‘Jeez,’ Aaron said helplessly, trying to imagine how shitty it had felt.

Clancy flashed a glance at him. ‘Monty apologised to everyone and ended the conference call. It’s a bit of a blur after that. Monty drove me back to London. I was in shock. Will met me at home and confessed to being in love with Renée. He was horrified to have hurt me but said he was relieved the lies and subterfuge were over. So shock number two: it wasn’t just a fling. We were both directors of IsVid, owned our apartment together, and we were supposed to be getting married. It was one hell of a heap of shit.’

‘I can only imagine.’ But so clearly that his heart bumped as if he’d experienced it with her.

Her voice dropped into a dull monotone. ‘I was in a daze. At the limit of what I could cope with, I suppose. Monty got to hear that the clients – other than Renée, no doubt – had found the story about the video-conference-turned-porn-flick too good to keep to themselves. Our conferencing software saved automatically and the clients had access privileges to any call they were party to. Someone there made sure the footage was shared. I suppose Renée could have asked her HR department to investigate but decided it might not work in her favour.’

A shudder ran through her and he wished he could think of something comforting to say. He passed her coffee, holding the mug steady until he knew she’d got it so it wouldn’t splash over her bare legs, though he wouldn’t have minded splashing the hot coffee over the absent Will’s lap.

‘So.’ She dragged out a sigh. ‘Worried, he said, about our image, Monty came up with the excellent idea of saying it had been me Will was … with. Will and I had plans to marry, so it would downgrade the incident. Asila and Tracey told him not to be a moron and I should have let them stop him. Instead, I lost my sense of proportion and put out an IsVid newsletter saying the woman Will Martin had screwed on the desk during a video conference had not been me.’

‘Oh.’ Aaron cringed for her.

‘Yeah.’ She sat up a bit straighter. ‘It wasn’t seen to be normal behaviour. The newsletter got on social media and IsVid was tagged. Asila and Tracey suggested I took time out but Monty went further and said he didn’t see how we could all continue to work together. And it wasn’t Will, the one who had messed up, who was to leave! It was me. Monty said Will had “kept his composure”. So that’s what was important? Not ethics and loyalty, not slaving to make the business a success? It was composure.’

He was still holding her hand. ‘Harsh.’

‘I don’t even remember everything I said now. I was distraught. Betrayed. I certainly didn’t keep my composure.’ With her free hand, she brought her coffee mug, still trembling, to her lips. ‘So I tied them and Will up in a financial knot. You could say I was protecting myself or you could say I was being a vindictive bitch. Then I told Will he could sort out un-planning the wedding and I left for Nelson’s Bar.’