‘Anyway, forget about all of that,’ Jack said, swirling his whisky. ‘Come to the casino, have some fun.’

‘I don’t want to go to the damn casino,’ she said, frustration in every word.

‘Stalemate again, ’cos I do.’

She refused to stay and watch him gamble. ‘I’m going home. Maybe, when you’ve sobered up in the morning, you’ll give me a ring.’

He got to his feet, stumbling a little. ‘I think I may have had one too many,’ he slurred, staggering and falling onto the bed.

She waited for him to sit up, but he didn’t, then he was snoring the loud stertorous snore of the very drunk. One after the other, she lifted his legs onto the bed, unlaced and removed his shoes and dropped them to the floor. He’d probably sleep until the morning. She picked up the pencil and pad from the bedside locker, wrote, ring me when you wake, xx, put it on the bed beside him and bent to place a kiss on his cheek, her nose crinkling as the waft of alcohol-laced fumes hit her. He was going to have a massive hangover. She loved him, but the thought gave her a tiny bit of pleasure.

With a final ruffle of his hair, she left the room, a yawn escaping as she made her way toward the lift. Becoming disorientated, she stopped halfway along the corridor and retraced her steps, convinced it was the other direction. When she found herself outside Jack’s room again, she wondered if perhaps she should stay after all. She had her hand on the door handle before she realised, she’d no way of getting back inside. There wasn’t much hope of being able to wake him; that drunk, he’d sleep through the hotel falling down around him. Voices drifting toward her from further along the corridor made her move. At least she could ask them where the damn lift was.

It was, as it happened, just around the corner. She stood waiting for the doors to open, her head beginning to thump. It wasn’t helped by the raucous voices of the group of men who were waiting alongside. When the lift arrived, she stood back, ignoring their wolf whistles and invitations to join them and waited until the lift had gone before pressing the button again, relieved, seconds later, when one of the other lift doors opened. It was empty and, inside, she propped herself against the wall as it dropped to the ground floor.

When the lift opened, she was taken aback by the noise and the crowd. She eased around groups of people until she reached the door she’d come through earlier. It seemed an awful long way to the neon exit sign that flashed ahead of her. Sliding her hand along the wall, she started to walk, feeling the floor sway under her feet. She was so very tired.