It’s not OK, but she’s disappeared through the back. Shit. I grab my bag and slink out of the room, beaten. For another brief moment, I want to cry. But I bite it back. Looks like I’m going to be getting to know the barman after all.

There are a few others in the bar area now. A couple of businessmen in suits on the high stools at the bar. A tanned couple with umbrella’d drinks and their faces stuck in the Lonely Planet. The blonde is sitting on her own, a tall glass of beer in front of her. She’s gazing out of the huge windows, watching the hordes of ant-like humans going about their business.

I hesitate, not sure whether to approach her, but before I can make up my mind, she turns around and sees me.

She looks confused, just for a second, then she smiles. ‘Hey. You were in the travel centre, weren’t you? Did you get sorted?’

I shake my head. ‘Sold out. I need to rethink my plans.’ She just stares at me, saying nothing, and I stand there feeling a bit awkward. ‘That beer looks good.’ I smile at her, nod towards her glass. The condensation is trickling slowly down the sides, and suddenly I am so thirsty, I have to fight the urge to pick it up and sink it in one. When did I last have a cold drink? The water in the bottle I’ve been lugging around with me all day is so hot now I could probably use it to make tea.

‘Tsing Tao,’ she says. ‘Sounds all exotic back home, but it’s cheap and nasty here. Even in this place.’

‘Mind if I join you?’

She moves her laptop over to the far side of the table and gestures towards the empty seat opposite. ‘Be my guest.’

I’ve barely sat down when a smiling woman appears at my side, asking me what I want to order. I return the smile and point at the beer.

‘One of these. Unless you want another?’

The blonde shakes her head. ‘Not yet. Thanks, though.’

‘I’m Violet,’ I tell her. ‘I—’

‘Carrie,’ she says, offering me a small, lightly tanned hand. ‘So where were you trying to buy a ticket for?’

The woman returns with a tray. We wait patiently while she lays down a white paper coaster with a frill around the edge and places the glass carefully on top. Then she lifts a bowl of unshelled peanuts off the tray and places it down in the middle of the table. She smiles and gives me a small half-bow, and I thank her and take a long drink. It tastes like heaven, and I already feel more relaxed.