‘Look, whatever we’re doing, can we not do it standing in the hallway?’ Lily asked.

I stepped aside. ‘Ladies.’ I tapped Betty gently on the backside. ‘And you.’

She gave a low squeal. ‘That’s the most sex I’ve had all month.’

‘You bloody liar,’ Molly shouted back from the front of the line.

There was a chorus of laughter as we filed into the living room. Molly tapped the space on the sofa next to her and I squeezed in between her and Faith. While those two fussed over me, Lily and Betty disappeared into the kitchen.

‘Do you want to talk about it, or totally avoid it?’ Molly asked when I was settled. Not for the first time, I came to think of Molly as the Queen of Break-ups in our group. She was always the one getting her heart broken, as far back as I could remember, and I felt a swell of love and gratitude and—

‘You know you’re such a good friend, Moll, right?’ I blurted out.

She pulled me towards her. ‘Of course I know, babe.’

‘Drinks, everybody, drinks.’ Betty wandered in with a tray of wine glasses, pint glasses and mugs balanced on a tray. ‘Everybody grab a beverage.’

‘And a snack.’ Lily followed her in. ‘Get some linings on those stomachs.’

‘You’re like the mama bear of the group right now.’ Faith took a drink.

‘You shut your tart mouth,’ Lily answered. ‘I’m not, nor will I ever—’

‘Please don’t,’ Cora cut her off; we both swapped a quick glance, the memory of her failed (or passed?) pregnancy test still fresh between us. ‘One thing at a time. Right now, we’re smashing the patriarchy through calling off an engagement. Let’s celebrate not having children another day.’

‘I will literally agree to anything that means we can clink quicker. I am parched.’ Betty’s drink was already near touching her bottom lip. ‘To Edi, for an act of self-love bigger than anything she’s ever done before in her glorious life.’

Lily knocked her glass against mine. ‘But an act that’s nothing short of what she deserves.’

It took me another hour to relay the events of it all; how surprised he’d been and how hurt. When I’d started speaking to Rowan, everything had tumbled out in such a natural and ordered way that I wondered how long I’d been sitting with the feelings. He didn’t ask about Fred directly but I divulged – how we met, how we dated – and he only occasionally shook his head, as though in stunned disbelief. It crossed my mind more than once that perhaps he would have reacted the same no matter the person. After her, I moved on to the structural problems of the relationship.