George asked.