‘Yeah, you’re fucking sorry now.’ He lifted a finger and jabbed it into my chest, into the hard bone. ‘You’re always fucking sorry.’

He turned away, then suddenly lifted both hands and grabbed at the hair at his temples, letting out an ‘aargh’ sound of frustration.

I was baffled. ‘Matthew …’ I said, and reached out a hand, placing it on his upper arm, on the curve of his bicep, and moving towards him.

He shook me off, hard enough to unbalance me and tip me back against the counter top, then he went into the bedroom and slammed the door behind him.

I followed him into the bedroom. He was sitting on the side of the bed with his head in his hands. I knelt before him. I reached out a hand to touch his hair but didn’t dare.

‘Darling …’ I said. I had only just started using the term. It still felt daring in my mouth. ‘Darling, I’m sorry but I don’t get it. You’re going to have to explain.’

He sighed, sat up a bit, looked at me and said, ‘So you didn’t like it then. Don’t you think you could just have been honest about that?’

‘Didn’t like what?’

He raised both hands and let them flop down. ‘Fuck, she actually has to ask.’

Finally, it dawned on me. Just before we had gone out to The New Place to meet the others, Matty had given me my birthday present – a silver necklace, a pendant on a chain. The pendant was wrought silver in a twisted shape, with a red stone trapped in the cage of metal. It wasn’t really my kind of thing but I was touched that he had made the effort – it would look okay with a black jumper, I had thought, or maybe a white vest in the summer. But I was already wearing a string of beads that picked up a colour in my dress. I had said, ‘It’s lovely,’ kissed him and put it back in its box.

‘Oh Matty,’ I said, touched by how hurt he was, ‘of course I like the necklace, I love it. The only reason I didn’t put it on there and then was because it didn’t match, I would have had to change my dress, that’s all, I love it. I’ll wear it all the time.’

I thought it was really quite cute, his need for reassurance. I went to put my arms around him but he pushed me away. ‘You don’t wear my necklace, we get there and you spend all evening on the sofa with your mates and hardly give me the time of day, I’m completely on my own and you’re getting drunk and having a great time. I stay sober so I can drive you home and you don’t even say thank you.’