‘Yes, he’s on excellent form. He’s really thrown himself into his hobbies and having Will around is good for both of them. I think my mum’s friend Brenda has taken a bit of a shine to him as well. She was getting distinctly predatory at Christmas.’

‘Good. Thinking of which, I have a somewhat delicate question I need to ask you.’

‘Yes?’

‘We’ve received a reference request for Dr Milne, from a hospital in Bournemouth.’

I pause my data entry, trying to work out how that piece of information makes me feel. I haven’t given Luke a thought in months, and I’m pleased to find that his name doesn’t trigger anything in me now.

‘I see,’ I tell her carefully. ‘I suppose it was bound to happen sooner or later.’

‘Yes, but what do I say?’

‘Tell them the truth.’

‘I can do that from a work perspective. He’s a talented doctor, if a loose cannon, but oddly there isn’t a box where I can fill in his predilection for seducing female nurses. Do you think I should include a covering letter?’

‘I wouldn’t bother. He’ll wriggle his way out of any uncomfortable questions like he always does.’

‘It just doesn’t sit well with me, knowing what I know.’

‘As everyone kept telling me at the time, his questionable morals aren’t my, or our, problem, especially as he didn’t actually do anything that technically constituted misconduct. I was a willing participant slash idiot.’

She sighs. ‘I suppose you’re right. I’ll leave you to finish that and then we’d better hand over to the night shift. Thanks, Tilly.’

As I make my way up to reception to walk to the car park, I let my mind wander on to Luke. I still don’t fully agree with Will’s assessment of Richenda, but I’m definitely in agreement that it was a very strange way to go about things in hindsight. I wonder how Cindy is getting on. I hope she’s OK.

‘Tilly!’ a familiar voice calls and I can feel my face breaking out into a smile before I even spot the owner.

‘What are you doing here?’ I ask as Will crosses the lobby and wraps me in one of the hugs I’ve got so used to.

‘Well, two things actually. One, we landed the car company contract so I hoped you might help me celebrate.’

‘That’s brilliant, well done!’

He takes my hand and we resume crossing the lobby. ‘Yeah, I’m particularly pleased as they took on board my points about inclusivity so we’re going to include sign language and subtitles.’

‘Nice. What about audio description?’

‘If you can’t see, you probably ought not to be driving.’

‘Good point. What was the second thing?’