Evie smiled, realising how much she’d missed spending time at the Feldmans’ place. Before Ben moved out in their first few months of university (the first time around), he and Evie had often spent Sunday afternoons studying together here; eating toasted bagels with salmon and cream cheese (Ben) and avocado and a dash of lemon (Evie) prepared by Brenda. Evie had always loved the sense of chaos and warmth here. Her parents made a huge effort to provide a welcoming environment, but their frosty relationship inevitably tinged it with tension. By comparison, the bond between Brenda and Maurie Feldman and their kids was playful and loving. And though Maurie had a busy construction company and was often away, a wholesomeness permeated the very soul of the home, mostly fuelled by Mrs Feldman’s deep concern that nobody was eating enough. Brenda Feldman, AKA Mama Feld, AKA President of Chicken Soup Anonymous, AKA Brend-dizzle, was the kind of mother everybody both feared and loved. Effortlessly affable, deeply interested in all her children and their friends, always on hand for advice (whether you asked for it or not) and a freshly baked babka cake, Brenda was generous, caring and ever-present.

Brenda frantically cleaned around Ben while he kept a watchful eye on the boiling fettuccini, using his tongs to swish it around so it didn’t glug together and then, after a few minutes, tasting a strand to check it was perfectly al dente.

‘Benny, you haven’t properly told me how the internship’s going,’ Evie said, braving the topic as she leaned against the kitchen bench.

Ben turned to face her, a piece of fettuccini hanging from his mouth. He gave her a thumbs up, slurped, and then replied, ‘Oh, it’s mostly been coffee run after coffee run. Pretty uneventful so far.’

‘Ben, you know you don’t have to protect me. I’m a big girl,’ Evie said. She could tell that he was holding back.

Considering her for a moment, Ben swirled the pasta around the pot, prodding it for good measure. ‘I know. I’m just so pissed on your behalf. They were crazy not to give you one too!’ Ben said, looking genuinely gutted.

‘It’s all good, Ben. I’ve actually been helping Hugo out with his screenplay a bit, so I’m practically an intern at my house.’

‘Really?’ Ben said, looking relieved.

‘Yeah, I’m feeling a lot better about it all. So please, no keeping secrets, okay?’ Evie was glad to have finally had this conversation. There was no reason why things should change between her and Ben. She wanted them to enjoy each other’s success. She didn’t want to make the same mistakes she had the last time around, which had caused them to drift apart. She hoped, this time, that they’d be this close for the long run.

‘Okay,’ Ben agreed, nodding.