Hopefully it would be enough to pique his interest. When I saw him, I would make something up, a day out shopping with a friend or visiting relatives, but for now he could wonder. I called Jane briefly, she’d been on shift this weekend and had a tough week by all accounts, covering for a colleague on the oncology unit. Doctor Lush was throwing her a leaving party on Sunday 28 January and had hired the upstairs of a local pub. I could hear her wavering about going, although she wouldn’t admit it. She’d fallen for him hard. I promised I’d be there if I didn’t manage to catch up with her next weekend. There was no way I was going to miss saying goodbye to my best friend and wishing her well on her travels.

Monday 15 January 2018

The tables were turned when I arrived at the gym at five o’clock on Monday to work out. I’d spent all day buried in Jason’s accounts, trying to make sense of the mountain of receipts he’d shoved in a drawer and enter them into a spreadsheet. I was starting to regret the decision to work at the boxing club. I hardly had any time to train and my job description seemed to involve everything from cleaning the showers and washing the towels to strategising a marketing campaign. I didn’t mind variety, but it was a joke.

I started off on the treadmill, knowing Ian would normally arrive around half an hour after me; he’d told me he worked until five and came straight there. An hour later, I was already on weights, the last part of my workout, and he still hadn’t showed. I toyed with asking Ahmed but didn’t want to appear clingy. Ian hadn’t responded to my text the night before. He said nothing about not being be around. Maybe he’d got caught up in something at work?

I dragged it out for as long as I could before going home to a microwave meal. I stared at my phone after dinner, willing it to beep. It was strange being desperate for contact from someone you despised. There would be no butterflies when he finally got in touch, just relief. Ben would have found it amusing for sure, watching me getting uptight, but he was working tonight, and I hadn’t seen him all day.

I switched the television on, looking for some distraction when a text came through from Ian.

I’m outside.

What the fuck? Outside where? Seconds later there was a loud knocking at the door. I jumped, my body quivered, alerted to the fact something was wrong. I checked my phone again, unable to put the two together. Ian was here? He couldn’t be. He didn’t know where I lived, did he?