“All right.” I roll my eyes. “I’ll come in with you. And I’ll text Dad.”

I was so paranoid about Dad being spotted by Corey that I made him wait on a separate floor. But it’s safe now. It’s his time.

Mum and I take up our positions outside Ben, and a few moments later Dad comes striding up the corridor.

“All set?” he says to me.

“All going to plan.” I nod at the door. “He’s in there.”

“I can’t believe we’re doing this.” Dad looks at Mum with a kind of wry, incredulous smile and gestures at the closed door. “Can you believe we’re doing this? Of all the mad things Becky’s talked us into doing over the years…”

“Oh, I’ve given up even thinking that way,” replies Mum. “I just go with the flow. Far easier.”

Honestly. What do they mean? I never talk people into doing things.

“But if it works…” Dad suddenly takes my hand and squeezes it. “Becky, you’ve achieved a lot in your life. But this will be your finest hour. I mean that, love.”

“Oh, well,” I say awkwardly. “If the plan works.”

“Of course it’ll work!” insists Mum.

Both my parents are looking at me proudly, as if I’m ten years old again and have raised the most money for the new school netball court. (How I did it, by the way: I wrote stories about all of my classmates and illustrated them with little paper dolls and made them cutout outfits, and all the mothers paid loads.)

“Don’t jinx it!” I say. “Mum, we need to go.”

As she’s smoothing down her jacket, I turn to Dad. “What are you going to say to Corey?” I ask curiously. “Where will you even start? I mean, he wouldn’t take your call, he wouldn’t speak to you—I’d want to slap him!”

But Dad shakes his head. “This isn’t about Corey and me. This is about Corey and Brent. Off you go now.” He steps away and I knock at the door, and before I know it, Mum and I are in the room.

Corey, Luke, Tarquin, and Elinor are all still sitting round the table; Tarquin is saying something about “equity,” and they look up with quite convincing surprise.

“Yes?” says Elinor.

“I’m so sorry,” says Mum, bustling in, looking exactly like a hotel manager. “I believe you ordered a double conference room.”

Her American accent is absolutely atrocious, but Corey doesn’t seem to notice. Or, if he does, he doesn’t make any comment.

“That’s right, we did,” says Luke with a frown. “I was going to complain about that.”

“My apologies, sir. I’ll open the double doors right now.”

I don’t know why Mum wanted moral support—she’s brilliant! She heads over to the right-hand wall—the wall separating Ben from Jerry’s—and my heart begins to thump in excitement. Here we go. Here we go.

All these conference rooms have magic doors. It’s why I chose this particular business center. The doors slide right into the walls, so you can have a big opening between rooms, join rooms up, close them off, do what you like.