‘I haven’t done that since I moved back here. This probably makes me sound so old, but I value sleep far too much. It was a lot easier to catch them when we were on our way back from a party or finishing off a night shift. I think my days of all-nighters are long gone.’

‘I can’t remember the last time I stayed up later than midnight,’ I say, knowing even that’s a push.

‘Don’t tell me you’re suggesting we do that tonight? That’s the kind of crazy thing Douglas would suggest.’

‘God, no.’ I think of the times I’d ended up on the beaches after all-nighters with Joel and I push the thoughts out of my mind before they linger. ‘Speaking of Douglas, I hope he gets here soon. I’m getting hungry.’

Joel picks up his phone and swipes, before putting it to his ear. ‘All right? … When’s your ETA? … When? … OK, OK.’

He puts the phone down and stares at it in confusion.

‘Everything OK?’

‘He said he wouldn’t be long, but it sounded very loud for a train.’

‘Maybe he was in the buffet car. Do they still have buffet cars?’

‘Not on the train he should be on. He told me he’d ring when he got to Bournemouth. Maybe I’m wrong but I have this feeling that he was in a pub.’

‘Really?’

‘Yeah and he was slurring.’

‘If he’s had a few drinks …’

‘The problem is he’s always had a few drinks,’ says Joel.

I think of how he seems to age every time I see him. I don’t want to connect the dots, but I can’t help it.

‘Has he stayed a big drinker over the years?’

Joel rubs at the back of his neck.

‘It’s difficult for me to tell really because whenever we meet up he uses it as an excuse for a big night out. I’m not sure what he’s like every day. You’d think with Suz and Isla he’d have reined it in a bit.’

I can see that Joel’s worried about him and at some point over the weekend I’m going to make sure that I talk to Douglas properly. This time I won’t let him brush me off so easily.

‘Has he talked to you much about Suz or Isla?’ he asks, taking a sip from his beer bottle.

‘No, not really. Only to offer excuses as to why they’re not coming somewhere. Why?’

He shrugs. ‘I haven’t seen her for ages and he’s stopped mentioning her to me.’

‘Have you spoken to him about it?’

‘I’ve tried, but you know what Douglas is like; he makes a joke out of everything.’

That’s exactly what he did to me when I tried to talk to him.

‘Perhaps we should go easy on the booze this weekend,’ I say.