“Filming took about six months, and it was intense and claustrophobic. By the end of it we were sharing every meal together and hanging out whenever we weren’t on set. And then one night it became something more. I don’t know who made the first move—” Nicole frowned as she thought back “—Yes, I do. It was him. We were in his trailer, talking and sharing a bottle of wine when he leaned in and kissed me. And the weird thing was we’d kissed before on set, plenty of times, but this was different.”

“So that was it? That was the moment?”

Nicole shook her head. “I was wary. I don’t have a great track record, as you know, and I could feel myself falling for him. I liked him. And I was scared that he’d go back to his wife. But he said there was no way. That it was over. He’d never had an affair before. Despite everything, he’d stayed faithful. And when he told me that it made what we had seem all the more special. And the more he told me about his marriage, the more I believed that it really was over. They hadn’t had sex for over a year.” She flushed. “Promise me you won’t sell that juicy fact to the press.”

Milly sighed. “Nic—”

“I know, I know—you would never do a thing like that. Why isn’t everyone in the world like you? It would be a better place.” She finished her lemonade, wishing in that moment that it was wine. “Anyway, I believed him. More fool me, as it turned out. But we were together for almost a year, and it was blissful. Not together the whole time of course, because by then I was working on something different and so was he, but we used to fly to meet each other and have these amazing weekends. We had a trip to Rome and had a midnight trip around the Colosseum wearing wigs and glasses and pretending to be Spanish tourists. I thought he was the one. I thought I’d finally found someone who was going to be in my life forever.” Saying it aloud sounded so stupid now.

Milly reached across the table and took her hand. “What happened?”