Zara didn’t hang about. Her expression inscrutable, and her eyes focused on something far down the corridor, she blanked both Mike and the nurse and marched on ahead.

‘Zara! Wait a minute.’

Near to tears, Zara hurried her stride to the lift, hoping to slip inside before it closed, so she could avoid having to face her fiancé. But then he was there in full view, looking ashen-faced with shock and powerless to do or say anything as the doors closed on what in reality was a chapter of her life.

So he didn’t hang about. First Jennifer, then back to Jackie, and now a nurse. She wondered if their own relationship hadn’t been so much a mistake but an actual out-and-out lie. Or had she foolishly believed it was more than it really was?

Mike walked back along the corridor with his head down, feeling utterly miserable. Constance, unsure of what had just happened, chose to be thick-skinned and continued with her play for Mike. She offered a generous smile and gained back his attention.

‘Er, sorry about that. I wanted to talk to, um . . . Oh, never mind. Sorry, Constance, what were you saying?’

Constance spotted the auxiliary room ajar, and in a blink of an eye, she’d grabbed Mike’s arm and led him inside.

‘Hey, what’s going on?’ asked Mike, now nervously laughing.

‘I just thought we could have a more private conversation,’ replied Constance, in a slow, seductive voice.

Mike didn’t know how to react. He wasn’t in the right frame of mind, and it had been a long time since he’d had the eye from another woman.

Constance wasn’t going to hang about. She stepped nearer and placed both her arms around his neck and tried to pull him closer. At first, he was rigid, but then his muscles relaxed as her come-to-bed eyes lured him in.

‘Why don’t you come over to mine for dinner tonight?’

Flushing slightly with embarrassment and feeling a little warm, Mike gently removed her hands. ‘Why not? Listen, babe, I need to see to Ricky before I shoot off.’ He pulled his phone from his pocket and handed it to her. ‘’Ere, stick your number in there, and I’ll call you later.’

Constance added her number, winked, and said, ‘See you tonight, then, handsome.’

***

Zara’s eyes were firmly on the road ahead, but her mind was faraway. The excitement of the new cars meant nothing now; driving home, feeling so flat, she wasn’t aware of a black BMW 7 Series following her at a discreet distance all the way to her home.

***

A sound outside alerted Poppy. She looked at her bedside clock. 3 a.m. She listened to footsteps on the drive and someone entering the house. Sod it, she thought, I need a drink now.