‘Oh Marc, it would be nice to have dinner with you in NY,’ she said lightly ‘but it won’t be in the near future, I’m afraid. I’m making plans! I’m moving into a lovely seafront apartment in Clontarf next month and I’ve some job opportunities coming up,’ she fibbed. ‘And it really is lovely to be at home with friends and family. I’m having such a good time.’ The lies flowed from her lips one after another.

‘But what about us, Marie-Claire? We were a great item. Why did you suddenly decide to leave? I don’t understand. I wanted to take it to the next level. I felt you did too,’ he asked, still utterly bewildered by what he saw as her thoroughly unreasonable behaviour.

‘Look, sweetie, I need this time to reassess, and take a step back, precisely because you want us to go to the next level. Have patience with me,’ she heard herself say. ‘It’s never too late to change plans. Who knows, in six months’ time, I could be missing you so much I’ll be on that plane so quick you won’t have time to think,’ she said earnestly.

‘Do you miss me?’ he asked.

‘Desperately,’ she sighed and leaned in to the iPad and kissed his image.

‘Aw, Marie-Claire, I miss you like hell. I miss talking to you and sharing all our work stuff. I want to tell you about New York, it’s going to be a real—’

‘I’m dying to hear all about it, Marc,’ she interrupted, ‘but, sweetie, it’s the early hours of the morning here and I simply have to go to bed. I can’t keep my eyes open. I’ll catch you again soon. Night, darling.’ She blew him a kiss and ended the call.

‘You bitch,’ she muttered, leaning back against the chair. The plan to keep him dangling had formed, right there and then. She could play as dirty as he could, with his little twofaced sweet-as-syrup floozy, Amelia.

Thank God she hadn’t weakened. She wouldn’t get in the habit of FaceTiming him too often, Marie-Claire decided, wishing that she was above playing mind games. Not mature, not adult, but satisfying nevertheless, she admitted gloomily, noticing that Lizzie had now come online. Can I FaceTime you? she messaged.

She’d barely sent off the message before her iPad vibrated again and Lizzie’s face appeared on screen. Marie-Claire pressed accept eagerly.

‘Hiya,’ she said warmly. ‘It’s great to see you, I’ve loads to tell you!’

‘Hi, MC, shoot,’ Lizzie grinned. ‘How did the party go?’

Marie-Claire shook her head. ‘Don’t ask,’ she sighed. ‘It was an absolute disaster!’