‘I don’t actually know much about it,’ I admitted. ‘They were all so busy today they didn’t really tell me anything. I’ve got my induction tomorrow. When you work for a network like that, you could be doing a million different things, it’s so exciting.’

‘I can’t believe you found such an amazing job so quickly,’ Adrian said with a congratulatory punch in the arm. Adrian and I had known each other since we were babies. His parents had lived next door to mine until his granddad died when we were fifteen and they moved into his fancy pile of bricks twenty minutes down the road. ‘What happened with the old one, anyway?’

‘Oh, it’s just …’ I opened my mouth, looking for the words. They were my best friends, I could tell them, surely?

‘She missed us so much she had to come home,’ Sumi interjected loudly. ‘And now she’s on to bigger and better things.’

I threw her a grateful look and agreed with a nod.

‘I’m very happy for you, although I was hoping you’d slack off for a while and hang out with me,’ Adrian said, throwing his arm around my shoulders. ‘I hardly ever see these two, always too busy for me.’

‘Some of us have to work for a living,’ I replied, needling him gently. ‘Some of us don’t have houses bought for us by our parents.’

‘You kind of do,’ Sumi reasoned with a grin.

‘Show me the photos again,’ insisted Lucy, her lovely face shining. ‘I can’t believe your dad built it for you, it’s so sweet. Like a grown-up Wendy house.’

‘Do you think the Lost Boys made her a compostable toilet?’ Sumi asked sweetly.

‘Where’s the waitress?’ I asked, keen to change the subject even as Sumi rustled around in my handbag, searching for my phone. ‘I’m starving to death over here. A working woman has to eat.’

‘Got to order at the bar,’ Adrian replied as Sumi and Lucy pored over pictures of my shed. ‘Is that a framed photo of Justin Timberlake?’

‘Is that a Groovy Chick duvet cover?’ Lucy asked. ‘Oh my god, what a flashback.’

‘I’ll go,’ I offered, shuffling out of the booth, taking a menu with me. ‘Be right back.’

Pitching up at the bar, I earned a welcoming smile from the same waitress I’d met the night before.

‘You’re Sumi’s friend,’ she stated, reaching an amiable hand across the bar. ‘I’m Camille.’

‘Ros.’ I navigated my arm through the taps to return her firm handshake. ‘Hello again.’

‘I’ll let John know you’re here before you order,’ she asked, pointing at the menu in my hand. ‘Chef’s trying out some specials I know he’ll want you all to try. You lot are our official guinea pigs.’