’It’s not so much, it’s all you deserve,’ Omar said, covering her hand with his in a comradely gesture. Cassie was a nice girl. He had always thought that she seemed sweet, and could never understand why she slept with so many people. Didn’t she realize what people would think of her, what it did for her reputation? ‘Did you like him?’ Omar asked.

Cassie looked at him thoughtfully. ‘I did like him; but then, I think I started to like him just because I thought he liked me. I’m always doing that.’ She dipped her head and ran her hand over the back of her bare neck in an unconscious gesture, smoothing back her boyish crop. ‘What about you, Omar? Are you seeing anyone at college?’

Taken aback at the perfectly normal question, Omar stuttered, ‘No, not really.’ Bizarrely, he thought about Jim and his legions of fans, not so unlike Sharif really. ‘Not at all, in fact. I’ve made some really good friends, with other guys and girls. It’s been really good so far.’

‘I’m sure you’re a really good friend,’ Cassie said, looking straight at him.

After Omar paid the bill, with Cassie insisting on taking his address to post him what she owed, they stumbled out into the night and back towards the club, high on curry and spices. In a dark part of the street, Cassie stumbled against Omar on purpose, pushing him a little way down a shallow alleyway.

She stood in front of him for a moment, and then started kissing him. Omar was too shocked at first to react, and then thought, She really is a sweet girl, she’s quite pretty … what would it matter if I kissed her back? It’s just a kiss. And so he started kissing her back, hesitantly, and as he did so, found himself drawn closer and closer to Cassie’s body, his hands slipping down over her bottom, which was really quite nicely firm and tight under her jeans. Cassie put her hands over his, unembarrassed, making his grip on her bottom tighter. With this gesture, something snapped in Omar, and he started kissing her fiercely, almost aggressively. In a cruel, dark moment on the dark street, while Cassie pressed her body against his and reached down for the buttons below his waist, Omar was appalled to find himself wanting to shag her, then and there, to turn her round and push her roughly against the wall, to prove himself with her, to use her. He didn’t feel passion or excitement towards her, he simply felt cold and in control. The emotion he felt was like violence. ‘You like me, don’t you, Omar?’ she said, with innocent appeal. And Omar began to understand why she had ended up being mistreated quite so often.