But an hour later — at about the time Dexter was leaving his second message on her answerphone — Emma was feeling desperate“. lan had been trying much too hard to make her laugh. She guessed that he was practising his stand-up comedy act on her. The problem was that everything he said was a joke and it was impossible to have a conversation with him. This was driving her crazy. She guessed that Ian was feeling desperate too. Everything he said made the evening worse. In part of her mind Emma wanted to leave and go home. But in another part of her mind she felt terribly sorry for Ian. It was clear to her that he wasn’t a good comedian and that his ambition to have a career in stand—up was just a dream.