I shivered and stiffened in his arms as he leaned towards me. I tried to relax as he spent the next few minutes pawing me in the dark. Pressed against him in a passionate embrace while I was trying to find my ‘happy place’. The feel of his hands over my body made me shudder and I counted in my head until it was over. Praying he wasn’t going to take it too far. I didn’t want to anger him by pushing him away A fumble in the dark, groping and stolen kisses that filled me with revulsion. I felt soiled and the urge to go back inside the gym to shower him off me was strong.

‘Get a room,’ came a deep voice from behind Ian. He pulled away and we both looked at the man walking past; clutching a can of beer and chuckling to himself. My knees buckled, grateful for the interruption.

‘What fucking business it is of yours?’ Ian spat, which made the man laugh even more.

‘Oooooooohhhhhhh,’ he replied in a high pitched mocking wail.

‘Fuck off,’ Ian said dismissively as the man staggered where he stood.

‘And if I don’t?’

Ian moved as quick as a flash, my grip on his sleeve lost. Seconds later, the man was on the ground, with Ian leaning over him. Pulling his arm back, Ian slammed his fist into the man’s face, twice. I gasped, watching blood fly from his mouth. Teeth awash with red drool. My veins filled with ice as the scene played out before me. I stood frozen, powerless to intervene, as the man’s head bounced off the concrete, eyes rolling back into his skull.

Ian stood up, smoothed his hair and stepped over the man as though he had always been there. My body shook, unwilling to respond to my brain screaming at me to run.

‘Come on, let’s get you home,’ he said, putting his arm firmly around me and leading me away.

We walked for five minutes, neither of us speaking. Was that on Ahmed’s CCTV? I knew there were cameras at the front, but what about the sides? We headed towards my flat before I mustered the courage to disentangle myself from him.

‘You don’t need to walk me, I’ll be fine from here,’ I said, my voice drifting away into the wind.

Ian looked at me, trying to read my staged smile.

‘I’m sorry I lost my temper,’ he said, not sounding in the least bit sorry.

‘He was an arsehole,’ I offered, to appease him.

Ian’s face relaxed and a smile played on his lips. I had said the right thing.

‘He was,’ he replied simply. He kissed me goodbye and turned back in the direction of his apartment.