I sighed. “Honestly, I can’t tell. Oliver’s never been like this with me. But then, his dad’s never died so…who knows?”

“In other words,” Priya said, “everything’s fine and you’re just getting in your head like a wanker.”

Sitting down next to Priya, I cast her a you-have-failed-to-comfort-me look. “How have you got two girlfriends? Or, indeed, any nonzero number of girlfriends.”

“Because they like that I’m creative, low bullshit, and get them off. In my experience, that’s what women are after.”

“Good to know. Although not super relevant to me right now.”

She took a long draught of a beer with a weird name. “And—just to cover the basics—you’ve tried, like, talking to him and shit.”

“I’ve tried. But he’s not really talking to me.”

“I’ll admit that would normally be a sign because you’re in one of those annoying, mature relationships where you have to make plans and share your feelings instead of just screaming and fucking. But”—and here Priya, who was being more serious than I was used to, fortified herself with some more beer—“grief’s its own thing. He’s probably feeling a lot of mixed stuff right now, especially because, from what you’ve said, his dad was a prick.”

“You’d think,” I said, “that would make it easier. I mean, not to blow my own trumpet, but I’m kind of an expert on dads who are pricks, and when Jon Fleming finally gets prostate cancer for real, I will give zero shits.”

Priya clicked her tongue stud against her teeth. “Speaking as an artist, I don’t think anyone gets to be an expert on emotions. Your thing with your dad is your thing with your dad. Oliver’s thing with his dad is his thing with his dad, and they aren’t going to work the same.”

“Oh my God.” I stared at her in horror. “When did you start getting nuance?”

“When I stopped being twenty-one. Pay attention.” She smirked. “Besides, I’ll have you know that the Guardian says I have a profound insight into the human condition.”

“Doesn’t the Guardian say that about everybody vaguely left-wing and artsy?” I pointed out.

To which her profound insight into the human condition enabled her to craft the eloquent rebuttal of “Fuck off.”