‘You’re a lying piece of shit, Lisa. Have you any fucking idea what it’s like for me, have you? Have you any idea what you put me through? How selfish you are? I’ve got to be up at 6 a.m. tomorrow for a twelve-hour shift, I’m the on-call registrar, and it’s three o’clock in the fucking morning. Do you like tormenting me, seriously, seriously, do you?’

‘No, just, just leave me …’ Stop, I wanted to say. I just want everything to stop.

‘Oh yeah, right, cos like I’m really going to do that when you’re out in the middle of the fucking night doing God knows what mad shit, seriously Lisa, I deal with crap all day long and then I come home and I have to deal with it from you … don’t insult me. How dare you insult me? You owe me a fucking apology and you know it.’

His voice became low.

‘Stay where you are. You’re on the main road, I saw you from the window. I’m coming to get you, I’m coming to get you right fucking now and then we are going to have words about this because there’s no point in me trying to get any more fucking sleep now, is there, when I’ve got to be up again in three hours and it’s bloody typical of you that you don’t …’

I hung up and put the phone in my coat pocket. I looked around. He would be leaving the flat already, car keys in hand. He would drive out of our side street and onto Thorpe Road – the road was wide and empty and even though I had kept walking I would be clearly visible on the pavement as he turned left out of our street. I had seconds.