Alice is looking at me, concern stamped firmly across her face. ‘I just think you should hang on at Wyndham’s a little bit longer, babe,’ she says. ‘I know it’s boring at the moment, and I know management consultancy is not fully your thing, but Dad’s positive that a better position will open up in the next six months or so.’

I remember Alice telling me her dad was a management consultant. And now, apparently, I am one too.

I need to get out of this flat. My head is fizzing and my stomach is churning and the Nurofen has done precisely sod all. I need to be outside. I need to be alone. I need to think seriously about what the hell is happening here.

‘What time is everyone coming again?’ I say, standing up.

‘Half eleven,’ Alice says. ‘Why?’

‘I just wanted to …’ I rack my brain for an excuse, and feel my phone through my pocket. ‘I was just gonna call Harv quickly. To say happy Christmas and stuff.’

She flinches. ‘Harvey? What, why? You haven’t spoken to him in years.’

I squeeze the bridge of my nose tightly. ‘What?’

‘Well, unless you’ve spoken to him more recently but haven’t told me about it. Have you spoken to him?’

There’s no time to think about this right now. I just need to get outside. ‘No, I’ve just been … thinking lately about getting back in touch with him,’ I stammer. ‘So I thought I’d give him a call today.’

‘Ben, are you kidding?’ Alice snaps. ‘You know how weird he was about me and you getting together. He told you that you should try and get back with Daphne after you broke up, for Christ’s sake! I thought we agreed it was probably best if you didn’t see him any more.’

Did I really agree to that? I look back at the black-and-white photo and see my own stupid face grimacing back at me. What have I turned into? Am I really the sort of person who’ll ditch his best mate just because his fiancée tells him to?

‘You’re confusing me now, Ben,’ Alice says. ‘And this is really not a good day for it.’

‘I know, I’m sorry.’ I start towards the kitchen door. ‘I still don’t feel great, to be honest. I think I might just nip out for a walk around the block, just to get some air.’

She sighs. ‘Right, well, don’t be too long. I still need your help with stuff.’

I bolt down the hallway, grabbing a jacket off the banister and heading straight for the front door. It feels like the walls are closing in around me. I can’t shake that image of my face in the photo, my mouth twisted painfully into a fake smile.