She shifted uneasily from one foot to the other, not ready to tell him her real reasons for visiting, instead talking about other things. ‘I’ve been meeting with my father’s old cronies,’ she said. ‘Remember them?’ He nodded, now as interested in her words as her lips. He blocked out his questions, wanting her to keep talking. He also wanted her to stop. She noticed the light behind his eyes, the one that would come alive when he was wrestling a knotty problem or when he was pursuing her. She wanted to see it burn and so she began telling him about her meeting with the Jirga, the things they had said, the way it had made her feel. As she spoke, bits of Jia Khan, criminal barrister, began to fall away until she was just Jia. The words spilled out of her, and she let them. She knew he would clean up the mess; he was the only one who could. He always had been, hadn’t he?

He listened quietly and when he finally spoke it was only to say, ‘Perhaps warm milk would’ve been better, then?’ She laughed. Maybe at his joke, maybe at herself for being there, maybe because if she didn’t she’d cry. She didn’t really know which it was.

‘Yes, perhaps,’ she said, then added, ‘I want to stay…’

He was about to say something about their son being in the house and the inappropriateness of the situation when she kissed him. He pulled away, unsure of what was happening. She leaned in closer, her warm breath caressing his neck. ‘I want to fuck your brains out,’ she whispered. He decided he would leave the emotional fallout until tomorrow.

She bit him, she gnawed at his lips, she sucked the kisses out of his mouth. Her hands held him fast and tight, and he let her. They moved to the bed, falling into it as they had when they were young, but this time it was more about forgetting than making memories. His mind kept wandering and he kept dragging it back. What would he tell their son in the morning? That was the difference between youth and age. Youth was always in a hurry, while age was eager to slow everything down, to think things through before acting.