My mouth was full, so I had time to construct my answer. ‘I was mugged last year and kept meaning to learn some moves.’

‘Jesus. There’s some fuckers around aren’t there.’ He shook his head in disgust.

I nodded, glad my mouth was full. I couldn’t tell him I was dating one.

‘Ben all right?’ he asked.

‘Think so, haven’t seen much of him.’

‘No, me either. Must be all loved up.’

A pang in my chest deflated the elation of the morning.

‘Guess so,’ I replied.

‘Are you seeing anyone?’ he asked, a smile playing on his lips.

‘Yes, well, sort of. It’s early days.’ We’ll have broken up come the weekend.

Jason shrugged slightly, more to himself than to me. I wasn’t intending to be another notch on his bedpost, although perhaps I was being unfair. He’d been nothing but generous to me, even if he had turned out to be a slave driver.

I showered and left to go to my appointment with Doctor Almara. More prepared after the self-defence demonstration but still terrified of being alone with Ian. Not knowing his plan, if he even had one, unnerved me. It was like playing cat and mouse, but I wasn’t sure which one of us was the mouse? This could all be a game to him. After all, physically, I was hardly a threat.

I managed to make it to the psychiatrist’s office in time for my appointment and she welcomed me warmly.

‘Eve, good to see you. How are you?’ Today she wore a striking burnt orange trouser suit, blending into the Moroccan tones of her office. Her smile was wide and genuine, my ears burned as she took me in.

‘I’m good, thank you,’ I replied, trying to focus on why I was here.

‘What would you like to talk about today?’ she asked.

‘I wanted to ask a question, actually.’

‘Okay, go ahead.’

‘About behaviour, and where it comes from.’

‘In what context?’

‘How would you determine if someone was a danger to society?’

The question didn’t invoke a reaction, she merely curved the corner of her mouth a little. She leant forward in her seat. ‘How do you mean? Dangerous in what way?’

‘To others, violent. Say a psychopath, for example.’

‘Well, there would be a number of contributing factors and personality traits that could identify a potential psychopath, but there aren’t as many out there as Hollywood would have you believe.’

‘What kind of personality traits?’

‘A lack of remorse or guilt, for example, also the ability to deceive others. They would be charming and excellent at manipulation. A psychopath would be impulsive, unable to accept responsibility for their actions and likely promiscuous, with little empathy for others.’

I took it all in. Doctor Almara was doing her best to not to ask any probing questions.