They went back into the communal hallway and Kirsty closed the front door, the hinges squeaking noisily. They heard a door close above them and Mary came into view, heaving a large suitcase down the stairs. She smiled when she saw Jamie and Kirsty, and they waited for her to reach the bottom of the stairs. As she descended, the smell of some herb or flower that neither Jamie nor Kirsty recognised, drifted ahead of her.

‘How are you both?’ Mary asked in a concerned tone. Jamie had told her about Paul – who she said she had seen coming and going – when he had bumped into her a couple of weeks before.

‘Oh, not bad. Just waiting to see what happens.’ He shrugged sadly.

(Kirsty told Jamie later that she was convinced Mary was going to suggest some kind of herbal remedy to rouse Paul from his coma. ‘If she had,’ Kirsty said, ‘I would have really lost my temper.’)

‘That’s the worst part, isn’t it? Waiting. Hoping time will heal.’

Jamie nodded. ‘That’s exactly right.’

Mary touched him at the top of his arm, then did the same to Kirsty. She opened her mouth to say something, then changed her mind.

‘Are you going on holiday?’ Jamie asked, gesturing towards the suitcase.

‘I wish. But I’m going to a convention in Birmingham. It’s a kind of trade fair for practitioners of alternative medicine. I go every year. Actually, I was going to come and knock on your door because I need to ask you a small favour. Would you mind feeding Lennon for me while I’m away? I’ll only be gone three nights.’

‘Sure. No problem at all.’

Mary fished her keys out of her bag and handed them to Jamie. ‘I’ve left the tins of food on the worktop in the kitchen. He won’t need feeding now until tomorrow morning. Half a tin morning and night.’

‘I’ll pop in before I go to work.’

‘That’s marvellous. Thank you so much.’

When Mary had gone and Jamie and Kirsty were in their flat, Kirsty said, ‘I think she fancies you.’

‘Don’t be silly.’

‘Haven’t you noticed the way she looks at you?’

‘What way?’

‘Like she wants to eat you for breakfast.’

‘You’re loopy. Although, of course, one couldn’t blame her if she had developed an overwhelming lust for someone as gorgeous as me. It would only be natural, after all.’

‘That’s right. I’ve had such a terrible life since we got together, fighting other women off you, never a moment’s peace.’

Their laughter filled the flat, and as they laughed the tension in the air dissipated. Jamie put Mary’s keys down on his desk, where the writing pad lay open, displaying the rough first draft of their letter.

‘Do you want a drink?’ he said, going to the fridge and taking out a bottle of wine.