Although it was Rona who'd suggested the bar at which she and Mal were meeting, in actual fact she almost never went there. When she stepped inside she remembered why: it was so dark in the bar that she could hardly get her bearings, and she felt like she was already drunk before she'd even had a drop.

She peered into the darkness for Mal, craning her neck and screwing up her eyes, sure that it must look strange to the guy behind the bar but simultaneously aware that he must have seen it a thousand times before. It wasn't even like it was especially well-lit on the street outside - but they kept the lights so resolutely dimmed and shrouded in the bar that it was almost like being inside a cave. A plush cave, sure, with a good selection of booze, but subterranean all the same.

Eventually she spotted Mal, waving frantically from a booth by the back door. She crossed the bar to join him, almost tripping on the carpet in the process, and sat down.

After the formalities she looked at the small frosted glass that was in the middle of the table, filled with a clear liquid. "What's that?" she asked.

"That's your drink."

"My drink?"

"I got you one!" Mal took a gulp of his beer, as if trying to encourage Rona to do the same with her own drink.

"Okay. Thanks, Mal!" Rona lifted the glass. "What is it?"

"Vodka . . . something, I dunno. I asked the barman for something girly."

"I see."

"It was nine dollars" Mal said.

Rona looked at him for a while before realising what he was getting at. "Oh, right! Yeah, sure. Hang on." She pulled some money out of her pocket and raked through it 'til she had nine dollars. "There" she said.

"Thanks mate!" Mal beamed.

"So . . ." Rona took a sip of her drink. She didn't drink vodka all that often. Fortunately in the gloom Mal seemed not to notice her grimace as she downed the mouthful. "Tell me all about the tour!" she said.

"Oh my god, it was awesome" Mal enthused.

"So I gathered."

"Really, really awesome" Mal added. "Yep."

Rona looked at him, trying to read his face, but as ever with Mal there wasn't much to read. "Sounds awesome" she said. She was glad it was only a three-minute walk back to her house.