Laura laughed reluctantly. ‘Well, whatever. What I’m trying to say is that I don’t think he particularly fancied me, he just fancied sex, and I was there throwing myself at him.’

‘No you weren’t, you just said yes when you should have said no. He didn’t ask me to sleep with him, after all, and I’m considered quite attractive in some circles.’

‘No, I think if he’d really fancied me he’d have woken me up. He’s not known for holding back. It could only mean “he’s not that into me” to quote Sex and the City.’

Monica made a noise that indicated shock and awe. ‘I didn’t know you watched television, Laura! I thought you spent all your time reading improving books.’

‘Oh shut up, Mon,’ Laura whimpered. ‘I’m just nervous.’

‘Well, just go for it, that’s my advice.’

‘I’ll do my best.’ Laura sounded pathetic, even to her.

‘Writers’ course? Ah, now, well, is your case very heavy?’ The man on reception was friendly and loquacious.

‘No, it’s on wheels,’ said Laura.

The man looked over his desk as if to check this was true. ‘Good. Your course is right at the corner of the campus. You could fetch your car and park it over there if you want to?’

‘No, I’ll be fine.’ Laura continued to smile, trusting her key and directions to the building would transpire eventually. She felt she was less likely to get lost if she was on foot.

‘That section is going to be demolished to make way for the new science block,’ went on her informant.

‘Ah!’ said Laura. ‘That’s why the university offered to host the course during termtime. They had spare accommodation. I did wonder.’

‘Well, I wouldn’t know about that,’ said the porter. He produced a bit of paper with a map on it. ‘You need to go along here, round the corner here, and there’s the accommodation. The lecture halls – there are only a couple of them – are here.’

‘Right.’ Laura studied the map, hoping she wouldn’t find it all as complicated as it looked. ‘Has Dermot Flynn turned up yet?’

The porter looked down his list of names. ‘Oh, him. He’s in a staff flat, to keep him safe from all you students.’

Laura’s smile was a little chilly, but she didn’t explain she wasn’t a student. ‘But is he here yet?’ They were going to meet up that evening and run through the course, find somewhere to eat and generally settle in before the students arrived.

The porter checked his register. ‘No. Now, is there anything else you need to know?’

‘I don’t think so, thank you.’