She chewed her lip. ‘I really don’t want to. What am I going to do, tell them I suspect the boss I had an affair with, or his wife? It’s going to cause so much shit. I’ll be humiliated. It will be the talk of the office and most people will think I deserve it. Oh God . . .’

I took her by the shoulders. ‘Sasha, you have to do it.’

‘OK, OK.’ She took a shuddering breath. She held the phone to her ear and dialled the police station, and I listened to her tell someone what had happened. ‘They’re going to send someone round a bit later.’

I tried to bite down on a yawn but she saw.

‘You look knackered. You should go home.’

‘No, I’ll stay and wait for the police to come.’

This time, I was unable to suppress the yawn. I was dizzy and my body was screaming at me to let it sleep.

‘No, honestly. You get back, get some kip. I’ll be fine. The locksmith will be here soon and then I’ll wait in for the police. You don’t need to be here for that.’

‘All right. If you’re sure.’

‘I’m sure.’ She gave me a hug. She was still trembling. ‘Thank you so much for staying the night. I don’t know what I would have done without you.’

‘That’s what friends are for, Sash.’

I practically floated home. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d been this tired. It was about ten thirty when I let myself in the front door and entered my flat, dropping Charlie’s dry cleaning in the hallway and heading straight into the bedroom.

‘Jesus, you made me jump!’

Charlie was lying in my bed. As soon as I came in she sat up, in a move that reminded me of Nosferatu sitting upright in his coffin, a smooth elevation. And she looked like the living dead: her eyes were ringed with mascara smudges and streaks, her face white, her red hair sticking out at crazy angles, matted and stiff. She stared at me vacantly. She was wearing a pink camisole which looked like it had been scrunched up; there was a black stain on the front, like dried blood.

‘Charlie, are you all right? What are you doing here? I thought you’d be at work.’

She said something in such a low voice I couldn’t hear it.

‘Pardon?’

‘I said, did you enjoy fucking her?’

I hadn’t really been paying much attention, had been too tired, too busy trying to take my shoes off. Now, though, my head snapped towards her.

‘What?’

Her face twisted with anger, lip curled into a sneer. ‘I’m not. Going to. Fucking repeat myself. Andrew.’

Ice water had replaced the blood in my veins. I sat on the edge of the bed, reaching out to her and saying, ‘Charlie, why are you—’