“No more humiliation for me, thanks very much. No more swallowing my anger. Honestly, I couldn't manage another mouthful. But it was delicious. Did you make it yourself?”

“Let me tell you, my girl, that I'm swallowing no more of your insults! And if I hear another word from you in disparagement of the Corinthian set it will be very much the worse for you!”

“Not bad, but I've eaten worse. Guess you're just a sight more used to swallowing slimy stuff like that, than I am. I'm sure you've had plenty of practice over the years, swallowing that is." I threw another in my mouth, giving Rainia a shit-eating grin that was met by sparkling slits of mock anger.”

“For a moment, my eyes shift focus to the glass wall beside her and I see my reflection. There stands Dominic Smith, whose tinted specs make him look dead cool, thank you very much, although the scraggy black hair manages to spoil the effect. My hair stages more uprisings than a nineteenth-century revolutionary. I inherited it from my dad. Thanks, Dad.”

“If you are honest with yourself, your life will be so much more pleasant.”

“What?" I asked, swallowing a mouthful. "You remind me of me." "That can't be good." I took another mouthful.”