‘Thank you so much for giving me another chance,’ Katie said. She was at the till with Sergio. He’d been showing her how to use it, properly this time, and after an hour she felt like she was getting it.

‘Don’t worry about it. I shouldn’t have thrown you in at the deep end like that,’ Sergio said.

‘Don’t worry about it,’ Katie said. You just repeated what he said, she thought, cringing. Idiot.

Mateo passed the bar on his way to the office. He scowled at them. Katie looked at Sergio. ‘Does your dad hate me?’ she asked.

‘No, no,’ Sergio said. ‘He’s just in a bad mood. We’ve got a management meeting on Friday, it always puts him in a bad mood. Be prepared for it to get worse as the week goes on.’ Seeing the concern on Katie’s face, he smiled. ‘Don’t worry,’ he said ‘I’ll protect you.’ He patted her shoulder, and Katie felt like she might lift off the floor and float into the atmosphere.

*

Dr. Tavish’s hand rested on Angel’s shoulder. They were alone in an empty classroom. Angel had been catching up on coursework between lectures, listening to music, and hadn’t heard him approach. She’d jumped when he touched her.

She took her earbuds out, fighting the urge to shrug his hand off. She couldn’t afford to be rude.

‘That looked like a rather intense phone call,’ Dr. Tavish said. ‘I hope your mother isn’t unwell again.’

Angel had a sudden memory of standing in Ryan’s bedroom, on the phone to her mother. She remembered Ryan stroking her neck as her mother shouted at her for no good reason. She was aware of Dr. Tavish’s thumb pressing into the hollow below her collarbone. ‘It’s not that she’s unwell,’ she said, forcing a smile. ‘It’s that she’s not normal.’

‘Sounds like my wife.’ Dr. Tavish laughed. Then he sighed. ‘I only stay for the sake of the kids,’ he said. Angel stared at him. She had no idea what to say. Dr. Tavish smiled. ‘I shouldn’t be bothering you with an old man’s problems.’

‘You’re not old, Dr. Tavish.’

‘That’s kind of you to say, Ms. Ugwu. And please, call me Jack.’

*

As Aidan lifted the shoulder press, the guy in the green vest caught his eye for the second time. Aidan looked him up and down, deciding whether he wanted to do anything about it. Picking up men came easily to Aidan. He was tall, he was good-looking, he was charming. And he knew it.

His phone vibrated with a text from Holly. I’ll be ovulating on Friday… is it too soon? Aidan smiled. His mammy in Dublin would be appalled if she knew he was considering impregnating a woman he’d met twice. But then, she’d be delighted if he made her a granny. ‘Gay marriage is legal here now,’ she kept saying, when they spoke on the phone. Aidan didn’t have the heart to tell her that his longest relationships were measured in weeks, not years. Nor did he tell her he had no intention of moving back to Ireland. He was conscious of how lonely she’d been since his father died. Aidan liked to joke that it was finding out his only son was gay that killed him. He’d dealt with his father’s death by developing an impulsive streak. Why hesitate, when you could be dead of a heart attack without warning, dead on the kitchen floor in a pile of spilled cornflakes? He texted Holly back: not soon enough. He added a winking emoji, hit send, and winked at the guy in the green vest.

*

Erin and Andy watched TV from separate couches. They hadn’t spoken since Erin had cleared their dinner plates and brought Andy a cup of tea. She wondered how long she could go without speaking before he noticed. She had a feeling she didn’t want to know.

She hadn’t had a drink in a week, which felt like an achievement. An achievement worth celebrating. With a drink. ‘We could go out,’ she said, thinking aloud.

‘Mm?’ Andy murmured. He didn’t take his eyes of the TV.

‘I said we could go out,’ Erin repeated. ‘For dinner. We haven’t been out for dinner for ages. Your parents could babysit.’ There was nothing wrong with having a drink if she wasn’t looking after the children, Erin reasoned. Andy glanced at her, considering it. ’We could get dressed up, go somewhere nice,’ Erin went on. ‘Have a proper conversation, for a change.’

‘Mm,’ Andy said. Erin decided to take it as a yes.