‘No I hadn’t!’ Alice says, her voice suddenly a pitch higher. ‘Had I, babe?’

She looks at me and I shake my head. ‘No, not at all. Babe.’

‘I was totally surprised,’ she says again.

‘I think we all were!’ Phil nudges me with his shoulder. ‘We thought you were still moping over your ex!’

This time, there’s no laughter.

Dee looks at the floor. Marek coughs.

‘Phil,’ Becky says. But you can see a smile flickering on her lips.

‘Sorry.’ Phil holds his hands up. ‘It was just a joke. Backfired!’

Alice laughs tightly. ‘No, it’s fine.’

‘It’s fine,’ I agree, though it is currently taking everything I’ve got not to grab Phil by his Ralph Lauren shirt and demand that he expand on that comment. What did it mean? How did I get from ‘moping’ over Daphne to proposing to Alice on Broadway?

‘Anyway. Such a romantic story,’ Dee says finally.

‘So sweet,’ Becky agrees, the ghost of a smirk still lingering.

‘Anywhere I can smoke, Alice?’ Marek asks, jiggling a packet of cigarettes.

Becky clasps her bump protectively, and Alice frowns. I’m guessing her Parisian Gauloises-puffing days are now long behind her. ‘You can go out in the garden if you like,’ she tells him.

I see my chance for some fresh air, and a much-needed break from this dystopian nightmare.

‘Hang on, Marek … I’ll keep you company.’

We stand shivering in the little back garden as Marek lights his cigarette.

‘Do you want one?’ he says, offering me the pack.

‘No. Actually … yeah. All right.’ I haven’t smoked in about fifteen years, but right now, I feel like I need one.

He gives me a strange look as he hands it over and lights it. We both exhale and watch the smoke drift up towards the white-grey sky.

‘God, Phil can be such a dickhead sometimes, don’t you think?’ Marek says.

‘Er, yeah, I guess.’ Still moping over your ex. What did he mean by that?

‘I honestly don’t know how you can see those two all the time. I’d go mental.’

‘Yeah …’ I shrug. ‘They’re not so bad.’ Why the hell am I defending them? I take another puff. The cigarette is making me nauseous. I don’t know why I even asked for it. I feel like I’m not fully in control of my own actions. I wonder if I can just drop it on the floor. Would Marek notice?