She sighs. “I don’t even mind about the money so much. It’s letting the audience down that I care about. This is the twenty-first century. How can no-one have found a cure for the common cold yet?”

“Fair question. Maybe you should go over to the science department tomorrow and ask one of the brainiacs there.”

“I don’t know what I’m doing in bed yet. I’m not tired.”

“You need to sleep, Jo. You don’t get nearly enough sleep.”

“I don’t need that much.” Her voice is scratchy from coughing.

“A good night’s sleep will boost your immune system. With a bit of luck, you’ll feel much better in the morning.”

Jo looks at me from under her lashes. “You just sounded a lot like Amber. All these yoga lessons you take with her must be rubbing off on you.”

“Amber only ever has good advice to dispense.”

Jo’s lips draw into a pout, but she doesn’t say anything.

“What?” I ask.

She shakes her head. “Nothing.”

“If you’re not ready to go to sleep, we might as well talk.”

She adjusts her position so she can look at me better. “You know how the brain can make these crazy associations, jump from one random thing to the next?”

I nod.

“Thinking of Amber made me think of how you slept with her once and that made me think of something else… Something I’ve been meaning to ask you for some time.”

“Shoot.”

“We’ve been together a while now.” Jo reaches for a handkerchief and wipes the underside of her nose. “I guess I’ve been wondering when you’re going to bring up the inevitable question.”

“The inevitable question?” I know what she’s getting at. Of course I do. But before I can bring up this subject, we’ll have to work on our communication skills a bit more.

“You know.” Her facial expression tightens. “Sleeping with other people.”

“Darling, I’m not sure tonight is the right night to start that conversation. You’re a little grumpy about having to cancel your gig, which I understand completely. And you’re sick.” I stroke my thumb over her hand. “Tonight, you just need to be pampered.”

“I just would like to know. I feel like this has been hanging over my head since we got together. That at any time you can sit me down and tell me it’s time we started sleeping with strangers.”

“I would never even dream of broaching the subject when you’re so defensive. Although I’m beginning to think we should have talked about it already, as it’s clearly weighing on you. You make it sound like something I’m going to force on you, while that’s absolutely not the case.”