Becky is on her way to Matthew’s house in an Uber when she returns Sam’s call.

‘Hey there, rock star,’ he says. ‘How’ve you been?’

It must be the middle of the night but agents in LA seem to be as on call as doctors, and despite the hour Sam sounds like he’s been playing tennis, drinking green juice and generally having a great time. Like this call is just one more thing he’s super looking forward to, even when the next thing he has to say is going to be bad news.

‘I’m great!’ she says. ‘And what about you?’

‘You know, I never bitch to my British friends because I know you guys have to tolerate a lot of bad weather on top of whatever’s going on in your lives, so I’m going to say all good.’ Sam laughs. And then he’s down to business. ‘OK, so we need to talk about these rumours. And let me first say that Emilia loves you, loves Sharon, loves the project, OK? But she’s a little, shall we say, a little twitchy.’

‘I understand her anxiety, I do, but what’s going on …’ She glances up at the driver and lowers her voice to a stage whisper. ‘It’s just hot air. It’s bullshit.’

‘OK, sure, and I’m the first person to stand up for Matthew, but we have to be honest that even if it’s bullshit, it’s bullshit that’s not going away, you know?’

‘If I thought there was truth in these rumours, I wouldn’t be anywhere near this project.’

‘It’s Matthew’s project though. It’s his company.’

‘His name’s not on it.’

‘You work for him! People aren’t going to be fooled by that shit. You’re his girl.’

Becky feels her phone slip in the sweat on her palm. She covers it with her other hand as Sam continues to talk and says to the driver, ‘I’ll jump out here.’

She is still a few streets away from where she needs to be and the route to Matthew’s house is horribly familiar.

‘People are believing women, Sam,’ says Becky, louder than she intended. ‘That’s a thing in our culture right now. Believe me when I say this film is watertight for your client.’

There is the wine shop. She crosses the road to avoid it, and half-turns her head away in case the man from that afternoon is in there.