No, I thought, although I wouldn’t give her the satisfaction of admitting to it. ‘Of course I’m missing him.’ But the regular dances around the kitchen, and the eating at whatever time I wanted, and the being able to go home straight from work, rather than home via Rowan’s, well, they’d only been a few of the silver linings. ‘I’ll be glad when he’s back in the same city as me. It’s weird being so far apart.’

‘Need company for the night?’ Also no, I thought again, and Betty read the silence. ‘Say no more. Early dinner, bubble bath, Netflix binge?’

‘Hard yes.’

‘Treat yourself, sweets. PS: Did we say something about dinner? I told Faith I’d ask.’

‘Oh, I’ve sorted that. I’ll text you.’ I laughed. ‘All of you.’

We disconnected the call and I flopped back onto the sofa, my legs hooked over the armrest. It was and always had been one of my favourite things about my friendship with Betty, that I could say anything to her – including, ‘Leave me alone for a bit.’ – without her getting offended or sad or mad. It was like that with all the girls, though, I realised. I felt a warmth in my belly at the thought. There’s a certain honesty you can only have with friends.

*

The water was so hot that my skin turned pink when I got in. The bubbles crackled around me and bit by bit I lowered myself down, until I was up to my shoulders in Radox. I’d got my laptop propped on the toilet seat, the screen angled so I could watch the latest episode of Drag Race while my muscles unknotted. My belly was just the right amount of full – from garlic-stuffed chicken that I could never eat around Rowan, because he hated the smell – and a long soak was my final act of self-care. I’d even messaged the group chat to tell them about the promised dinner reservation, then silenced notifications immediately after. If anything terrible happened, they’d call, and just like that …

The episode cut out and my Skype screen kicked in.

‘Bollocks.’ I shifted upright and moved closer to the screen. My contact lenses were lying limp on a shelf somewhere so I could barely make out the caller without craning closer. ‘Why, oh why, didn’t I log out after work so … Oh. So, Rowan couldn’t call.’ I tried to filter down my annoyance as I hit the green button to answer. ‘Hey, handsome.’ I forced a smile and leaned back in the bath.

‘Are you naked?’

‘Well, I’m in the bath.’ I laughed. ‘So, a bit naked?’

‘God, what perfect timing.’ He moved out of view and off-camera, and I heard a door close. ‘I was just calling to check in with you, see that everything is okay.’