‘Right. I’m going to go before I get all soppy and start blubbing. That wouldn’t be a pretty sight.’

‘No.’

They hugged again. Kirsty had tears in her eyes. Jamie felt a hard knot in his throat and tried to swallow it.

‘Take care,’ he said.

‘And you.’

They watched Paul walk off down the hill, then went back inside. Jamie looked around the flat. It seemed a little emptier, even though Paul had only been here an hour. Maybe it was that his life felt a little emptier.

Kirsty said, ‘I’m going to bed.’

‘But it’s only six o’clock.’

‘I know. But I’m so tired. I feel sick, I’ve got a headache and my back hurts.’

‘Do you want me to give you a massage?’

‘That would be lovely.’

She sat on the edge of the bed with Jamie kneeling behind her. She kept her bra on and Jamie had a pang for the days when she would undress completely and lie on her front. He squirted massage oil into his palms, rubbing his slippery hands together to warm them. He pushed his hands over her shoulder blades, moving his thumbs in small circles to penetrate the tense muscle tissue.

‘Hmm, that feels nice.’

‘Good.’ He concentrated on the massage for a few minutes. After a while, he said, ‘Do you want to know what Paul did before he came round here?’

‘Mmm. What?’

‘He went to see Lucy and Chris.’

She turned her head. ‘You’re joking.’

‘I wish I was.’

‘What the hell did he do that for?’

‘He still seems to think they’re alright. He even tried to persuade me of the fact.’

‘Did you tell him about all the things they’ve done?’

‘I’ve told him before. But he still thinks Chris is a really good bloke. And guess what? While I was outside, talking to Paul, Chris came out and said hello to me.’

Kirsty turned around so Jamie had to stop massaging her. ‘What did you say to him?’

‘I didn’t really say anything. I was so shocked I nearly fell over.’

‘You should have told him to get lost.’

‘I couldn’t. Not with Paul there, and them being all matey.’

She exhaled. ‘Maybe it’s a good job Paul is going away.’

‘I don’t know. Maybe if Paul was acting as a sort of go-between, we could become friends with Chris and Lucy again.’

‘What?’

‘I don’t know. It’s just…maybe Paul’s right. Maybe Chris is an alright bloke. Sometimes, Kirsty, sometimes I feel like all this is going on inside my head. That I’ve imagined half of it. What if we were being really noisy and they were within their rights to complain? Surely the spiders were just spiders, like everyone gets. And maybe I did send that virus, by accident.’