I contemplated the message. I hadn’t spoken to her for two weeks, though I had been meaning to get in touch. Sasha’s friendship was still important to me, even if I was going to have to find some way of having her in my life if she and Charlie couldn’t get on.

I sat on the wall, Charlie’s suit beside me, and called her straight back.

‘Andrew. Thank you so much. I didn’t know if you’d call.’

She sounded oddly formal, but when I spoke, I did too. ‘That’s all right. I’ve been meaning to call you for ages. Are you OK?’

It took a minute or two for the conversation to shift, the ice breaking off the edges, until it felt natural again, though still not like our normal easy exchanges. Not yet anyway.

I told her about Victor and we speculated about what it might mean for the Wowcom contract. Sasha told me that Wowcom had terminated contracts with suppliers in the past because they were worried their ‘brand might become contaminated’. This possibility hadn’t occurred to me.

‘Do you think he’s guilty?’ she asked.

‘No. I mean, I don’t know. He never struck me as . . . the type.’

I could almost hear her rolling her eyes. ‘You mean he didn’t wear a grubby mac and have a box of puppies in his car.’

‘You know what I mean.’

‘Yeah, sorry.’

An awkward silence fell between us. My eye was sore. I had noticed that this happened increasingly when I was stressed. Something to do with eye pressure, perhaps. The little bubble of excitement I’d been floating in, thinking about Charlie moving in with me, had well and truly popped.

‘What did you want to talk to me about?’ I asked.

I heard her take a deep breath. ‘It’s kind of difficult to explain without sounding ridiculous or mad. Can you meet me after work?’

Here it was: the difficult moment that would repeat all the while I was friends with Sasha. ‘I’m not sure. Charlie’s coming round.’

Sasha was silent.

‘Are you still there?’ I asked.

‘Yes. I wouldn’t ask if it wasn’t important. But it’s all right. I’ll find someone else to talk to. Don’t worry.’

‘Hang on.’ I really wanted to see Charlie tonight, but it wouldn’t do any harm to meet Sasha for an hour, would it? ‘I’m sorry, Sash, of course I’ll meet you. Where and when?’

‘My place at six-thirty?’

I texted Charlie and told her I’d be out for a little while with Sasha. She didn’t reply.

Sasha texted me at six to ask if we could meet in The Commercial as she didn’t want to go straight home. Will all make sense later! the text read.