The night is late and getting later, but the crowd in the pub shows no signs of clearing out anytime soon. It doesn't matter to them that Meg has a little boy who's been running a fever going on three days now, or that she's been on her feet all night and then some. They're good men, who she's grown up with or at least around, but so long as they're getting served, they don't give much thought to what goes on outside of the shipyard or the walls of the pub.

By the time she finds a few seconds to catch her breath, her legs and back are aching, but she won't complain. There isn't a lot of work in Wallsend, even less that would be considered enviable, and she needs the money, determinedly refusing to accept anything from Arthur even when he tries to insist. Meg Dawson is no charity case.

So she's taking a much needed break, just a few minutes of fresh air and off her feet before she has to finish out the night. Sitting on the step in front of the pub, she doesn't notice the man initially, the lights behind her making it difficult to make out much of anything across the street, so when she finally does see him, it's only the outline of a man. Impossible to see a face, or even make out whether she knows him or not. So she only calls out:

"Alright then?"