‘Which one are you going for?’ Nina asked Jules, and Alice was surprised to see a flash of irritation pass over Jules’s face. If they weren’t even on safe ground with accessories, they were in for a rougher ride this weekend than Alice had anticipated.

‘I’m cutting back,’ Jules said. ‘Just in case…’ and her eyes wandered to the sky. Nina had them moving quickly onwards, in the direction of the river.

Nina had become one of those active, busy people, Alice realised. A grab-life-by-its-horns person. The thought of it made her feel dizzy and exhausted. What sort of person have I become? she wondered, but she didn’t really want an answer, her brain moving automatically to the messages to Mr Hough she’d been composing in her head all morning. He had finally messaged her back, just as they’d arrived at Nina’s apartment, and she’d squirrelled herself away in the bathroom to read it. Lucky she had, as it made her gasp:

You look beautiful Alice. Have fun in Paris x

Her whole body contracted and her heart beat faster in response, as though trying to free itself. It crossed a line, didn’t it? He’d crossed a line. Well, she crossed it first, but now he’d stepped over and joined her. What did it mean? Oh Alice, she chided herself, it doesn’t mean anything. He’s five years younger than you and entirely out of your league, even if you weren’t married with three children. He’s being nice. He feels sorry for you, Alice. At this realisation, all energy slumped out of her body; she pictured it pooling on the floor, like puddles of dark rainwater, as Nina called that they should go.

Jules looked up from her phone to navigate around a chalkboard outside a restaurant by the river with a red-and-gold striped awning and said, ‘Ooh, look! Oysters. And wine! Late lunch?’ Alice vaguely remembered having eaten here once, with Ted. She couldn’t remember what they ate but she remembered them holding hands as they gazed over the river, the light gilding its surface, as it was doing now.

A look of horror crossed Nina’s face as Alice and Jules stopped walking and she put a hand on the small of each of their backs and tried to steer them away, as if the very idea of sitting still and relaxing was abhorrent to her. Not appreciating, Alice thought, that they were at very different stages in their lives. Alice had got up so early that morning. Her legs were weary and her heart was heavy. She needed to regroup. If she had the choice, she’d have spent the weekend lolling around, in silence, eating as much nice food as possible and moving as little as possible. That’s how you avoided burn-out, not being marched around a city.

‘No!’ Nina said. ‘Plenty of time for that later. We’re in Paris, together, for the first time in three years. Let’s explore! I’ve brought the rest of the mini baguettes from the café.’ She gestured to the paper bag in her hand. ‘We can walk and talk and eat…?’