‘I know we’ve all done shit things after a break-up, but I cannot believe she showed our photos to her friends,’ Juliette groaned. ‘The idea of standing on a stage and grinning like an idiot, when half the world was probably looking at those pictures, I just couldn’t do it. And Clive Carden, the wanker in charge, he’s the worst of them. Raising money for charity one minute and publishing nudes in his shitty tabloids the next. Men like him think they can do anything they like and no one will ever hold them accountable. The worst part is, they’re right.’

Poor Evan, I thought. My dad was an arsehole but he was a common or garden arsehole. He wasn’t out there publishing naked photos of people and ruining their lives.

‘The photos are out,’ I told her with an apologetic grimace. ‘You should know.’

A flicker of something crossed her face but she didn’t move.

‘Did you see them?’ she asked.

Not wanting to say the words out loud, I nodded, and her shoulders slumped, defeated.

‘Well, that’s that, then,’ she said. ‘I’m sorry I was so rude yesterday, I’ve forgotten how to behave with real people. When everyone agrees with you all the time, you start thinking you’re always right. Ronnie used to call me on it all the time.’

‘Ronnie was your ex?’ I asked as she coiled her hair into a bun on the top of her head and nodded. ‘How did you meet? I know you said dating was difficult.’

Juliette linked her fingers behind her head and looked up at the ceiling, smiling sadly. ‘She was my assistant.’

‘Ah,’ I said, putting two and two together and coming up with something that looked suspiciously like a four.

‘Just so you know, that’s not something I make a habit of,’ she said. ‘I’m not like some creepy old man, trying it on with the help. She started working for me in April and by May, we were together. It was mad, just an instant connection, like I’d known her all my life. As soon as things changed, I suggested I get another assistant, but she said having someone else around would only get in the way and that people would start talking about us and she didn’t want that. Then I found out her mates had been selling stories to the press all summer. We fired everyone trying to work out who was leaking stuff. When there was no one else left, Sarah confronted her and that was it. Boom, she was gone. And boom, it was over.’

‘That’s why you needed someone to start in such a hurry?’