It was the first time she had seen her in… she couldn’t remember how long. ‘Wow, Sandy…how are you? What are you doing here?’ She had almost lost control of herself at the surprise of her best friend turning up on the doorstep unannounced. ‘I’m good Melissa, I‘m good’. The repetition did not reinforce the sentiment within her. ‘How are you?’ Sandy was forced to create a tone of excitement in her voice. The pleasure of seeing Melissa was tempered by the fact that she was exhausted and had not thought of a believable story to explain turning up unannounced at this hour of the night. All of her thoughts while she had been on her journey had been dictated by the unshakeable feeling that her stomach had been torn out; she missed home like crazy and it was a real effort to smile and be jolly in the circumstances that she was in. But these circumstances could not be revealed. ‘Come in, come in. Look at me, keeping you standing on the doorstep.’ Melissa stood to one side to allow Sandy to enter the house, already wondering just what was wrong with her.
