‘Oh, sugar,’ Alice said, waving above them.

Nina broke off as she clocked Jules descending regally down the central escalator, turning heads even with her eyes glued to her phone. Jules was wearing her ‘off-duty’ uniform, as dictated by her personal stylist: a pearly pale silk shift dress with a blazer, a large grey leather tote bag, Chanel flats. Her skin gleamed, her hair shone. Nina swallowed the words on her lips, and waved.

‘When in Paris?’ she called as Jules approached, holding her bags of coffee and croissants aloft, her voice rising at the end like perfectly fluted piping. She ignored the stars that seemed to whoosh round her head like a crown, the dizzying sensation of life spiralling out of control, as she stood. She caught the irritated look that passed over Jules’s face before it converted into a polished, practised smile. She never used to smile like that, Nina thought. She used to smile properly, goofily, before she was rich and successful and obsessed with ovulation and fertility and overpriced herbs.

‘Oh, girls,’ Jules said as she reached them and hugged them in turn. ‘You do not know how much I need this weekend. Let me just finish this.’ She waved her phone in her hand and moved slightly away from them, tapping furiously.

She needs us, Nina reminded herself. She’s having a really horrible time. And that’s why they were here; to support Jules, before her final round of IVF after years and years of heartbreak. Nina often wondered how Jules had kept on going. Dusted herself off each time. She knew that was intrinsically Jules: to keep going, to keep working, to keep moving forwards, but it must have taken its toll. She felt her own problems pale into comparison and as she met Alice’s eyes, she saw it on her face too. This was it, this was Jules’s last shot, thanks to Paul, and all they had to do was spend a weekend with her in Paris, helping her relax, reminding her that whatever happened they were there for her.

Nina could see the turmoil on Alice’s face. She lowered her voice and put her hands either side of Alice’s shoulders. ‘Come on, Alice, you need this too. A weekend just the three of us. When did we last do that? Visiting our old haunts, eating nice food, drinking nice wine…’ She had Alice in an awkward embrace now, sort of swaying the two of them from side to side, Alice snotty and smiling in spite of herself, removing evidence of her smudged mascara from her cheeks as Nina thought Oh shit, I can’t do that, can I? I can’t drink nice wine? And aren’t there foods you shouldn’t eat? She made a mental note to investigate on the train.

As Jules returned, Nina tried to ignore the flare of emotion that shot through her chest like a distress signal, as she gathered everything she had to fix a bright smile firmly in place. These were her two best friends in the world and right now, this was exactly where they should all be. She gathered up her bags and looping arms with Jules, they ambled over to Departures. They were going to Paris.