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To buy a new washing machine for his flat.’
    â€˜Not to worry. I don’t mind going on my own.’
    And while he was looking at paintings, I’d be looking at electrical appliances.
    â€˜I’ll see you later, Alex.’
    â€˜It’ll probably be tomorrow that we’ll see each other,’ Alex said. ‘Tonight, I’m going to a record launch party with some people from work. I’ve been warned that it’s going on until the early hours.’
    â€˜Tomorrow then. Have a good time.’
    â€˜You too, Anna.’
    I left the room, went into my bedroom, and flung myself down on my bed. A sentence from one of Alex’s recent letters floated into my head …
    â€¦ Sometimes, after we have made love and Cécile is asleep, I lie awake beside her, watching her all night, and think how fortunate I am to love her, and to be loved by her.
    I wondered if Nick ever watched me while I slept. Somehow, I doubted it.

Seven
    I sat cross-legged on Nick’s bed. ‘So what’s this conference you’re going to about?’
    Nick placed five neatly folded white shirts in his suitcase. ‘Process Management – the alignment of strategy and services.’
    AKA watching paint dry. ‘Is it going to be … fun, do you think?’
    â€˜I doubt you’d find it much fun, but for those of us who work in business assurance, it should be extremely interesting.’
    â€˜Right.’ I had very little idea of what Nick did all day at work – despite my best intentions to be a supportive girlfriend, my eyes glazed over whenever he talked about his job – but as he was head of a department of thirty people, I assumed he must be very good at it.
    Nick counted out five pairs of grey socks, and added them to his case. ‘Have you got much on next week, while I’m away?’
    â€˜I’ve not got a whole lot planned. Tomorrow, I’ll probably call in on my parents. And Alex and I are going to dinner with Beth and Rob on Thursday, but that’s about it.’
    â€˜Why would Beth invite you and Alex over for dinner?’
    â€˜She met him the first time he came to England, don’t forget. You were invited as well – but you’ll still be at the conference.’
    â€˜Oh.’ His packing finished, Nick zipped up his suitcase, leaned it against the wall next to his briefcase and his laptop, and headed off to the bathroom. While he was gone, I sprayed myself liberally with perfume, before climbing between his white Egyptian cotton sheets. He came back into the bedroom and undressed down to his boxers, carefully placing his shirt and his socks in his laundry basket, and hanging up his jeans in his wardrobe. He switched off the light, and got into bed next to me. His hand slid under my nightdress, and absently stroked my thigh. I waited for him to suggest that I should take the nightdress off.
    He said, ‘How’s Alex’s flat-hunting going? Any chance he’ll have moved out of your place by the time I’m back from Manchester?’
    â€˜Oh … I didn’t tell you. Alex isn’t moving out. I’ve said he can stay with me ’til he goes back to Paris.’
    â€˜You’ve done what?’
    â€˜It’s only for six months.’
    Nick sat bolt upright and switched on his bedside lamp. ‘You’ve invited Alex to live in your flat for the next six months without asking me what I thought about it first?’
    â€˜I didn’t realise I needed to ask your permission to have a friend to stay.’ I also sat up.
    â€˜You know I’ve never been comfortable about your relationship with Alex.’
    â€˜Are we seriously going to have this discussion yet again? Alex is my friend. Get over it.’
    â€˜Even if you are just friends , that doesn’t mean I want him hanging around you all the time.’
    â€˜I don’t see that much of Alex –’
    â€˜I hate the way you talk