The girls had spent the entire week trying to convince me to have a night out with them. But I wasn’t exactly invested. Rowan and I had had dinner three times; once we went out and twice he cooked. I couldn’t place the last time he’d made a meal for me before that. It had left me wondering whether he already had regrets about the break and, while I wasn’t exactly sitting around waiting for the phone to ring, I didn’t want to miss a call from him either.

‘You don’t think he’s out tonight?’ Lily asked.

‘He isn’t. I asked him.’ But I caught a look between Cora and Molly and it was impossible not to ask, ‘What?’

‘Tell her,’ Cora encouraged.

Molly rubbed at her neck, tipped her head back, and spoke to the ceiling. ‘He is out.’ When I didn’t answer, Molly held her stare upward and carried on. ‘Patrick told me that he wanted to see me tonight but they’d all promised Rowan a night out, and he was really looking forward to it, so they’ve made plans to go out for dinner and then they’re going to hit the clubs after and—’

‘Moll, you can stop now,’ Betty interrupted. ‘I think that’s quite enough fuck-wittery for Edi to be getting along with.’

‘Quid pro quo, Edi.’ Lily pulled a cigarette from her packet and opened the window. ‘If you’re giving him permission to go out, why aren’t you going out?’

‘You know she means business when she breaks out Latin.’ Faith dropped her phone, then, picked up her make-up bag and threw it into my lap. ‘Suit up, Parcell. You’re coming.’

*