Jodie and Flynn went on three dates in quick succession. The Friday night meeting for drinks leading to dinner on Saturday and Sunday. Jodie was bemused by her feelings for Flynn. It wasn’t simply because he was so good to look at, it was a connection she’d never felt with any man she’d ever dated. She wasn’t normally given to airy-fairy stuff, but it was something almost mystical.

‘I feel the same,’ he’d said when she tried to explain. ‘Almost from the first moment I saw you, I knew I had to be with you.’

From any other guy she’d met, Jodie would have assumed they were simply trying to get her into bed but Flynn was different, she knew he was. For starters, he wasn’t pressing her to sleep with him. In fact, when she’d explained that she was working an early shift on Sunday, he’d insisted that they ate early in Gravesend on the Saturday, after which he walked her home and kissed her gently on the lips before leaving to catch the train home.

On Sunday afternoon, they’d met in London and gone for a stroll along the embankment, holding hands, stopping now and then to kiss like teenagers. Jodie was working a twelve-hour shift on the Monday, so once again, they’d had an early dinner. Afterwards, he’d walked her to her train and waved till it was out of sight.

Feeling blissfully content, Jodie rested her shoulder against the window. She was oblivious to the city as it trundled past, seeing only Flynn’s face in her mind’s eye, and when her phone beeped, she smiled, knowing it was him.

Missing you already xxx

Me too xxx

She put her phone away and rested her head back. Two twelve-hour shifts to work until she was free on Wednesday and she’d see him that night. In Gravesend. Dinner at an Italian restaurant not far from her house on Wilfred Street. It had been her choice, she knew what she was doing. Flynn was the best thing that had happened to her in a long time, maybe ever. What was she waiting for?

Monday turned out to be a nightmare. Of the six care assistants who were supposed to be on shift in the nursing home that day, three rang in sick. The night nurse had done her best, had rung every member of staff who wasn’t working to beg them to come in and managed to get one. Only when the night nurse had tried everyone, was she allowed to call an agency. By that stage it was after seven, the shift started at eight and any agency staff available had already been allocated work.