Another New Year means another set of resolutions for Laurie. This time, Laurie decides to set her sights again on getting a job in magazines and finding a way in keep Oscar in her life back in England. Laurie and Oscar decide to stay together and return to England, a different context for their relationship. Before meeting Oscar’s mother, Laurie thinks, “Everything seemed far simpler in Thailand […]. Here among the trappings of our usual lives, our differences seem more stark” (137). Oscar’s background is one of wealth but also strife within his family due to an abusive father. When Laurie meets his mother, she is struck by her formality and feels judged for her own working-class background.

Despite their differences, Oscar and Laurie’s relationship grows in England. Laurie is happy to finally be in a relationship: “At last there is a ‘we’. And it’s amazing. I’ve never felt this wanted or cared for in my life” (140). Oscar wants her to move in with him in London, but Laurie has decided to stay at her parents’ house in the suburbs while she applies for jobs in magazines, knowing that any other job to pay the bills while she is searching for her dream job will set her back.