He mumbles something when she knocks on the door. Although it’s indecipherable, she’s sure it’s not a greeting, nor is it an invitation to come in. She steps inside the room anyway, pulling the door closed behind her. Rob looks different in the semi-darkness, his hair ruffled. The duvet only covers his lower half, so she can see that he’s still wearing the T-shirt he wore yesterday. She needs to help this man; it’s her fault he’s unravelling. He didn’t have to become this person.

She sits on the end of the bed. ‘Rob, I think you might need to talk and, well, I’m quite a good listener. I know things are a bit weird between us right now, but please just talk to me.’ She sounds like she’s his wife, and she wonders if this annoys him.

Rob rolls over onto his back, looks at her with an expression she can’t work out. ‘Haven’t we said enough?’ he says. ‘I have, at least.’

‘I understand why you’re angry with me, but can you see that not only am I looking out for Jackson, but I want you to be okay too? And… you’re drinking all the time. You don’t even seem to care about work any more.’

‘I’m fine at work.’

‘Just because you’re going in every day, doesn’t mean you’re fine.’

‘You’re not my mother, Sienna. I have enough of this from her, so can you please just back off?’

She tries not to take his words personally. ‘I’m just saying this because I care.’

He stares at her. ‘You really do, don’t you? Even though I’ve been an arsehole to you, blaming you for everything.’

‘I understand that. I know your anger comes from a place of pain.’

Rob sits up in bed, swinging his legs out so he’s sitting closer to her. She knows what he’s about to do – it plays out like a film in her mind. He leans towards her and in less than a second his mouth is on hers, the weight of him leaning into her.

She pushes him off, so hard that he falls back against the headboard. ‘No, Rob. That’s not going to happen.’

He stares at her; there’s no shame or regret scrawled on his face. He doesn’t care that she’s rejected him because it’s not her he wants. ‘I detest you, Sienna,’ he says, calmly, reaching down to the floor for his trousers. ‘You play people like pawns in a game of chess, and you don’t even know you’re doing it half the time. You and Greg were as bad as each other. I should never have listened to him when he told me Abby…’ He stops. ‘I need to get out of here.’

She freezes. ‘What are you talking about?’