She’d lied. Of course she’d seen the film. She’s watched them all. Several times. Declan’s a brilliant actor. He makes clever choices. He works with who he wants. He’s such a good actor she can watch his films and for a while forget who it is and forget that she hates him.

She pulls up the hood on her bathrobe and rolls herself a cigarette, lights it at the table, takes two puffs, and puts it out in disgust.

She wants to be touched. When was the last time anyone touched her? When was the last time she had sex? She doesn’t even want sex. She just wants to be touched. She might wither if she isn’t touched soon. She’s no good at being single. Good single people plan for the weekend—they know the wretchedness of this ambush and head it off at the pass with yoga and brunch dates and exhibitions and dinners—but she has nothing planned, only a hangover and her own company and the long day ahead.

She considers going back to bed and attempting sleep again, but that feels even more depressing, so she makes herself some tea and brings it into the living room. The blinds are drawn and she leaves them that way.

Her eyes fall on the Bergman DVD and she remembers Nathan’s face in the library café, laughing at her as she scrawled on her hand with his pen.

Do they discuss her together—he and Hannah?

Lissa’s thinking of doing a PhD. Oh hahahahahahahaaa.

She takes out her phone and scrolls back to the brief text exchange.

Thanks for the Bergman. Loved it. Liss. X

I’m glad. Hope you got yourself a notebook. See you in the library sometime. Nx

Since then she has been back to the library a couple of times, got herself a library card, reserved some books on Russian history. She likes it there, likes putting her possessions in the locker, likes drinking good coffee in the café. She looks for him, often, but has not seen him there again.

Her bag is on the sofa, contents spilling out: script, scarf, tobacco, phone. She pulls the script towards her. It is folded open at the scene they were working on yesterday, she and Johnny, the scene where Yelena berates Vanya on behalf of all men: You recklessly destroy forests, all of you, and soon there won’t be anything left standing on the face of the earth.

It is only the end of the first week and yet there is already an atmosphere in the rehearsal room. Klara is prone to outbursts, flying off the handle at the slightest provocation. Greg, the actor playing Astrov, was half an hour late on Thursday, a doctor’s appointment for his son having run late. He was screamed at and told he would be sacked if it happened again.