‘I mean, once, you desperately wanted to go to drama school,’ Beth goes on. ‘And all those nights I sat on your bed, helping you learn fucking Shakespeare speeches and you saying it was boring, and then you’d sing fucking Annie—’

‘It wasn’t Annie, it was Miss Saigon—’

‘Same fucking thing—’

‘No it fucking isn’t—’

‘BABES. Stop. I watched you, I cheered you on, I took you to Yates’s Wine Lodge when you got rejected, I held your hair back when you puked, told you to try again. Then I sat through your uni shows, them funny sketches. Whatever became of them?’

‘Oh, they were dire.’

‘Nobody starts off perfect, Chlo. And now teaching isn’t feeling so easy, so you might jack it in. Or not. Ooh, you might. You might not. That ski lesson was a prime example—’

‘Let’s not mention the ski lesson, pal.’

‘Fine! But, babes, you just need to put the work in. Whatever it is.’

‘And what about you? Your marriage. Aren’t you gonna put the work in?’

‘I did. We did. When you’ve tried so hard at something, it’s easier to know when to call it a day.’ She lets out a long sigh, as if she’s been wearing a corset and the laces have been loosened. ‘I’m not saying marriage – relationships – should be plain sailing, but they should never be a constant battle. If anything, the right one, it should be easy; effortless. Then you deal with the hard stuff as a team. Fergus … no, we, didn’t.’

I nod. ‘You know, I’m starting to think that Jack wouldn’t’ve been so easy.’

Beth eyes fall onto mine. ‘Why?’

‘Just a feeling; that maybe we weren’t what I thought we were.’

‘You loved him, though, didn’t you?’

‘I did. God, Beth. I did. I’ve never felt that way before.’

‘You need to hold onto that, babes; store it in a special place. But you’re dragging it out and you know what? I think it’s warping what you had …’ then Beth puts her hand across her mouth to prevent a laugh escaping.

‘What’s so funny?’ I ask, wondering what’s brought this on.

‘I’ve just gone on and on about how you never try hard at anything, and when it comes to Jack, fuck me, you’ve tried so hard. You’re still trying! You’ve literally gone all over the fucking world. If you’d put half of that effort into being an actress you’d have won a fucking Oscar by now.’

‘And I’m supposed to find this funny?’

‘What else is there to do?’ Her face turns serious again. ‘I’m not sorry.’

‘I know.’

‘I want you to live your life and be happy, Chlo.’

‘I want that, too! For both of us.’

‘So don’t drag me backwards.’