‘I love macadamias,’ I blurt out in desperation. ‘Don’t you?’

‘I guess so.’ Lois looks puzzled, then adds, ‘So, you want to be a stylist, April tells me.’

‘Becky is a stylist!’ says Suze loyally. ‘She used to work at Barneys as a personal shopper. She’s brilliant. I’m Suze, by the way. I’m in the profession too,’ she adds grandly. ‘I’m a background artist.’

Honestly, what is Suze like? I’m in the profession too.

‘I shopped at Barneys a couple times when I was filming in New York,’ says Lois. ‘I saw … Janet?’

‘Janet was my boss!’ I try not to sound too excited. ‘She taught me everything!’

‘Oh, OK.’ Lois gives me an appraising look. ‘So you know what you’re doing, then.’

‘Becky, I’m so sorry,’ April turns to me, ‘but Cyndi couldn’t make it after all. I was going to get Becky and Cyndi together,’ she explains to Lois.

‘Oh.’ I hide my disappointment. ‘Well, in the meantime …’ I reach for the Art Deco clutch. ‘I brought this along for you.’ I proffer it to Lois. ‘I saw it and it seemed like your style, it’s vintage …’ I trail off and hold my breath.

There’s silence as Lois considers the bag. I feel like I’m in the MasterChef final, and Michel Roux Jr is considering my profiteroles.

‘I like it,’ Lois declares at last. ‘I love it. Sold.’

‘Great!’ I say, trying not to sound too joyful. ‘Well, it’s from this great vintage shop, I go there all the time, I could easily source some more stuff for you …’

‘I’d like that.’ Lois gives me that ravishing, understated smile of hers, the one she does in Tess, when Angel strips off and does a sexy dance for her. (Did that happen in the book? Something tells me maybe not.)

She seems totally sweet and low-key. I can’t understand why people think she’s tricksy. Now she’s looking at her phone and frowning. ‘My agent. I need to go talk to some people. I’ll be back for this delightful thing.’ She puts the bag down on the table. ‘And we’ll talk terms.’

‘But what about Cyndi?’ I say awkwardly. ‘I don’t want to tread on her toes.’

‘You won’t.’ Lois gives a laugh. ‘The truth is, Cyndi’s really too busy to look after me anyway. April always said she would be.’

‘She has too many clients,’ April says ruefully.

‘I don’t have too many clients,’ I say at once, and Lois laughs again.

‘Great, well count me one of them.’ She smiles once more, then heads away, across the crowded room.

‘Next time you go shopping, I’m coming with you,’ says April, smiling. ‘You can find me a purse like that, too.’

‘Of course! And thank you so much for introducing me to Lois.’

‘My pleasure! Thank you so much for pointing out that the scene I was shooting made no sense. They’re still rewriting it, I believe.’ She winks at me. ‘See you girls later.’