The tablets sat on one of the shelves of the bathroom cabinet. They’d probably help her sleep but she remembered the disconnected feeling she’d experienced after the pain relief she’d had in the hospital and shook her head. She was meeting Stuart in the morning, she wanted to be sharp. Instead, and with reluctance, she took a couple of paracetamols. They were enough to take the edge off the ongoing discomfort, but still she slept fitfully, waking finally at five, unable to drift back to sleep.

She lay quietly and listened as the house woke; the rattle and hiss of the central heating, the creak of the floorboards, and finally the hum of the electric shower that told her Jack was up. He’d slept in the spare room again. ‘In case I might hurt you unintentionally,’ he’d said. She’d not had the energy to argue with him.

Only when she heard the front door shutting, did she push herself gingerly from the bed, relieved to be feeling a little better. A peek through the window told her the weather, at least, was in her favour. It was a blue-sky day; she wouldn’t need to battle with an umbrella.

By the time she’d showered and dressed, it was almost nine. She debated taking some more paracetamol but decided against. If nothing else, the aches and pains kept her focused. Unable to drag up any enthusiasm for food, she drank coffee as she watched the clock and wondered what it was that Stuart was so desperate to tell her.

At ten, she pulled on her coat. It wouldn’t normally take her an hour to get to Casper’s, but she needed to walk slowly, too many parts of her body ached to move with speed. She took a different road; crossed in a different place, but fear shadowed her from the moment she left Victoria station and she was almost in tears by the time she saw the café loom into view.

What an incredibly stupid idea this had been. There were thousands of places she could have suggested meeting Stuart. Stupid bravado, it would be the death of her. What on earth was she trying to prove? A tremor ran through her as she pushed open the door and stepped inside.

She was surprised that Stuart had agreed to meet her here. He must know about what had happened on Friday by now. Even if Jack hadn’t told him, he’d have no doubt mentioned it to someone in the office and the story would have spread. Scanning the café, she saw he hadn’t yet arrived. It wasn’t quite eleven, she was early.