‘This sounds like I’m upset about him not being a fan of my work, and that’s not it at all,’ Evie starts, and Daphne furrows her brow in question. ‘He said he loved my books, but then I found a crib sheet he has on me, and I get the feeling that everything he tried to say was from his heart was actually just a brief from his people. So now I feel like I can’t trust him? Even though I want to?’

‘A brief?’ Daphne asks, blushing slightly. ‘Like an information sheet?’

‘Exactly.’ Evie nods. ‘Yeah.’

Daphne puts her hand on Evie’s forearm.

‘I hate admitting this,’ she tells Evie, ‘but that was mine. It’s me who asked for the information on you. I didn’t know your books before. I know for a fact Duke really has inhaled your back catalogue. Honestly – he hasn’t been lying.’

Evie considers this. Is Daphne just covering for her friend?

‘If you say so …’

‘I do!’ she insists.

Evie doesn’t say anything else about it. She doesn’t trust herself to. Instead she changes the subject.

‘How long have you been acting?’ Evie asks her. ‘I never expected you to have read my stuff, obviously, but I’ll admit I’ve seen you in a few things – the one with Olivia Colman, and I honestly thought you were superb as Joan of Arc. Like, whoa. I think there were people in the cinema actually applauding at the end? And, I was one of them …’

Another laugh. ‘Thank you,’ Daphne says. ‘Yeah, that one was a doozy, but I loved it. I grew a lot from it, and that’s all I ask for really. I just want to learn something new about myself and what I’m capable of on every job. That must be a bit like writing, I imagine?’

A bird swoops low in the sky, almost colliding with them.

‘Gah!’ Daphne screams.

‘Jesus!’ says Evie. ‘That felt like it was coming right for me, like, ON PURPOSE! Did you see that?!’

‘At least it didn’t poo on us,’ says Daphne. ‘Wardrobe weren’t very happy at me coming out in costume, but in winter it makes you colder, getting dressed and undressed, doesn’t it? I said I’d tag them both on social later, send some followers their way as a thank you.’

‘Ahh bribery, works every time.’ Evie sighs.

‘Story of my life,’ says Daphne. ‘There are some real diamonds in this industry, but I can’t lie: there’s a lot of people who want something and everything, too.’

‘Duke’s said the same, yeah.’ Evie nods. ‘I’m sure publishing can be that way as well, but I try to keep myself to myself, living my tiny little life out in Salt Lake.’