‘Have I been to Berlin? Have I been to Berlin, he asks me. Let me tell you about Berlin …’

April hurries over in their direction. She glares at Will, doing a throat-cutting gesture. ‘Don’t mention Berlin!’ she stage-whispers through grinning teeth.

Kris mutters something and returns to assessing his work at ever more oblique angles.

‘The place looks amazing,’ Will says.

‘So much still to do,’ April says. They stop metres apart. Will swings his arms back and forth. She scuffs a foot in circles on the floor. April is a hugger, ordinarily. The fact bothers Will until it dawns on him that not being hugged is probably more significant than being hugged.

‘What do you want me to do for you?’

There’s a flash of wickedness in her eyes.

Will’s face feels hot. ‘What needs doing, I mean? Round here? Sorry. Sorry.’

‘Let’s pack it in with that word, yeah?’

‘What word?’

‘Sorry.’

‘Shit. Sorry.’

April starts giggling.

‘Sorry,’ Will says again.

April takes a couple of steps towards him. ‘Can you believe I had the police called on me?’

Will closes the gap so they’re almost touching. ‘Yes, I can believe that. What with a six-figure car being trashed and all.’

‘You make it sound so … vandalistic. I remodelled it, that’s all. In some circles it would be considered art.’

‘It was certainly a thing of beauty.’

‘Why, thank you.’

‘Did the police think it was art?’

‘Not so much.’

‘Are you in trouble?’

‘Would you believe it if I told you the car’s owner didn’t want to press charges?’

‘How very strange.’

‘Curious, indeed.’

She checks that no one’s earwigging. ‘You said something interesting, a while back.’

‘Did I?’

‘That time we watched the sunrise on the Martello tower. Remember?’

Will grins. ‘Hmmm. Vaguely.’

She punches his arm. ‘You asked me if I said no. To him. I’ve been thinking about that question a lot.’

‘You said you didn’t.’

‘Yup. I didn’t say no.’

‘Right.’

‘But I never said yes.’

‘OK.’

‘And I’ve only recently realized that.’

Will reaches out for her hand. She locks her fingers with his.

‘I think I’ve been hard on myself, Will.’

‘That’s a fucking understatement.’

‘It’s time to move on.’ She nods as she says it. A Magician’s Nod. ‘Things are gonna be different now,’ she says.

‘Different?’

She puts both of her hands round Will’s. ‘Better. Much better.’

‘Right. Great.’

‘You know something else?’ she says, barely above a whisper. ‘People know. At ECS. They know why I left my lovely expensive school.’

‘How?’

‘I dunno. Rumours get around, I guess.’

‘Yeah, well, if I hear anyone saying anything …’

‘Thanks, Will. Means a lot.’ April suppresses a laugh. ‘But here’s the thing – no one really cares, Will. All this time I’ve been shitting myself about being outed. Turns out, people couldn’t give a toss.’