The couple were hard to make out.
The woman working in the shop wasn’t blond and her husband didn’t work in the construction industry. They didn’t live in Stockholm and had never been to Spain. They were not going to Belgium for a holiday this year. He didn’t have blue eyes and her nickname was never Tinkerbell. His father never called him Champ. She had never learnt how to knit and couldn’t speak Portuguese. He had never collected stamps or played cricket. She wasn’t a catholic. He wasn’t a member of any fan club. She had never had mumps. He didn’t smoke a pipe. She had never had a tooth implant. He had never been disqualified from driving. She had never owned a sewing machine. He had never ridden a Segway. She wasn’t going to be the May Queen. He didn’t take flying lessons. She had never had her legs waxed. He didn’t own a chainsaw. She had never broken her ankle, and he had never owned a dog. She didn’t have a sister. He didn’t play golf. They weren’t married in a registry office and didn’t own motorbikes. Neither of them qualified for a pension.
They didn’t refuse the cheque from the lotteries commission, and they certainly didn’t tell anyone where they were going.