Besides, how did she tell her best friend that she’d tried talking to her about the same things she shared with Brody, but that Gabi just hadn’t been able to listen. Not in the way Anna had needed her to. That would only hurt her feelings, and she’d been trying so hard. And it wasn’t Gabi’s fault – she just hadn’t been through anything similar like Brody had.

They paused their conversation as the class came to an end, then took their drinks and moved to a quieter corner of the room. ‘Okay,’ Gabi said, as they sat down. ‘Do you still want to go to salsa, or do we need to find a new activity?’

‘I’m happy to keep going with salsa,’ Anna replied. ‘I wouldn’t want to deprive you and Lee of the chance to see each other.’

Gabi smiled, and her face glowed. Things had been going well with Lee in the last two months. Very well, seeing as they were now official. Anna was so pleased for her – it was about time Gabi had someone who showered her with attention like this. She was crossing her fingers that this guy didn’t turn out like all the others. However, Lee’s job as a police officer made his social life challenging, and Gabi’s wasn’t much better. He and Gabi had to take the chance to meet up whenever they could.

‘How about lettering? Like the pretty bullet journals on Instagram? I saw an advert for a class in the art supplies shop when I was picking up new paintbrushes for work. You were always good at design.’

It was the sort of thing Anna would have been interested in, once upon a time. She weighed the idea up in her mind, tried to get excited about it, but it was like attempting to start a car with a flat battery – there were a couple of hopeful flickers and then, well, everything flatlined.

‘I think, just like with the job, trying yet another class isn’t going to solve anything.’

‘But—’

‘Not that I don’t appreciate your input,’ Anna added hastily, ‘and that I don’t enjoy most of them. It’s just that I think it’s deeper than that. I need to find a sense of purpose to life again.’

‘That’s why it is good to do classes,’ Gabi replied. ‘To help you find that spark.’

‘Yes and no,’ Anna said. How did she explain this? ‘It’s a bit of a catch-22 situation. The classes are all well and good, but without that spark inside to start off with, there’s nothing to ignite, nothing to fan into flame. The activities just become something else to cross off on a tick list.’ She sighed. ‘You were right – I am a zombie. Something’s dead inside, Gabi – there is no life, no passion – and I don’t know how to get it back again.’

Gabi swilled the gin around her glass and stared into it for a moment. ‘Maybe it’s like this…’