Simon no longer flinched when Charlie said ‘sexy’ or ‘sex’. He didn’t seem to be afraid of the act itself these days either. He was mellowing in many ways – all ways, really, that didn’t relate to his work. He now ate food in pubs and occasionally restaurants in front of other people, not just Charlie, without being in a bad mood about it and trying to find a way to avoid it happening. For the first time in years, Charlie had a sex life that made her happy. The only downside was that the unmistakeable change for the better could never be mentioned or, God forbid, discussed. Simon was still Simon; an attempt to drag it into the light might drive him away again. Charlie wasn’t prepared to risk it. Unable to talk about the improvement and the possible reasons behind it, she felt as if she couldn’t rely on it lasting.

‘Well?’ Simon was still waiting for her amateur sleuthing report.

‘I pretended to get the tube – went down into the underground so that I was out of sight, counted to ten, then went back up again to street level. There was no sign of Liv. I thought, “Well, I’ve lost her, haven’t I?” As you do if you say goodbye to someone in central London and then walk away. Chances of finding them again are close to zero, but I headed towards the main station, feeling stupid about my hunch that was probably going to amount to nothing, and there she was. I followed her into the station. She went to stand in front of the high-up screens with the train times on. I hovered at a safe distance, closer to Kiosk than to her—’

‘To where?’

‘Kiosk. You know,’ Charlie said impatiently. ‘The place sort of under the arch that does the amazing hot sandwiches – pork and apple sauce, salt beef … I usually get the pork one. It’s so good. They always give you a free bit of crackling with it too, which is the best bit.’

‘Never heard of it,’ said Simon.

‘It doesn’t matter. Point is, I kept out of the way and Liv didn’t see me. She was in a world of her own anyway, not looking out for me.’

‘She’d said goodbye to you. Most people don’t expect to be tailed.’