He lifted up his hands in an act of surrender. ‘I’m just responding to what you’re saying. There is no pressure from me for you to go back to work so soon. That’s all.’

‘Right, and you’ll pay the mortgage?’

‘I can get a job, Gabriela, you’re not the only person in this house with a brain. Jesus, you’re the one who said you wanted me to stay home with the baby and for you to w—’

She exhaled loudly. ‘Please, can we not argue? I’m just worried. I’m allowed to be worried, aren’t I?

There was someone else at her desk when she arrived at the office the following morning, dressed in the newly expansive suit trousers and blouse she’d bought to mark her return to work.

‘Hi,’ she said to the girl in her seat, who was wearing trainers and jeans and made Gabriela feel about 300 years old.

‘Hi,’ the young woman said, looking up as she continued to type, as if waiting for Gabriela to ask her a question. Her hair was pulled into a long dark ponytail and her fine fingers danced over the keyboard even as she maintained eye contact.

‘I’m Serena.’

‘Gabriela.’

Again there was an uncomfortable silence, so Gabriela said, ‘I’ve just come back from maternity leave, this is – this was – my desk …’

Blushing, Serena stood. ‘Oh God, sorry. I started a couple of months ago and this has been my desk ever since. Nobody mentioned …’ Her voice petered out and she waited there awkwardly, as if unsure whether to clear a space on the desk beside her.

Gabriela held out a hand, trying to keep the unreasonable level of contempt she felt off her face. ‘It’s fine, I’ll wait until Lauren gets here. I’ll just pop to the café …’

‘I’m really sorry,’ Serena called after her and Gabriela shook her head, reassuring her not to worry, telling herself it was just a misunderstanding.

‘You’ll be sitting here now,’ Lauren explained an hour later, pointing to a smaller desk at the far end of the office, not mentioning that this put her as far away from Emsworth as was conceivable without hanging her from the window by a noose.

‘Sure,’ Gabriela said, trying to smile.

If she had been under any illusion as to whether or not Emsworth still intended to put her forward for the promotion once she’d had the baby, that illusion was instantly shattered, scattering shards as sharp as glass which lodged themselves in her skin.

‘Welcome back, Gabriela,’ he managed a few days later, sweeping past her desk and patting her shoulder briskly as he continued moving through the office towards Serena.

‘You should go home,’ Madeleine insisted on her way out, later that day. Glancing at the desks which were largely empty aside from Johnny who was still beavering away, she placed a hand on Gabriela’s shoulder.