Roxy would then play her own game and take one of her many sugar daddies or would-be television producers to the club. Sharon would raise one eyebrow at Jake and smile. She thought it was quite funny that Roxy was playing the jealousy game.

Roxy would laugh loudly and flirt with the man on her arm, hoping that Tony would notice or, even better, care about it. He never did. He liked the fact that their relationship, if you could call it that, was more of a ‘friends with benefits’ arrangement. He told her he liked her because she wasn’t clingy or needy, and wasn’t after commitment; just having a good time was all she cared about.

Sharon and Jake both knew that wasn’t the case. They both saw the way Roxy hung on Tony’s every word. She was trying to play the waiting game, and lived in hope that he would wake up one day and suddenly realise he loved her. Roxy had hated the fact that, on occasion, Tony slept with some of her friends. She had felt humiliated by this and even started an argument with Tony about it.

Roxy had stormed into the office, full of anger, ready to give Tony a piece of her mind and possibly an ultimatum. Sharon and Jake had been listening down the corridor and had heard it all.

Tony had just sat at his desk and listened to her complaints, then leaned back in his chair and let her have his very calm response.

‘Who I sleep with, Roxy, and who is my flavour of the month, has nothing to do with you. We have fun, and we’re good in bed together, but I’m not exclusive. Do I complain when some television producer comes in here on the pretence of you doing some audition for him on his casting couch? You were a famous model when I met you and you’re even more famous now, because you hang around here and with me. I have made you famous, Roxy; you’ve had your money’s worth. Either accept it or move on. I don’t care either way, my diary’s full.’

Tony had been very cold to her, heartless, even, but he had firmly put her in her place. There was nothing else for her to do but leave in tears; it seemed all her dreams had come to an abrupt halt.

Then, a week or so later, she came in one evening and, at the end of the night, went up to Tony’s apartment. It was as though nothing had changed, although everyone knew it had. Roxy was the one making a fool of herself, because Tony had made it abundantly clear they were not an item, yet she was still prepared to go to the club, drink with him and sleep with him. She had no cause for complaint, because it was now her choice.

Tony had never tried to hide the fact that he dated other women, he didn’t feel the need to. He was a single man, women liked him, and he liked women. As far as he was concerned, that was it. He didn’t force them to have sex with him, nor did he force them to participate in the little orgies that he had in his apartment. It seemed his heart was made of stone.