Chapter 1 - 8 Summary

On Rankeillor Street in Edinburgh, Scotland, Dexter Mayhew and Emma Morley lay in bed, talking about future plans after college. Emma asks Dexter where he thinks he'll be when he's forty, and Dexter replies that he hopes he is rich or famous -or both. Emma, a native of Yorkshire, thinks that being famous sounds morbid. Emma wants to change the world somehow. Emma dreams aloud about the future, about Dexter having had three divorces and no children. But Dexter wants an uncomplicated life of success, and he is worried that the one-night stand with Emma will have bad repercussions. Though they have known each other for four years, they really don't know too much about each other. In fact, Dexter has believed Emma's name to be "Anna" until that evening.

Emma is working for Sledgehammer Theater Cooperative on the play "Cruel...