Jia saw things in black and white; there was no room for grey. She was clear and consistent and hard work, but he loved that about her. She was the most interesting woman he knew, and while they had a similar outlook on life, her experiences meant that she came at things with a unique perspective that intrigued him.

‘It’s sad,’ he said, ‘that you feel that love is a compromise, or shaped by thought processes rather than passion and instinct. Me, I believe in crack-cocaine love, addictive and maddening. It does happen to people, you know. Maybe it’ll happen to you. One day.’

‘Yes, well, it shouldn’t.’

‘You’re crazy,’ he said. ‘But I love you.’ He leaned in to kiss her. She placed her hand between his lips and hers and pushed him away.

‘Don’t be stupid,’ she said.

‘It makes no sense to you, I know. But I love you. Do we have to go through this every time I want to kiss you?’

He was a junkie and she was his addiction. ‘There is nothing I can do about it,’ he told her over and over again. His words wore down her defences and slowly she succumbed. She loved him but was afraid to admit it, choosing instead to put up obstacles and hide behind practicalities.

When, eventually, the question of telling her family about their relationship came up, Jia knew, sure as one and one equals two, that Elyas Ahmad loved her. Even so, he sensed her reluctance.

‘So what’s the problem?’ he’d asked.

‘You know the problem. You can’t be my boyfriend. I can have a husband and a friend but not a boyfriend. It’s just not done. How would I face my mother? And what would I tell my father? I can’t lie to them.’ They had been arguing for hours and she couldn’t get Elyas to understand her predicament.

‘We don’t need permission to live our lives! Why do you still care what your father thinks? Are you afraid of him?’

‘This is not about my father. I may love you and I may have crossed some lines by being in a relationship with you, but I am still a Muslim woman.’

‘And this is why you still refuse to stay the night? No one will know, Jia, so no one will care.’

‘I’ll know and God will know. It doesn’t matter about anyone else.’ Jia knew that this made little sense to the world in which they lived but she had expected Elyas to understand. He didn’t.