‘Please God, let him be here,’ she muttered. She didn’t think she could bear the disappointment if the address was fake or if Eddie had taken off somewhere. And what if Nathan Stone had already tipped him the wink, warned him that she was on her way? Her not-so-beloved husband would have exited the building like a bat out of hell.

She frowned at the thought but then swept it aside. Better to stay positive, she decided, as she pushed away from the railing and began to walk towards the flat. She checked the numbers on the doors until she reached the one that said 93 Then without much more than a moment’s hesitation, she leaned forward and pressed the bell.

There was a short delay before the door was answered by a slender, hard-faced blonde in her early twenties. She stared at Sadie with suspicious eyes. ‘Yeah?’

‘Is Eddie in?’

‘Who are you?’

‘Just tell him Sadie’s here.’

If the name meant anything to the girl, she didn’t show it. Instead she yelled over her shoulder. ‘Eddie! It’s for you.’

Sadie felt a wave of relief. So Nathan Stone hadn’t screwed her over after all. The feeling was quickly followed by a tumble of others: hope and anxiety and anger. Her hands clenched into two tight fists in her pockets. Keep your cool, she told herself. Don’t blow it.

The girl continued to stare with undisguised hostility until Eddie appeared beside her. He didn’t look that different from the last time Sadie had seen him. His hair was a little longer and he’d put on a few pounds but otherwise he was the same old Eddie.

‘Sadie!’ he said. There was a look of shock on his face, although he rapidly tried to cover it up. ‘Hey, how are you? What are you doing here?’

‘Can I come in?’

He hesitated but then beckoned her inside. ‘Sure.’

Sadie followed him and the girl through to a living room that was littered with cups and plates, pizza cartons, overflowing ashtrays, cans and newspapers. The room smelled of old food and fag smoke. Eddie, never a domestic god at the best of times, had clearly decided to give up trying.

‘You want a coffee?’ he asked.

‘No thanks. I’m not staying long.’

Eddie waved towards the sofa. ‘Take a pew then.’

‘You’re not an easy person to find,’ Sadie said as she perched on the edge of a grubby blue sofa. ‘Or have you just been avoiding me?’

Eddie assumed his Mr Innocent expression. ‘Why would I do that?’

‘I can’t imagine.’

The girl looked from one to the other before her gaze finally settled on Eddie. ‘What’s going on, babe? Who is she?’

Eddie grinned. ‘This is Sadie,’ he said. ‘I’ve told you about her. She’s the missus.’

‘But hopefully not for much longer,’ Sadie said.

The blonde girl narrowed her eyes as if whatever Eddie had said about his married life hadn’t been good. Still, that didn’t come as any surprise to Sadie. Eddie was an expert at rewriting history, especially when it came to painting himself in a good light. He probably hadn’t mentioned robbing her blind or the fact that he’d done a moonlight flit.

‘Look, Kelly,’ he said, ‘why don’t you go on home and I’ll give you a bell later?’

‘What for?’ she asked sharply.

‘’Cause I’ve got stuff to talk over with Sadie here.’

Kelly looked less than happy at the prospect of leaving the two of them alone. Perhaps she was worried that an old spark would be rekindled. ‘What kind of stuff?’

‘Divorce kind of stuff,’ Sadie said bluntly.

‘About time,’ Kelly said. ‘Eddie’s been —’

‘Come on, babe. Don’t start,’ he quickly interrupted. Picking up Kelly’s coat from where it had been thrown over the back of a chair, he handed it to her. ‘I won’t be long. Be a love and just give us some space, huh?’

Kelly’s mouth pursed. For a moment, Sadie thought she was going to refuse to leave, but then she shrugged on the coat and flounced out of the room. A few seconds later the front door slammed shut.

Sadie looked up at Eddie. ‘Still bringing joy to the ladies, I see.’

He sat down in the chair, flashing her one of his wide smiles. ‘You’re looking good,’ he said, ‘really good. But then you never had to try that hard.’

Sadie raised her eyes to the ceiling. ‘Oh, let’s skip the bullshit, shall we? I’m not in the mood. You know why I’m here so let’s just get on with it.’ She delved into her bag, took out the divorce papers and passed them over. ‘Here. All you have to do is sign and then I’ll leave you in peace.’

As if the papers were red hot, Eddie immediately dropped them on to the coffee table. ‘So what have you been up to? How are things going? Are you still living at —’

‘Eddie,’ she said impatiently, ‘I haven’t come for a chat. I haven’t even come to ask for my money back. I don’t want an explanation of why you did what you did. All I want is to be legally separated. That’s not too much to ask, is it?’

He took a cigarette from the pack on the arm of the chair, lit it and exhaled a thoughtful stream of smoke. ‘Maybe we shouldn’t rush into anything.’

‘Rush? Are you kidding me? It’s been almost five years.’

He pulled on the cigarette again and frowned. ‘Has it? It doesn’t seem that long.’

Sadie leaned forward and nudged the papers closer to him. ‘Just sign, please, and then we can draw a line under it all.’

‘I can’t.’

‘What do you mean, you can’t?’

‘I need to read it first.’

‘Fine,’ she said. ‘You go ahead and do that. I’ll just sit here and wait.’

But Eddie didn’t seem too keen on this idea either. ‘I can’t do it now.’

‘Why not? It’ll only take five minutes. There’s no money involved. It’s a straightforward split. I don’t want anything from you apart from your signature.’

Eddie pulled a face as if she was asking him for a kidney rather than a divorce. ‘I need to think about it.’

‘There’s nothing to think about.’

He gave a sly smile. ‘Why don’t you leave it with me, babe? I can post the papers back to you.’

‘What, in another five years? Come on, Eddie, I know what you’re like. As soon as I’m out of this flat, you’ll dump them in the bin and that’s the last I’ll ever see of them.’

‘I won’t. I swear.’

‘Why don’t I believe you?’ The question, of course, was purely rhetorical. Eddie couldn’t be trusted to come home of an evening, never mind complete some basic paperwork. She could feel the irritation growing inside her. ‘For God’s sake, you were the one who walked out on me, on our marriage. At least have the decency to finish things properly.’

Eddie gave a sigh, picked up the papers and stared at them. ‘Shit, babe, there’s a lot of words here.’

It occurred to Sadie, as she watched his eyes glaze over, that rather than being up early, Eddie probably hadn’t even been to bed yet. He had made a habit of all-nighters when the two of them were together and she suspected things hadn’t changed much. ‘Long night?’ she asked.

‘We went to see a band in Camden and then…’ As if his memory was blurred he pondered for a moment before giving a shrug. ‘A few bars, a party, and then back here with some mates.’

Sadie gave a wry smile. Yes, it was the same old Eddie all right. Still living for the day and partying every night. He’d still be doing the same thing, she suspected, when he was drawing his pension.

Eddie dropped the papers again and jumped up from the chair. ‘I need coffee,’ he said. ‘I can’t do this without coffee. Do you want one? Go on, you may as well.’

‘All right,’ she said, realising that nothing was likely to happen in a hurry. ‘Milk, no sugar.’

‘You don’t need to tell me. I remember.’

‘Things change,’ she said.

He stopped by the door, turned and looked at her. ‘Some things,’ he said, ‘not everything.’

While he was gone, Sadie had time to deliberate on how she felt about seeing him again. She was surprised by her lack of animosity. Somehow, now that they were face to face, she couldn’t summon up the energy to be really mad any more. Eddie was weak and feckless and selfish. He would always be that way. He was incapable of fidelity or honesty, and complaining about it was as pointless as complaining that the sea was wet.