‘Hey, man,’ Brad says, and it takes Duke a beat to process what he’s seeing. There’s nobody else in the gym, Daphne’s eyes are red-rimmed but she’s forcing a smile, and Brad is breathing heavily and unevenly, like he’s agitated about something. He’s been in a foul mood all day, so Duke doesn’t blame him for coming down here to burn off some steam, but the way Daphne is rubbing her wrist doesn’t seem right. She sees him notice and looks away quickly, and when Duke looks to Brad, he does the same, like he’s been caught.

‘You okay?’ he says to Daphne, looking from her wrist to her face once more, and pointedly so this time. I know something has just happened, he wills her to understand through the way he looks at her. Let me step up for you. I can handle this.

‘It’s just a stupid fight,’ she says, not even bothering to try and deny it. ‘We’re both tired. It’s fine.’

Duke can tell by her tone that it isn’t fine.

‘Did you put your hands on her?’ he says to Brad, through gritted teeth and trying very hard not to simply pin him by the neck to the wall, because nobody touches a woman that way. Nobody hurts a woman.

‘She was pushing my buttons,’ Brad says, looking at Daphne as he says it. ‘We were pushing each other’s buttons. That’s all.’

‘So you … what? Laid your hands on her to stop her?’ Duke presses. His heart is thumping wildly. Brad is his director, and losing his temper at him won’t play out well for the rest of the shoot if he flips his lid, but that’s no reason not to.

Brad sighs. Exasperated. Dramatic. Dismissive.

‘You of all people know what she can be like, bro. Don’t walk the moral high ground. You get it.’ He stops short as he sees Duke’s undoubtedly changing face – the tension in his jaw, the flare to his nostrils – and softens his voice, man to man. ‘Nothing happened, dude, okay? Come on, Daphne, let’s go.’

Daphne winces, just slightly, as Brad grabs her by the very spot she’s rubbing like it’s tender. Reflexively, quicker than light and sound, Duke punches his arm away so he lets go. There’s a beat, a moment, where nobody knows what to do. It was a violent, deliberate move. There’s a faraway part in Duke’s brain that knows nobody can get any visible bruising because of their jobs, but another part has Duke take a quick step towards Brad like he might actually deck him. Brad dodges in fear, and it’s pathetic. Brad is scared of Duke. It makes Duke laugh out loud.