‘And you know me so well?’ I asked him, feeling instantly defensive at his tone.

‘I know you well enough to be confused about what happened in that meeting. You let Hayley act like everything that happened in New York was down to her! You let her take all the credit for your hard work. She made it seem like not only was she there all along but it was all her strategy to begin with. When we both know she had basically washed her hands of us!’ He looked as exasperated as I felt, but it made me annoyed.

‘Well, you didn’t say anything either,’ I pointed out. ‘You went along with her too.’

‘I wanted to set them straight but you didn’t seem to want me to do that. I was confused what was going on. You were so different in there. I mean…’ Jake gestured to me. ‘You even look like Hayley suddenly. What’s going on?’

My blood started to boil at his attitude when he’d made it clear we were nothing to each other. I snapped, ‘Why do you care? I’m just Hayley’s assistant to you!’

Jake looked taken aback. ‘If you really think that…’

‘What else am I meant to think?’ I demanded. ‘Ever since the party in New York, we’ve avoided each other. We said we’d go back to how we were before. And that meeting was exactly like we were before. Hayley is your agent so she took control to negotiate the best deal for you. She’s promised to help me become an agent, and told me to follow her lead. So, I did my job, Jake!’ I could see some passers-by looking at us and I realised I’d raised my voice more than was acceptable, but Jake really was winding me up. ‘And you did what she wanted too!’

‘I made sure they knew how pissed off I was with how they’ve been treating me these past few months. I’m not keen on re-signing but Hayley thinks I’ll get the best deal with them so⁠—’

‘Exactly,’ I interrupted him triumphantly. ‘You did what she told you to, like I did, so why am I in the wrong?’

Jake stared at me for a moment, then pushed a hand through his hair with a sigh. ‘Why are we doing what she says though, Freya?’ he asked in a softer, calmer tone. ‘We were the ones who turned things around in New York, not her. We did it together. We made a good team, didn’t we?’

I sighed too. ‘Yeah, we did. But that’s in the past.’