He didn’t immediately move to go and get it. ‘This is amazing, Lil!’ he said, but his tone wasn’t selling it to me. I was still standing, the two boxes marooned forlornly on his wide desk, the twinkly lights of the city a backdrop to the whole strange tableau. I pulled up a chair so we were sat opposite each other.

‘I know you’re busy. Wine was a bit of a wild card. There’s some plastic cutlery in the bag.’ I reached down to find it. ‘I just wanted you to know I appreciate you – we appreciate you – and we know how hard you’re working to get everything done before Christmas.’

Nick’s mouth was ajar, like a sentence was waiting to be born, his eyes elsewhere. I turned around, and there she was, standing awkwardly in the doorway. She was wearing a grey skirt suit, the fabric crumpling unattractively around her hips, the size she’d picked off the rack clearly far too optimistic.

‘Hi, Lily!’ she said, a toothy grin splattered across her round face. ‘What a treat!’

‘Esther!’ I said, forcing my voice to sail upwards like hers had. ‘Come and join us. If you get a fork from the kitchen, I’m sure this chicken will stretch three ways.’

The silence stretched out for a couple of seconds before she shook her head. I like to think she blushed, but it’s probably wishful thinking.

‘I’m just leaving, actually. I’ve only got a couple of weeks here, but hopefully you’ll be in again before we finish up for Christmas.’

We.

‘Or come and see us over the break!’ I said. ‘The kids would be thrilled. We can definitely promise you a mince pie or two.’

‘I’ll be back with my folks,’ she said, wriggling in the frame of the door like a specimen on a slide. They were in Barnsley or somewhere. I could still hear that Northern lilt in her voice. ‘Definitely in the New Year, though!’

‘Esther was a bit short of Christmas cash,’ said Nick, jumping in. ‘So I said at the christening we could do with an extra pair of hands here. Better than a temp agency.’

‘Good thinking!’ I said. Every utterance I forced out of my mouth came with an exclamation mark.

‘It was a fab day,’ said Esther. ‘The baby’s a proper little poppet, isn’t she?’

A flash of Rachel, her cheek pressed against the cold floor of the toilet like it was home.

‘I know,’ I said. ‘We’re very lucky.’

‘So, are you going to get that corkscrew?’ I asked Nick once she’d finally disappeared.

‘Coming right up,’ he said, popping up from his chair like a sweaty jack-in-the-box.