‘I know that, Jonny, but tonight I realised how much I’ve lost out on. You lot together, having a laugh, a few drinks. I miss that. Not that I ever did anything like tonight, but I used to meet the blokes after work in the West End, you know. Not any more, though, Cynthia has me on a bloody schedule. She knows my movements better than I do, plus I’m not running the firm, not even going upwards if truth be told. I haven’t got what it takes for the office politics. I congratulate men younger than me when they get promoted over my head. My kids live at their grandparents’ house. Not that my parents ever get a look in with the kids – they’ve never been allowed to see them. I just don’t know how this all happened to me. I don’t know how to make it all right.’

Jonny threw the cigarette into the road, and immediately lit another one. He was genuinely sorry for the man, even though he couldn’t help feeling that the situation was all of his own making. Having been brought up by a woman who was like Cynthia, having seen the damage someone like her was capable of causing to the men who were unlucky enough to love them, he could understand the man’s predicament. And he had been on the receiving end of Cynthia himself, when he had been enamoured with her and her lush body for a while. But, unlike James Tailor, he had seen her for what she was before it was too late. His father’s example was always with him, and he knew that a big part of Celeste’s attraction was that she was the complete opposite to Cynthia. He knew that with her he wouldn’t have to fight for supremacy in the relationship; all he would have to do was love her and take care of her. That would be more than enough for her, and she would be loyal to him till her dying day.

‘Look, Jimmy, I know the score, but you have to sort this out yourself. You have to put your foot down, let her know who’s boss.’

Jimmy laughed then, and it was almost as if he really found the conversation hilarious. ‘Easier said than done, Jonny! She has this knack of saying things in such a way you have to believe she’s in the right. We are in so much debt, she spends money like it’s going out of fashion and, when we discuss it, I end up feeling like I’m the one who’s in the wrong. She convinces me that it’s not her getting us into the debt in the first place that’s the problem, but it’s my inability to pay said debts which is.’