‘He’s waiting for you in the boardroom. With champagne. Financing is agreed. Contracts ready to sign,’ Siobhan says, opening her desk drawer and yanking it off the runners with a crack.

‘Are you coming too?’ says Becky.

‘No,’ says Siobhan.

‘Please come and have a drink. Emilia was your idea.’

‘I don’t want to.’

‘What’s going on?’

‘Just …’ She purses her lips and holds her palm up, flat and final. ‘I can’t talk to you right now.’

‘Have I done something to you, Siobhan?’ Becky’s insides lurch and she begins to feel a queasy combination of exhaustion and nausea, like the draining aftermath of extreme motion sickness.

‘Of course not. You’d better go in. Your champagne might get warm.’

Becky finds Matthew sitting at the head of the boardroom table. He looks up as she enters. He looks healthier than the last time she saw him. Taut and shining, like somehow he has shed wrinkles, shaved away years.

‘Come and sit down,’ he says, motioning her to a place at the table, laid with a freshly copied version of the Medea script and a pile of contracts marked with coloured Post-its. ‘You need to read the draft agreements. As producer you have some legal duties you’ll need to be aware of. It’s all boilerplate stuff. FilmFour sent some script notes through as well. But first …’ He reaches for a bottle of champagne and two glasses. He opens the bottle and the cork hits the ceiling with an air-pellet pop.

Drink Me.

She takes the proffered glass and holds it mid-air.

‘You look well, Rebecca,’ he says. ‘Success evidently suits you.’

‘Thanks. But can we get Siobhan in on this too?’ she says. ‘Make her a part of this?’

‘I don’t think so,’ he says. ‘She resigned this morning. About five minutes before you came in.’

Becky puts the glass down and sits back on her seat. ‘Why?’

‘She joined at the same time as you. You’re going places and she’s not. She’ll find a job elsewhere without much trouble. I’ve said I’ll help her out there, obviously. I’d do the same in her position. She’s read the writing on the wall and made a move. We’ll hire some more people. I’ll need a PA. You’ll need one as well. And we should get a development person who can report to you.’

‘It’s a shame. She’s been here ages.’

‘That’s why she needs to move on. Don’t feel sorry for her. She’s doing the right thing for her career. You’ll probably end up working with her on things. It’s a small industry. You might ask her if she’ll let us throw her a leaving drinks?’

‘I’ll definitely do that.’