Structure and title

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Beginning

The short story begins directly in the present moment, with a first-person narrator describing his setting: “So I’m sitting here in the hotel foyer on one of the big squashy sofas.” (l. 1).

Peter Bradshaw introduces readers to the story by creating a narrative hook, as we find out something special happened to the character-narrator the previous night, but we don’t know what: “This gives …

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Middle

The middle of the story combines events that happened the night before with events that took place in Elliot’s childhood, fragmenting the narrative line.

The previous night, Elliot met a woman whom we are led to believe is Lucy Venables, his childhood love. Their meeting is preceded by increasing tension: “My strange feeling got stranger the nearer I got. Was it...? Could it actually be...? There was nothing else for it. I was going to have to talk to her.” (ll. 31-33).

The fact that the woman has the same surname as Lucy and the characters recognise each other …

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Ending

The ending of the story returns to the most recent timeline and to the previous night. We find out the woman offered to give Elliot his long-awaited kiss, further misleading us to believe she is Lucy. However, when the characters reach the hotel room, the plot twist is revealed. The woman is actually Chloë, Lucy’s sister:

‘Oh Elliot!’  she gasped. ‘Call me by my name. Say my name.’
At that m…