Every couple of minutes she would peer in the window and stare at the empty desk where Julian normally sat. He was the receptionist and was very efficient. He had a "very nice disposition" and made all the patients laugh with his camp manner. Angela liked him especially. She felt safe and trusted him. This was not often the case with the other men in Angela’s life.

She paced up and down the path, pausing each time at the gate to look onto the street to see if anyone was arriving at the surgery. Like a naughty schoolgirl she furtively scrambled around in her bag, pulling out a prescription bottle of Valium. She popped one in her mouth and then with a devil may care shrug, popped another. As the clock on the surgery prepared to strike 8.00am she felt calm and thought of Wagner and maidens riding through flames on white horses.