Ginger was unimpressed. ‘And you thought you would get away with it.’

I felt my face flush with shame.

‘Yes,’ I said. ‘And that.’

‘That’s why men are unfaithful. Because they think they’ve earned it. Because they think they deserve a little sugar in their bowl after eating all of life’s boring vegetables. And because they think no one will ever know. Opportunity, Tara. Men have been doing it for years.’ She shook her head, and I saw something soften inside her, and she reached out and touched my hand across the stained Formica tabletop. ‘I guess it’s our turn now.’

‘I don’t want my turn, Ginger.’

I was afraid she would stop liking me. I could see a world where everyone I loved would stop loving me, and think less of me, if only they knew. But Ginger nodded grimly and she patted my hand.

‘We are going to get you through this,’ she said, nodding at the phone. ‘Kawaii? Do me a favour. What kind of sick bastard takes photographs of a woman when she’s sleeping? That’s outrageous! There’s bugger all kawaii about it, mate.’

Ginger’s anger was making her more Australian. And I felt the first stirring of resentment. Yes – what right did he have to take my photograph when I was sleeping? Christian never took a photo of me when I was sleeping. Not in all our years together, not in all those three thousand nights.

‘Do you want to see him again?’ Ginger said. ‘This James Caine creep?’

‘See him again? What are you talking about?’

‘Are you planning to have an affair with him?’

‘Christ, no. It was one night, Ginger. And I will regret it all my life.’

‘Then it’s simple. If you’re going to have something on the side, if you are going to sneak into hotel rooms in the afternoon, if you are going to be worried about who you bump into at restaurants, if you are going to be hiding your phone from your husband – then it’s complicated. You know why? Because someone always falls in love and someone always finds out. And everyone – everyone – always gets hurt.’

She knew so much about it. She sounded, I thought suddenly, like the world expert on infidelity. She sounded like she could teach a masterclass in playing around. She sounded as if there were fault lines in her marriage that I had not noticed before.

‘But if you don’t want a repeat performance, Tara, then you need to do one thing – get him to back off,’ Ginger said. ‘You need to send him the signal that what happened ended out there and that, as far as you’re concerned, it never even really began.’ She indicated the phone. ‘Because I have to say this makes it look like he wants more of you.’

I was shocked. ‘You mean – call him?’

‘Yes, call him. Text him. DM him. Whatever it takes. Whatever works. You might need to look him in the eye before he finally backs off.’