The protagonist and narrator of the first story, May is an underpaid hotel manager in Dublin, Ireland, who finds herself pregnant by her boss, Andy. Their affair is three years old but has no future, as he has a wife and four children to whom he is devoted. May flies from Dublin, where abortions are illegal, to London, without telling Andy. For lack of any other reliable friend or confident in London, May stays with Celia, a judgmental but reliable acquaintance, who puts her in touch with Dr. Harris. May will pay for the procedure on her own without assistance from the National Health or Andy, who can afford it better than she. May has a habit of daydreaming about the happy lives of strangers that she meets.