‘That’s true,’ I agree, swallowing the lump that’s suddenly formed in my throat as the realisation that I’m depressingly single once more comes crashing in on me. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not missing Luke at all, but I will miss the feeling of being someone’s special person, even though it turned out I wasn’t that special to him after all. It’s having someone to text random thoughts to, or just a warm body to snuggle up with. I think back to some of our late-night text exchanges. At the time I pictured him caring for his mother, but now I realise he was probably doing it while Cindy was asleep and a fresh surge of anger courses through me.

‘I’m going to leave you guys to it,’ I say to Mike and Sarah as I top up my glass and head towards my bedroom. ‘Give me a call when it’s ready.’

‘Will do,’ Mike assures me. ‘Probably another half-hour or so.’

No sooner have I closed the door behind me than the tears start. I’m not even totally sure what they’re for. Anger, certainly, but also desperate sadness. For a while, I genuinely believed that Luke and I were building a connection, but of course it was all lies. He was just feeding me what he thought I wanted to hear to get me into bed. And the worst part of all is that it worked. I bought it and fell for him. What a stupid, naïve thing to do. And I can’t even get away from him because, as my mother and others have been at pains to point out, we still have to work together. And, of course, I’m back on the shelf at the ripe old age of thirty-four, as Mum had no qualms about reminding me this afternoon.

As I wipe my eyes angrily with the sleeve of my sweater and take a large mouthful of wine, I make myself a solemn promise. Whatever happens, Luke Milne and I are never going to be spending more than the bare minimum of time in each other’s company again, and if he so much as tries to pull another gaslighting stunt like he did this afternoon, I may well put some of Sarah’s rather macabre ideas into practice.