‘Don’t listen then,’ Ali said. ‘I’d prefer it if you didn’t anyway, to be honest. It makes me anxious.’

‘You sound all uptight, like you don’t wanna be there. You’re an Aussie, girl! Behave like one, hang loose, spill the beans. Tell ’em about how you picked up Michael in Spain, and he followed you for weeks, like a sad puppy, before you caved in and crossed the globe with him.’

Ali laughed, then sipped her coffee. ‘Honestly, Cass, I’m just being myself, and if it was up to me, I’d say no to all this publicity. I’m only doing it for that nice girl Jade at the publishers. She’s making all this effort, I feel I have to turn up.’

‘Oh, c’mon, you gotta bask in the spotlight while it’s still on you.’

‘I wish you could do it for me instead. You’d be so much better at it.’

‘I’ve never been known to shrink from attention, this is true.’

‘I just like sitting alone at a desk, making up stories and not having to get dressed or wash my hair if I don’t feel like it.’

‘You gotta wise up,’ Cass said. ‘You’re famous now, whether you like it or not, and if you don’t start coming over as a warm human being with a story to tell, people might take against you. You don’t want the tide to turn.’

‘Rubbish. I’m not famous at all,’ Ali said. She looked about her, at all the oblivious people around them, eating and talking and ordering food. ‘See? Nobody cares. My book’s quite well known, but I bet half the people who’ve read it couldn’t name the author, and thank God for that.’ She leaned forwards, elbows on the table, resting her chin in two cupped hands. ‘So, how was your week?’ she asked.

‘Yeah, so-so,’ Cass said. ‘Mad busy, as usual. Wrote a big piece for the magazine, “Greed as the new economic orthodoxy”, if you’re interested.’

Ali shook her head. ‘Nah, not really.’

Cass laughed, and winked at her. ‘Hey, are you coming to Sydney any time soon? I’ve got a new squeeze, Chinese-Australian guy, a bit short for me, but they’re all tall enough when they’re lying down.’

‘Oooh, what’s his name?’

Cass pretended to think for a while. ‘No,’ she said. ‘It escapes me.’

Ali laughed and said, ‘Good-looking, though?’

‘Well, he wouldn’t set Sydney Harbour on fire, but he’s quite cute. Come and see for yourself, but come soon before he gets the flick.’

‘Well, I might just do that. My editor’s on at me for a date, she wants me to meet her boss and talk next book.’

‘And is there a next book yet?’

‘Nope.’

‘Still no ideas?’

‘Plenty, but none that relate to Tell the Story, Sing the Song.’