MIRANDA. We don’t always start drinking at three o’ clock on a Friday afternoon.

SAM. I did wonder about the champagne!

MIRANDA. Yeah, it’s not funny actually. Meredith, our Beauty Ed. She’s having a really rotten time of it.

SAM. I’m sorry to hear that.

MIRANDA. Yeah, it’s very upsetting. We’re all very upset. She’s been in chemo four weeks now. And she had this gorgeous hair, I mean advert hair, and I don’t want you to think she’s a vain woman, because she’s not, but losing the hair has definitely hit her hard. But so what we were going to do tonight, was we were all going to shave our heads, bit of a you know little act of sort of solidarity.

SAM. Wow, that’s. That’s so nice, what a lovely –

MIRANDA. Yeah well, that’s just sort of the atmosphere here.

SAM. So it’s Dutch courage is it?

MIRANDA. What?

SAM. The champagne. For the big… shave.

MIRANDA. Yeah well, actually, in the end what happened was, was factors came in to play so what we’re doing instead is throwing her a little party instead, just for her, and we’re all dressing up as our personal heroines, because that’s what Meri is, to us.

SAM. So you’re – sorry, you’re dressing up as her?

MIRANDA. No, different women, like Beyoncé or Catwoman. Or Isabella and Angela both wanted to come as Marilyn Monroe so we’ve got two of them and Fabienne’s being a sexy Joan of Arc!

SAM. She’s French is she?

MIRANDA. Well, French-Canadian. We do talk very freely here, about female issues. If that bothers you –

SAM. It doesn’t bother me.

MIRANDA. Great. The pay’s quite minimal at first, I’m sorry about that.

SAM. That’s fine.

MIRANDA. No but I do feel really bad about that. I feel so sorry for you guys, coming out of uni now. I mean the climate.

SAM. Yeah.

MIRANDA. You really just have to take what you can get, don’t you? And the perks are good. We often have free samples of products. A lot of what we do here is about product. Shampoo, moisturiser, low-calorie salad dressing. Bags. Anti-wrinkle bras, that sort of thing. You can take them home and use them.

SAM. Brilliant.

MIRANDA. Or give them to your girlfriend probably.

SAM. Oh. No.

MIRANDA. Boyfriend, even.

SAM. No, I’m – I did have a girlfriend but. We’re not together any more.

MIRANDA. What happened? You don’t have to tell me.

SAM. Okay.

MIRANDA. I’m not allowed to ask actually.

SAM. Right.

MIRANDA (Nazi accent). ‘But we have ways of making you talk!’

They laugh.

No, what’s important is you mustn’t feel pressurised.

A long pause.

SAM. No, it’s just –

MIRANDA. Yeah?