‘Anyway,’ she continues with a dismissive wave of her hand, ‘I don’t want to talk about Jude.’

I have to say that my twin is in a bit of an odd mood. Quiet, but bolshie with it. Perhaps she was more unsettled by Chelsea’s fabulous party than she’s admitted to and has thought more about how her life is going. I know that I’ve been brooding a bit ever since.

As if reading my mind, she says, ‘Have you spoken to Chelsea?’

‘No, but I sent her a thank-you card today.’

‘Did you? I should do that too. I’m so crap.’

‘Now that she’s back for a while, I could have called her and asked her to join us.’ When Chelsea is in England, her home is just fifteen minutes away from here. I had every intention of phoning her this week.

‘We should have,’ Lauren says. ‘But then that would have made us feel really crappy.’

‘You’re feeling crappy?’

She nods. ‘You too?’

I nod as well.

‘We can bitch to each other,’ Lauren states, ‘but we always have to pretend that everything is all right when Chelsea’s here.’

‘We don’t,’ I say, defending our older sister. ‘We just feel that we have to.’

‘Have you done anything towards changing your life yet?’ my sister wants to know.

I get the brochure for the Inca Trail charity trek out of my handbag and push it across the table.

Lauren’s eyebrows raise. ‘You’re doing this?’

‘I’d love to,’ I say. ‘But I’m too chicken. The kids at work are planning it.’

‘You should go,’ she encourages me.

‘Do you fancy doing it with me?’

‘Not likely,’ Lauren says. ‘My idea of adventure is lying on a sunlounger deciding which cocktail to have next.’

‘It’s a lot of money.’ I worry at a fingernail. ‘Over two grand. And that’s without any spending money. Everyone has to raise that for the charity to get a place.’

‘You could tap Chelsea for a few quid.’

I know that our sister would be very generous, but I’d feel funny asking her for money even though it’s for a cause that she’d adore.

‘I’ll ask Jude to stump up some money from our company too. I can twist him round my little finger.’

Oh, Lauren, I don’t think so. Otherwise you wouldn’t be in this situation. But I keep my mouth shut and say nothing.

‘You’re already halfway there,’ Lauren decides.

My fingernail gets another battering. ‘It’s so out of my comfort zone.’

‘Bloody hell, Annie – listen to you. You sound like Greg. Where’s your sense of adventure?’

‘I’m not sure I ever had one.’

‘Well, it’s about time that you did.’

‘We’re going away for the weekend,’ I tell her. ‘Just me and Greg.’