Sergio was asleep with his head on the desk, clutching a bottle of beer. The table was dusty with the remnants of lines of coke. Katie knocked on the open door, and Sergio jumped. ‘Sorry,’ she said. Sergio peered at her, no idea who she was or why she was there. ‘I’m here for my training session,’ she said.

‘Right. Right. Katie. Training. Yes,’ Sergio said, rubbing his face.

‘One of the chefs let me in,’ Katie said. She didn’t say that she’d been waiting in the cold for an hour.

‘Right,’ Sergio said. 

Sergio led her behind the bar to show her the till. He touched a button, and the till made an angry sound. Sergio clutched his head. Katie could smell the stale alcohol on his breath.

‘I could come back later,’ she suggested, disappointment setting in. She had been looking forward to this. 

‘Would you mind?’ Sergio asked, his relief palpable.

‘No, of course not. When?’

‘When did I say your first shift would be?’

‘Wednesday.’

‘Wednesday, then.’

‘But don’t I need some training first?’

‘No,’ Sergio said, ‘You’ll be fine.’ He ushered her to the door. ‘You’ll be fine.’

If you say so, Katie thought. A blast of wind hit her as she left the restaurant. She turned to say goodbye, but Sergio had already closed the door.

*

Angel’s mother had started calling again. There had been weeks of silence, her mother’s way of punishing her for refusing to come home. When the silence hadn’t worked, the calls, and texts, had started again. What did I do to deserve such a cruel, ungrateful child? the latest text said, coming immediately after Angel ignored a call.

She deleted the text as she waited to cross Melville Drive, on her way home from meeting Dr. Tavish. He had seemed interested in her thoughts on his draft textbook, and impressed with her insights. He had laughed when she teased him about his many typos. There had been no strange comments, and no unsolicited touching. Angel wondered, as she crossed Melville Drive and then Marchmont Road, whether she had been overthinking their previous meetings. Perhaps she was seeing meaning in actions that had none. Perhaps Dr. Tavish was simply a caring professor who valued her opinion. Angel could almost—almost—believe that.

*

Holly was sure this was a complete waste of time. She’d let herself get swept up in Jemma’s enthusiasm, and now they were on their way to meet Aidan. All Holly knew about him was that he’d studied with Jemma, he was gay, and he’d always talked about wanting kids. 

They held hands as the bus carried them down the Mound towards the New Town. I'm sure he’ll be insufferable, Holly thought. So many of Jemma’s friends were, obsessed with likes and follows and hashtagged photos of cappuccino art. Jemma was probably already planning #spermdonor posts.

‘What’s so funny?’ Jemma asked.

Holly hadn’t realised she’d been smiling. ‘Nothing,’ she said. She wondered how much Jemma had told Aidan about why they wanted to meet. The thought of her messaging someone out of the blue to ask for his sperm made Holly giggle.

‘Something’s funny,’ Jemma said.

‘It’s nothing,’ Holly said. It is nothing, Holly thought. This is nothing. The father of our baby is not going to be some random guy Jemma knows. She was sure about that. She was quite sure that an anonymous sperm donor, found through a clinic, was a better option. Safer. Cleaner. More sensible.

And then they walked in the New Town bar where they’d agreed to meet, and a tall, black-haired man stood up. He walked towards them, a smile spreading on his face. There he is, Holly thought, surprising herself. There’s the father of our baby.

*

The twins were at Erin’s feet as she chopped vegetables she knew they wouldn’t eat. She took another sip of wine. Every sip tasted like guilt, like failure. And yet, still, she filled up her glass.

She was angry. Angry with Andy, with the way he’d dismissed her. Angry with herself, because she knew there was truth in what he’d said. It would be unfair to rob Archie and Annie of her dedicated attention. Not that they have it now, she thought. There were days she gave drinking more dedicated attention than she gave them. And those days were growing in number.

While Erin contemplated her shortcomings, Archie stood up. While Erin raised her glass to her lips yet again, Archie opened the cutlery drawer. And while Erin drained her glass, and decided that she might as well finish the bottle, Archie made a grab for their biggest, sharpest knife. Erin didn’t notice. She didn’t notice until Annie screamed.