Cassie was heartbroken, but this time it was as a result of her own actions.

She had arrived in New York a couple of weeks ago. She walked from Kennedy Airport right across Queens and was in Brooklyn when she had an outstanding stroke of luck. Frank, a New York cabbie took pity on her. He not only gave her a free ride into Manhattan, but gave her money for food and recommended a diner.

One of the waiters at the diner, Adam saw that she was troubled and let her stay in his apartment "until whatever's going down is over." Adam and Cassie maintained a friendly, but chaste relationship as roommates. Cassie felt comfortable with this arrangement and was reasonably happy, despite her troubles.

She had gone to bed last night, promising not to touch Adam. She woke up in the morning to find the bed empty and no sign of him. She found an apple and a note by the bed. The note explained that Adam had gone away for 'a while' and that she could stay in the apartment for as long as she wanted. He ended the note with "It was nice knowing you". She bit into the apple, now realising that she was now totally alone in a foreign city.

It also dawned on her that she had lost everything she had ever loved; her parents, her friends, her home city of Bristol, and most of all, her darling Sid. Sid was the one person who really loved her just as she was. He was honest and open with her. He really cared about her. He shared her taste in music and was introducing her to the enjoyment of food. He was quite shy and she liked that. She loved Sid just as he was, innocent, gentle and understanding. It was the thought that she would never see him or enjoy his loving embrace again that broke her heart. She burst into tears and wept bitterly for about two hours.

When her sobs eventually subsided, she was forced to think about her immediate future. She occupied some of her time by running round the neighbourhood. She had to find a way of making some money. Fortunately, she was able to take Adam's job at the diner.

She did not want to give too much away about where she was, as despite her loneliness and sadness, she still wanted time on her own to think. She bought a postcard with the motto "I (love heart) NY – but you're bringing me down". She sent it to Sid in Bristol, but without writing anything on it other than his address.

Now Adam was gone, she was living alone in New York and working as a waitress. After a couple of weeks, she became quite competent and attentive to her customers' needs. It was noticed by both her employers and her customers that she seldom smiled. In quiet moments, such as when she was alone in the apartment, she wept bitterly.

Although she was keeping up an outward impression of being reasonably together, she was not happy. She had a deep void inside her heart that only Sid could fill.

She spent her days off in activity which she hoped might help her forget Sid, or at least put thoughts of him to the back of her mind.

Some days, she would run across the Williamsburg Bridge. If she wanted a longer run, she would cross the Brooklyn Bridge. She used the bridges because they offered long uninterrupted runs along sidewalks with no intersections. Sometimes thoughts of Sid and his love for her would not go away. These, and the perception that she would never see him again made her think now and then about ending her life by throwing herself off one of the bridges.

She spent some days wandering around Macy's or Bloomingdales department stores, basically window shopping. She was impressed by the size of the places compared with the stores in her home city of Bristol. Thoughts of shopping did put thoughts of Sid to the back of her mind, but she could not clear them completely.

When she slept at night, Sid kept invading her dreams. The more she tried not to think about him, the more acutely she missed him. She recalled his loving embrace and the tender way his hands caressed her. When she remembered this, she wept. Crying only made her remember how soothing his arms were on that evening on Brandon Hill when she was going away to Scotland and how he had calmed her emotions and made her feel better about herself.

While she was working at the diner, Cassie's mind was occupied with the needs of her customers. She became very efficient and, due to this, her employers were prepared to overlook her usually serious facial expression. During work time, she did have some relief from thoughts of Sid, but he was never completely absent from her mind.

On some of her days off, she tried to experience life as a tourist and see some of the sights. She visited Ground Zero and felt sad for all the loss of life on 9/11. On the same day, she went to the New York Stock Exchange, but found that the public gallery had been permanently closed for 'security' reasons so she spent some time in Battery Park and then experienced the Staten Island Ferry.

Despite her distaste for war, she spent a whole day exploring the USS Intrepid at the pier opposite W 46th Street. Sadly, thoughts about Sid did come to the fore when she was on the carrier. She really wished he could be with her on board the Intrepid. She knew that he would really enjoy it. Looking round the Concorde supersonic airliner only made her wish it could fly her back to Sid.

A subway trip to 59th Street was another diversion. She would then spend the day walking or running in Central Park. On one of these trips, she thought she saw Sid crossing the park, but she decided she had imagined him. She decided that her mind was letting her see what she wanted to see. It couldn't be Sid, surely. He was thousands of miles away.

As the weeks passed, she was getting more used to life in New York. She got to know how to find her way round the city, but she was not happy. She was getting slightly more depressed with each passing week.

One evening, while she was working the late shift at the diner, she found herself unexpectedly looking into the eyes of someone she thought she would never see again.