He really was rather animalistic, she noted with distaste as she smiled her hellos to the table and sat down in the empty seat next to him. It was clearly being saved for Paula, and she waited with interest to see if he would mention his wife.

‘Did you have a good day?’ he asked, and without waiting for a reply he went on, ‘Found a cute little sports bar, didn’t I?’

She watched him eat, realising he was already on his main course. She frowned, and asked, ‘Where’s Paula?’

He glanced up, something flickering across his face. ‘Didn’t she come down with you?’ he asked.

She shook her head. ‘I was late getting ready, so I assumed she would already be here.’

He stood up, and Anna was surprised that he would be so chivalrous as to go and look for her. Instead, he picked up his empty plate. ‘Back in a sec,’ he said, and wove his way through the tables towards the buffet.

After a moment, she got up and followed him. She gave in to her body’s demands and selected a small lamb chop with a rocket side salad. She had heavy physical work to do later on tonight and the last thing she needed was to become light-headed and topple through the railings, following Mark to his watery grave.

She picked at the meat, trying not to let her disgust show as a white strip of fat glistened on the bone. She pushed it to one side, eating only the darker, well-cooked meat. She forced the rocket salad into her mouth and washed it down with copious amounts of water. After a few minutes she was entirely full.

One by one the other occupants of the table fell away, until it was just Tommy and Anna. Without a word being spoken, they moved to the plush couch by the glass wall and looked out at the black night. It was impossible to tell where the sky ended and the sea began. Grey-black clouds drifted across the moon.

‘No Northern Lights tonight,’ said Tommy gloomily as he put his beer bottle down on the table.

Anna stared at it, then glanced at the five other empty bottles on their dinner table. He would have had several in the sports bar too. She sipped at her own lime and soda before abandoning it – the carbonated water only served to make her feel uncomfortably bloated.

‘I might turn in,’ she said with a smile. ‘Shall we walk back together?’ She leaned forward, her normal trick of allowing him a good view down her low-cut top, though only for a second, as she reached for her clutch bag.

He nodded dumbly, and together they made their way through the almost empty restaurant.