He rubbed his hands through his thick dark brown hair; artfully messy was the look he was going for. Everything was artful with Graham Marshall. When he eventually came out of the bathroom, Kelly was still naked. On more than one occasion she had tried to entice him back into bed after he was ready to leave. He knew she was trying to control him with sex–he also knew how unlikely it was that she would succeed.

‘Kelly, Kelly, Kelly,’ he whispered seductively as he moved towards her and sat down on the bed. She smiled at him, waiting for the words that would make her feel worthwhile, words that would recognize just how perfect and special she was. Graham Marshall paused, then bent down to tie his handmade shoes as he sat up and looked at Kelly, leaning forwards to face her. ‘This, this my darling…’ He twirled her hair around his fingers as she gazed at him. ‘This…is the last time I’ll be seeing you.’

Kelly jumped out of bed almost at the same time as he stood up, a stunned expression on her usually confident, unremarkable but mirror-perfect face. ‘You are joking. You are joking! Tell me you’re joking, Graham?’ she said, her voice cracking.

‘Why would I be?’ he asked, casually.

‘Because…because…well, why would you not see me again? What’s wrong with me? Why wouldn’t you want me? I just don’t understand,’ she whined.

He stopped halfway through fixing his tie and stared at her. ‘No. You probably don’t. But you see, Kelly, you do nothing for me. You look like a hundred other stupid tarts. You have no brain to speak of. You lie there like a dead fish when we’re in bed, only showing some sign of life when you remember that you have to pretend to be enjoying it. You’ve been convenient, I’ll give you that–but what are you exactly, Kelly? What are you?’ Marshall kept his back to her so she would not see his grin as he finished his speech.

‘What do you expect me to say? I don’t know what you want me to tell you,’ she said, pulling at her hair and pacing the room. He half turned and stared into her eyes, enjoying the play of emotions on her face. ‘Okay Let me give you something–your little eyes lit up there, didn’t they? You’re not bad to look at in an overdone, fake sort of way, and you have never asked for much really, but…’ he tapped his forefinger off his temple as he spoke, ‘…you’re stupid, stupid, stupid.’