‘Whatever else you need to feel, Pete, guilt over not working hard enough isn’t it!’ She was laughing at him, it was true. He’d made partner in his firm a decade before any of his colleagues. Sometimes, it had seemed to Liv that was all he did – work and take care of everyone else.

‘So, what can I do you for? Need a lift after work tonight?’

‘I…’ It wasn’t why she’d rung, but then, what was she going to do? Blurt out on the phone that she didn’t want him to see Anya anymore. That Anya Hegarty would never be good enough for him, in Liv’s opinion. That she wasn’t The One.

‘What time are you finishing?’

‘Meant to be eight o’clock, but I’ve offered to work until later if they need me. You know how it can be over the holidays. The team are only staggering back in and New Year’s can be busy in a way no other night of the year is.’

‘Right, I’ll pick you up at eight?’

‘Not at all, I’m sure you have better things to be doing than driving out to pick me up,’ she said.

‘I’m always happy to go collect you.’ He sounded a bit let down and she wondered if he and Anya had made a plan to ring in the New Year together.

‘What are you up to?’

‘I have no plans. It’s basically the same as any other night of the year, apart from the view from my window. Remember last year?’ he said and she could hear him smiling. She did remember. They’d spent it together. She’d come back to work in Dublin before Eddie, who’d probably gotten drunk in Flannelly’s and not even heard the midnight bells. She and Pete had stood at his enormous picture windows, a glass of brandy each in their hands, watching the fireworks light up the night sky over the bay beyond.

‘I really enjoyed it.’

‘Well, if you and your friend fancy dropping by later, maybe we can do the same again this year,’ he said. There was no agenda, nothing beyond two friends chilling out and watching the fireworks.