He heard her run down the hall, a hurried splashing in there; pulled on boxers and T-shirt to cover himself. The cowboy boots stood to attention at the foot of the bed, waiting. She came back in buttoning her dress up. Her feet, he noticed, were red and covered in scabs and blisters.

‘Can’t I even make you a fried egg sandwich? For old times?’

‘Eh? Sorry, but I can’t afford to miss this bus. I have to be back home today – need to sign on first thing tomorrow. Sorry to run off on you. Sorry.’

He stood, picked up his dressing gown from the floor.

‘Do you know where you are? Need directions?’

‘We’re not far from the Subway, are we? Look, Neil, I hate to do this, but I don’t suppose I could borrow a tenner for the train? I’m sort of broke right now, and I didn’t really intend to wake up in Glasgow, if you know what I mean.’

His leather jacket was hanging off the doorknob. He reached in for his wallet and realized he’d given the driver a hundred pounds last night.

‘Shit. I’ve got about seven quid in shrapnel – that do you? Sorry. Sorry about this.’

She gave him a brief hug at the door, seemed to relent from something at the last minute and relax herself back into his body.

‘It was good to see you again. Thank you, thanks for the drinks and the crash space. Listen, if – if I come across a story, anything you might be interested in, could I give you a call? Just get you at the paper? In your office?’

‘Of course. Any time,’ he said, trying to sound grown up, disinterested. Trying to stop the screaming he could hear in his head.

The door closed and she was gone. He didn’t want to go back into the bedroom and see the sheets, smell last night. He made himself a coffee, stirring the granules in with the milk while the kettle boiled. A few years ago he’d gone out with a woman who had hated that he drank instant coffee, had taken him shopping for a cafetière and tried to get him accustomed to it, and when they’d broken up he’d gone back to his jar of Nescafé as an act of rebellion, a point of working-class pride. This morning he realized that it really did just taste like shit.