‘I’d say we’re about to find out.’ Quin nodded at the waiter, who was making his way through the black-walled gloom of the restaurant bearing four tiny plates. Something about the manner in which he had materialized from the shadows reminded me of the reveal in Stars in Their Eyes.

‘Indeed.’ The young man smiled proudly at his plates, each topped with a mini glass dome containing white smoke. ‘Instead of traditional dinner rolls, we have…’ At this point my connection dropped out. I can only ever hear the first seven words in a lengthy food description. ‘…activated yeast, blah de blah of wheat and other codswallop. Enjoy!’

‘Can’t wait!’ Claire said, then she placed an anxious hand on his arm. ‘And, ah, the wine list…?’

‘Coming.’

It would be too, now that Claire had requested it. At the best of times she inspired respect and tonight she was looking particularly glossy, in a black flying suit with exaggerated space-age shoulders. Okay, the shoulders were ludicrous, but she pulled them off—and I’d have loved her hair. However, I simply couldn’t master that chic, loose, falling-down thing no matter how often I tried.

‘One, two, three…go!’ Quin said. We lifted our domes and inhaled the tendrils of white smoke.

‘Just like freshly baked bread,’ Adam said. ‘This place is awesome.’

‘I know, right!’ Quin was in great form. Getting a table here had been a personal crusade because he insisted he was the only person in Ireland who hadn’t yet been.

When the smoke dispersed, nothing at all remained on the plates. Adam looked dismayed, then glommed onto me because he knew that Quin and Claire would mock him.

‘Sorry to be a Basic,’ he said. ‘But there will be actual food at some stage tonight?’

That made me laugh. I was very fond of Adam. He was a bit Mr Expense Account and faaaar from his comfort zone here, but he was so game, always.

‘You will definitely get fed.’ I’d done my research. ‘Although I’m not sure there’s any pork belly here.’

‘Is it tragic to like pork belly?’

‘Pathetic,’ Claire said at the same time as I said, ‘No.’

The arrival of the wine list changed everything—suddenly the three of them had their heads together, the mood serious. I tuned out as the discussion raged about what wine would go best with Death by Parsley or Three-D Printed Quail.

‘For you,’ the drinks waiter said to me, ‘we can do alcohol-free tinctures and infusions, specially created to complement each course. Start you off with a charcoal lemonade?’

‘Sure!’ I mean, why not? BanDearg was totally one of those places—mildly ridiculous but lots of fun. Granted I’d need four slices of toast when I got home but so what.

‘Did you hear about today?’ Quin asked Claire and Adam, then launched into the story about Kallie.

Gripped and wide-eyed, they listened hard.