‘He’s a lawyer-he left that up to me.’

‘How far have you got?’

I raised my glass. ‘To here.’

‘Yeah, alcoholism’s a sort of career. I guess we all flirt with it.’

‘I gave it a try when Cyn left me, and a few other times since. Didn’t quite take.’

Lily nodded. She’s been through the mill-a divorce, broken relationships, an abortion or two. She once spent a couple of weeks in Silverwater on a contempt charge for refusing to reveal a source. In a funny way our careers have run parallel. She even likes boxing and it was at the fights where her brother was on the card that I met her.

She plucked at a weed and a brick came loose. She has strong wrists. ‘ASIO’s recruiting,’ she said. ‘Intelligence, for want of a more accurate word, is a growth industry. They take on all types. You’re ex-army, aren’t you? What rank?’

‘Second lieutenant.’

‘You’d have to learn to pronounce it lootenant, but they might like you.’

‘As Marlon Brando said to his agent when he was asked whether he’d be willing to be interviewed by Kenneth Tynan, “I’d rather be boiled in urine”.’

Lily laughed. ‘You could write your memoirs.’

‘Boiled in urine. Tell you what, let’s see if there’s a film within driving distance we could stand to watch.’

There wasn’t. We saw films pretty regularly and had similar tastes-political thrillers, biopics, historical stuff. We’d already seen what was on offer that appealed and the rest were animations and dumb dross. We kept promising ourselves we’d see some foreign flicks as recommended by David and Margaret, but somehow never got around to it. We had a meal in Newtown where I have an office I no longer need. Luckily, the lease is running out. We went back to my house and made love. She was gone in the morning the way she almost always is and the way I tell myself I like it-almost all the time.

Our deal is that we talk about whatever it is we’re engaged on.