It was a fact that might have been more reassuring if the door hadn’t opened for a second time, my fiancé walking right out of the salon behind Bryony. He was wearing the Bingham & Son overalls he’d left the house in that morning, and had an adorable smudge of something on his snub nose. Sinking lower, I pressed myself against the wall as I tried to come up with a reasonable explanation as to what he might be doing in the Be Beautiful salon, when he was supposed to be fitting a cast-iron claw-foot bath with his dad. Eyelash extensions? Colouring that flash of grey that had recently appeared at his temples? Or simply engaging in a good old-fashioned affair? Before my brain could completely spin off out of control, my phone vibrated into life with Rose’s name and number lighting up the screen.

‘Hello?’ I answered, eyes still fixed on the scene outside the salon.

‘Fran-it’s-Rose-I’ve-got-good-news,’ she said all at once, without pausing for breath,

‘Good news as in I’ve got the interview good news?’

‘Exactly like that! I’m sending everything over to you right now, you just need to whizz the NDA back to me and I’ll send you a train ticket for tomorrow morning.’

‘Tomorrow as in the day after today?’ I asked, my heart pounding against my ribs. One eye on Stew, one on my phone. ‘You didn’t say I’d have to interview tomorrow?’

‘And if you’re successful, you’ll start the job tomorrow as well,’ Rose confirmed. ‘Fran, don’t turn this down. It’s a once in a lifetime opportunity.’

‘Once in a lifetime doesn’t automatically translate into a good thing,’ I replied, newly formed doubts beginning to take root in the back of my mind. ‘Lots of bad things only happen once in a lifetime.’

‘The interview is with a Sarah Pierce – don’t worry about writing it down, I’ll email the details – and I’m quite certain it’s just a formality,’ Rose said, talking over me excitedly. ‘They love your CV, and from the sounds of it, they’re desperate. You’re a shoo-in.’

Charming.

‘So, you’ll sign the NDA and send it back right away?’

‘Yes.’

‘And you can be in London tomorrow?’

‘I can.’

I peered out of the window to see Stew and Bryony still standing outside the salon, grinning at each other as it began to rain. Perfectly normal behaviour that didn’t ring any alarm bells in the slightest. She held out her vape pen and Stew leaned forward to take a cheeky toke, his cough blooming in the chilly air as she pulled it away, laughing.

‘Then I think that covers it,’ Rose cut through my miserable thoughts and brought me back to earth with a bump. ‘Any questions?’