Kate says she thinks Toby and I are destined to end up together because of some complicated thing to do with the way he looks at me (I didn’t think he did look at me, but apparently he does when I’m distracted), but I don’t know. She’s pregnant at the moment and overly sentimental. She rang me last night to tell me that she and Lance had been for the ultrasound, and the baby was a boy, and that they’d like me to be the baby’s godmother. Me. She said, “I know I haven’t known you that long, so tell me if it’s an imposition.” Then she said, “Saskia? Are you still there?”

My godson will be born next year.

Speaking of babies, I saw the hypnotist with her baby today.

It wasn’t deliberate. I’ve never breached the terms of my AVO, and I make a point of avoiding areas where I’m likely to run into them again.

It was early evening and I was at Circular Quay. I was meeting Tammy and Kate for a drink at the Opera Bar before we saw a play. Kate had got cheap tickets on some website. It was a beautiful evening and the Quay was crowded with people walking back and forth between the ferries and the Opera House.

Ellen was walking straight toward me pushing a stroller: one of those big colorful contraptions. I only caught a glimpse of the baby. Patrick’s baby. It was a girl. She was wearing a purple dress. Little legs stuck straight out in front of her with white socks.

I stopped dead and someone behind me said, “Hey, watch out.”

I saw Ellen’s face light up. It was as if she was looking straight at me. I smiled back, because I’d always thought we could have been friends in a different world, and I really wanted to tell her that it was the strangest thing, but since I’d broken my pelvis and ankle my mysterious leg pain had vanished.

And then I realized that she was smiling at someone behind me, lifting a hand to wave. I didn’t even turn my head to see if it was Patrick, or Jack, or someone else. I kept walking and let myself melt into the crowd.