Roy doesn't bother explaining with words, the tattoo itself says it all. He pulls his shirt collar down and turns his body to show her his revealed upper left arm. There it is not far below his shoulder; to be fair it's a nice tattoo. The artist he had paid a visit that intoxicated evening was one of the city's best and she had done work on famous stars before. It's like a black and white ink illustration Riza would find in books at home: a few flowers that had appeared on the cover of his album, ones with meanings that he associates with her, framed by a circle that looks more like what an alchemist would draw. At the bottom ELIZABETH is written, plain to see.

Roy hangs his head in defeat. "I'm sorry," he says again. "This might be even worse than the love songs. If I had known I never-" Would have been so direct or attempt to be so affectionate? Or do what he had done which was basically shout his love for her from the rooftops in the form of music that had been downloaded by thousands of strangers?

"I would have kept my feelings to myself."