‘No, no, no, no…’ Chris was on his feet, plucking notes out of a wad with a silver clip that he had pulled from his back pocket. ‘I’m coming too.’ He paused to drain his glass, firing a what-are-you-looking-at glare at one of their many close neighbours ogling the scene. ‘I shall see you safely back to Kingston,’ he declared grandly, partly for their audience, it seemed to Esther.

‘There really is no need, thanks,’ she murmured, setting off back through the bustle round the bar, regretting even that he knew the area in which she lived.

‘Come on, it’s the least I can do,’ he called, loping after her.

Outside, Esther kept up her stride in the direction of the station, cursing the state of penury that meant there was no question of escaping into a cab. Not that there were any in sight. Chris jogged until he was parallel. ‘Please, Esther, this is no way to end the evening. I talked too much about myself. I know. Surely that—’

‘Sorry, Chris, but I’m just going to head home and would prefer to walk alone. If you don’t mind. Thank you.’ Esther’s voice sounded firm and icy, even to her.

‘Let me call you an Uber, then.’

‘No. Thanks. I’ll take the train.’

‘Okay,’ he said, wan all of a sudden and letting her walk on. ‘Goodbye, then.’

‘Bye,’ she fired back, not looking round as she went even faster, nose in the air and fighting the now familiar sensation of behaving like a total cow. The hopeless mishmash of humans trying to find soulmates struck her with sudden, depressing force – it was always the wrong people wanting the wrong people, looking for a magic she herself had once believed in, but now knew didn’t exist.

On the train she had composed a text, pressing send the moment she got a signal.

Chris, thank you for the evening. Sorry to have ended it so abruptly. I have realised I am just not in the right mind-set for dating at the moment. I wish you all the best. Esther

The street lamp nearest her house was doing its usual on-off flicker, creating an air of menace rather than security. Esther glanced furtively around as she crossed the road. Her throat was swollen with the dumb urge to cry. She had lied to Chris. She didn’t prefer to walk alone. She preferred to walk with someone. For one, unguarded moment, Lucas shimmered as something to miss rather than resent. They had begun so well – thanks to chance rather than dating algorithms.