The designer shades, which I continued to sport on top of my head, helped accessorise this new, more self-assured, persona. I wasn’t one to harbour illusions pertaining to my perception of others. I’ve always prided myself in recognising the reality of a person, adept at peeling away superficial layers which cover up insecurities. However, when I saw Amber for the first time after so long, I wondered what all the fuss had been about. How had I ever fallen for this sad pathetic excuse of a woman? While I preferred women without the adornment of chemically enhanced make-up, I did wonder why Amber hadn’t made even the smallest of efforts.

‘Hi, Arthur,’ she offered blandly as she tied the scrawny animal against the table leg. One of its paws was covered in a dirty white bandage, which it licked and worried. She didn’t lean in to kiss me and while a lesser individual might have taken this as a slight, a rebuff, I felt enormous relief. There was a definite smell of dog in the air and I didn’t want to get too close.

‘Amber, you look well,’ I lied. ‘Coffee? One sugar?’ How wondrous, to be in control. To no longer desire an object which once held you in its thrall was sweet. It felt like a victory. A click of the fingers would have won her back. A mild pang of regret that she looked so pathetic flitted past.

We sat outside in the warm sunshine and I was next to speak.

‘Amber, where have you been? What have you been doing? Jeez, it was such a surprise seeing you at the cinema. I didn’t know you were back.’

I unwound my silken scarf, slid it from my neck and displayed the expensive label, face upwards, on the table. Amber took off her thin threadbare gloves and patted the dog absent-mindedly on the head.

‘I got back about a year ago. I’m teaching again at Fortis Primary School. What about you?’ Her eyes were ringed by dark patches and I thought of pandas. Broken veins blemished the back of her white hands. Hands, once so delicate and bird like, now reminded me of claws; talons of an ugly scavenger.

‘I travel round the country selling my drugs. I sold the pharmacy when I got a good offer.’

We engaged in fifteen minutes of mindless chit-chat before I asked, casually, about her love life. ‘Are you settled at last? The handsome guy you were with at the cinema,’ I teased, increasingly impatient for information and to be on my way.

‘No, I’m not. That was Mitch. We’ve been together off and on for some time. I went to Italy with him, remember?’

The dog started to choke, making wild retching noises, as it spat up white bits of chewed gauze. Amber disappeared to get the animal a bowl of water.