‘But, so what? So, I have a “good job” …’ I made air quotes – I usually hate them, but they helped make my point. ‘But I don’t really enjoy it anymore. I mean, I love the kids – mostly – some of them are little ratbags …’

‘You said that before once – “ratbags”. Can’t say I’m familiar, but I can guess what you mean.’ He was lightening the mood. I appreciated it.

‘Well, they are.’ I smiled. ‘Anyway, the job itself is so political now, and a lot of it is unchallenging – it’s boring. I’m sick of it, but it’s a stable job, and it pays okay. Either I stay in it and continue to work my way up, which means less time in the classroom with the kids – the only part I still enjoy – or I take the leap and do something totally different, which scares the fuck out of me.’

‘It is scary thinking about changing jobs. I’ve been with the same company since I left college, and I am totally ready for something else. I mean, I see the guys around me at work – guys my age – and they’re getting married, and taking on mortgages and having kids, and I want the exact opposite of that.’

‘But you’re not actually worried you’ll get sucked into all that?’

‘No, but they’re on the treadmill, you know? Like …’ He made a gesture with his hands to show perpetual movement. ‘I want to do something more innovative, something dynamic. Not just nine-to-five with no end in sight.’

‘Have any idea what that is?’

‘Nope.’

I laughed softly. ‘Me neither.’

‘And what about your friends?’ he asked.

‘I love my friends – I do – and I’m not really a person who has a lot of friends – just a few close ones. But at my age, all my friends are either married or married with kids, and as much as I love them, it’s not really the same between us anymore.’

‘No one to hang out with.’

‘Exactly. And how selfish is that? I mean, I want my girlfriends to be happy – and I think most of them are – but what I want for me is someone to go to the movies with, or go to dinner with on a Tuesday, or drink a bottle of wine with. I am so tired of drinking cask wine, which is the only kind I buy anymore, because it doesn’t go off if you drink it one glass at a time.’

‘You need new friends,’ he said, matter-of-factly. I looked at him to see if he was joking. He was.

‘That’s what I mean about sounding ungrateful. I don’t need new friends. I need to find a way to stop complaining and be grateful that, if I really needed them, I could call any one of them at three in the morning and they would be there for me.