The studio, cushioned away from the world, has a strange effect on time. Hours slip by, and before she knows it, it’s almost five. Where is Cooper? He hasn’t called her back. Swallowing her pride, she texts him. She apologises and suggests that they meet in the morning. I have updates, she adds at the end. And a script for ep 2.

It does the trick. Pulsing dots appear, followed by a message. Apology accepted. Sounds good. I have updates too. Also, podcast listeners over 6K already. Not bad!

Oli smiles. He’s a lot more stubborn than she gave him credit for. She gets to her feet, white spots appearing in her vision as the blood rushes from her head. It’s almost time for her meeting with Bowman.

JULY 2005

JULY 2005

‘Fire!’ Matt’s head disappears from the top of the fence before it reappears as he hoists himself up and over, dropping down the other side. ‘You made a fire.’ He looks at it appreciatively. ‘Fuck, you’re crazy bitches.’

‘You love us,’ Nicole says sardonically. She’s propped up, queen-like, on an old sunlounge that Evelyn bought at an op-shop last summer, wrapped in a mohair blanket.

Matt winks then runs at the homemade bonfire and starts doing a mock tribal dance around its perimeter. He’s as high as a kite.

Alex laughs along with Nicole, but she can’t shake the slightly uneasy feeling that has hovered over her for months. She lights another cigarette and pulls her coat around her. It’s freezing, and she’s not close enough to the flames to catch their warmth.

Nicole grabs a bottle of rum and sloshes some into her glass of Coke.

‘Where’s Evelyn?’ Matt asks in a floaty monotone.

Alex wonders the same thing. Evelyn arrived home earlier, finished with her babysitting job, and dumped her things on the table. Headed straight into the shower. After that, she came into the yard wearing a new outfit: a coat with a fur collar, thigh-high boots. She had a cigarette and a drink but she was subdued, flatter than usual. She took a phone call then left a few minutes later.

Alex wriggles in the wooden deckchair as the gnawing sensation returns to her stomach. She braces her wrists and pushes herself up to sit a bit straighter. It’s got dark, must be at least 9 pm.

‘I think she went to the movies.’ Nicole teases her long hair at the roots, throws the rum bottle onto the grass. ‘She’s probably gone out for a drink afterwards or something.’

Alex nods but looks away. She hasn’t heard from Miles all day. He’s annoyed with her, she can tell. Last week he accused her of being secretive.

If only he knew.