‘Show me your leg,’ I said, changing the subject. The phone shook when she picked it up and she only had the shakes when she needed a drink. Perhaps she was sober? The camera wobbled as she showed me her bandaged shin and the surrounding papery skin.

‘It’s fine, it’ll heal.’

‘Make sure you keep it elevated,’ I instructed.

Her phone beeped.

‘My battery is going,’ she said as I heard another beep, then she was gone.

Monday 30 October 2017

I woke filled with positive thoughts for the day ahead. My new gym schedule was going to start. Everyone who had a gym membership went on a Monday, didn’t they? I just had to pick the same time he went. I knew I’d bump into him eventually if I went every day, and it was safer than waiting outside his flat. I guessed it would more likely be after work rather than before. The anticipation made my stomach churn. I was impatient to find out more about him. What he did? Where he worked? It was strange to try and make the pieces fit. Like a double-sided jigsaw puzzle; one side didn’t correspond with the other.

Ben was moving around the kitchen, so I was reluctant to emerge from under the duvet. I was still pissed off about coming home to find Amy in my kitchen, which was irrational. There were no rules to say he couldn’t bring girls back, but I took an instant dislike to her.

‘Morning,’ Ben said, shovelling cornflakes into his mouth when I joined him, unable to ignore my rumbling stomach any longer.

‘Morning,’ I replied curtly. It was half past eight and in half an hour Debbie would be logging on and checking her emails. If I knew Debbie, she’d be on the phone by ten. I didn’t want to involve her, but I knew she wouldn’t ask any awkward questions.

‘You said you wanted to talk? When I got back,’ Ben said in between mouthfuls.

‘Did I? I can’t remember,’ I lied.

‘What have you been up to then whilst I’ve been away?’

‘Nothing.’ It was easier with my back to him as I busied myself making tea and toast. I needed to up my game, I was a rubbish liar.

‘Fuck sake, Eve.’ I heard the clang of his spoon against the china bowl and spun round. ‘What’s going on, one minute we’re fine, the next you don’t want to talk to me,’ he snarled.

‘That’s rich coming from you. Before your course, you hadn’t spoken to me for over a week.’

He shrugged and pushed his bowl away. I saw him squeezing his jaw tight. The tension between us was palpable.

‘I’m sorry you were attacked. Fuck, I can’t even imagine what it must be like to be raped but…’