She started walking, with no destination in mind, although she would have preferred to have this conversation in private. Her house was empty. Both her parents were at work. Could she bring Mia Miller into her safe haven, even though she had already decided she didn’t want her there? As the moment of having to ask questions neared, and nerves started manifesting themselves, Lou felt like she didn’t have much choice. She was the one who couldn’t ask this question of Mia in the street, and who needed the protection of four walls around her. Besides, walking around in Darlinghurst, where they both knew a lot of people, could never be private enough.

“Let’s go to my house,” Lou said. “Well, my parents’ house to be exact. And before you say anything, yes, I am part of the trend of people in their thirties returning home to live with their parents.”

“I’m not saying a word,” Mia joked, her tone tense.

They walked in silence, with long, determined strides. Lou let them in and they sat in the lounge. It was so silent around them when they sat down that Lou heard Mia’s stomach growl.

“Looks like you’re hungry.”

“I tend to skip breakfast when I have to get up early. We were slammed today so I didn’t get a chance to have a quick bite in between.”

“I can make you a sandwich later,” Lou said, even though she wasn’t sure what later entailed exactly, or whether she would still want to be around Mia, let alone offer to make her a sandwich.

“It’s fine.” Mia shuffled in her seat.

“I had a chat with Micky,” Lou began. “Well, I had a chat with Amber first, then with Micky.” Argh, the words were coming out all jumbled again. She wished she had some of Mia’s suaveness. “Amber told me to talk to Micky, then Micky told me to talk to you. Apparently, you confided in her.”

“I didn’t mean to, Lou. Believe me, I don’t go around talking to new friends about what a horrible person I used to be. We had a few drinks and Micky isn’t stupid. She had sussed something out. It was either that or lie to her face.”

“I don’t mind that you told her. I would just really like to know what it was exactly that you said to her.” To her surprise, Lou managed to keep her voice steady.

Mia rested her elbows on her knees and buried her face in her hands for a few seconds. When she looked up again, her eyes were red-rimmed, and she looked a whole lot less confident. “Are you sure you want to hear this?”

“Yes.” Lou nodded to add more force to her words.