But this time he wasn’t alone. He was deep in conversation with a woman, a hard-looking blonde a few years older than Jennifer. She felt a strange, panicky stirring in the pit of her stomach as she watched them, their heads close together, laughing. Jennifer hurried towards them. As she drew closer, Johnny glanced at her out of the corner of his eye. He leaned forward, whispered something to the woman and put something in her hand. She hurried off before Jennifer could reach them. Johnny turned to her, tossing away the end of his cigarette. ‘Hello darling,’ he greeted her. ‘You’re looking beautiful today.’ Usually she would have enjoyed the thrill of his admiring gaze travelling down from her head to her toes and back again, but not today. ‘Who was that?’ she demanded. ‘Who?’ ‘That girl you were talking to.’ ‘Oh, her.’ He shrugged. ‘A friend.’ ‘What did she want?’ ‘Just passing the time of day, that’s all.’ There was an impatient edge to his voice, and Jennifer knew she should let it go, but she couldn’t.
