Mandy turned back to the woman. Laura carried on walking, calling over her shoulder, “Leave it; she’s not worth it.”

Mandy looked the woman up and down. “Yeah, you’re right,” she said with a sneer. As she turned to leave, the woman slapped her. Mandy saw it coming, but not quick enough to avoid it. When it connected with her face, it didn’t have enough power to send her to the floor, but it still rocked her back on her heels. Her lip stung as if cut, and a moment later, her mouth filled with the coppery tang of blood.

“Jesus!” The younger woman pulled at her friend’s arm.

Laura grabbed Mandy and yanked her towards the door.

“Come on, enough. Let’s get out of here,” she said firmly.

Mandy went with her, stumbling as she tried to get her brain to engage with the rest of her body. The bitch fucking slapped her! What the fuck?

She wiped the blood from her mouth with the back of her hand. The cut stung like fuck. People stared as Laura led her to the cloakroom upstairs. Mandy ignored them.

“Where’s your ticket?” Laura asked her. Mandy rummaged in her pockets, found the green stub, and handed it to the girl working the counter. The girl stared at Mandy’s mouth for a moment, and Laura gave her a dirty look. She hurried to retrieve Mandy’s bag and jacket.

Out in the cool evening air, they walked down Brixton Road towards the Tube station. After a few moments, they came to a bench. Laura tugged Mandy over to it, pushed her down, and stood in front of her.

“You got any tissue to clean that up?” She pointed at Mandy’s lip.

Still in a slight daze, Mandy nodded, undid her bag, and found a packet of travel tissues. She pulled one out and dabbed gently at her lip. After cleaning around the cut, she pressed the tissue against it to staunch the flow. It wasn’t bleeding heavily, but it was annoyingly persistent.

Laura ran her hands through her short hair and puffed out a big sigh as she locked her hands together behind her neck.

“Sorry,” she said, looking down at Mandy.

Mandy waved one hand in the air between them. “Shit, not your fault. You don’t need to apologise. It’s a risk we take in places like that.”

“I know, but… Well, it just fucking annoys me, you know?”

“I know.”