By the time Matt and Freya arrived that evening, Bella still wasn’t home. Ben had been calling her frantically for several hours but her phone appeared to be switched off. Her job as an executive PA to the boss of a large investment company in the City meant her hours were very regular. There was no reason why she would have been delayed at work, especially on a Friday night, when the whole company tended to head off home an hour or two early.

‘Hi, mate!’ Matt held up in front of him a carrier bag stuffed with wine and beer. ‘I’ve brought the usual!’

Ben smiled as convincingly as he could. ‘Fantastic! Come on in. I’ll order the food. What do you fancy tonight – Chinese or Indian?’

Matt and Freya dumped their coats in the hall and followed Ben into the kitchen, almost as familiar with his flat as with their own. ‘Ummm … Indian, I think.’ Freya opened the kitchen drawer and took out the bottle opener. Then she took four glasses out of the cupboard and poured three of them. ‘What’s Bella drinking?’ She turned towards Ben expectantly.

‘Um, she’ll probably just have water.’

Freya’s face fell slightly. ‘Of course. Where is she?’ She looked over Ben’s shoulder, as if expecting Bella to materialize.

Ben swallowed. ‘Um, yeah, she sends her apologies but she’s been held up at work. Hopefully she’ll be here soon. Let’s just order the food and I’ll save her some.’ He saw a look pass between Matt and Freya and felt himself redden slightly. He hated lying to them but he especially hated lying to them when they knew it.

They ordered the food and ate it at the round, modern table in Ben’s kitchen, as they always had. The gap where Bella should have been sitting and where Charlotte always used to sit, seemed to loom large and the conversation didn’t flow quite the way it usually did. Ben tried to ignore the undercurrent of tension but there was a knot in his stomach and despite drinking a fair bit, his throat seemed dry, making it difficult to eat. He couldn’t remember the taste of anything.

Finally, earlier than they ever had before, Matt and Freya started looking at their watches. ‘Listen, we’d better be off.’ Matt threw Ben a sympathetic look that caused his stomach to knot even more. ‘I’m playing football in the morning.’

‘And I’m on night shifts from tomorrow night, so …’ Freya added, pushing back her chair.

Ben nodded and stood up. ‘No worries. It was good to see you guys.’

Freya gave him a hug. ‘Give our love to Bella.’ Her words were heavy with unspoken meaning.

Ben could feel himself reddening again and cursed himself for it. ‘I will.’

After he shut the door behind them, he stood in the kitchen with his hands on his hips, wondering what to do. Should he be worried? Somehow he didn’t think so. He knew instinctively that she was punishing him. He began to clear up the plates and glasses and put the remains of the Indian takeaway in the bin outside the back door. Bella hated the smell of food in the flat.