“Oh, never mind about that, love. Happens to me all the time.” Mrs Browning laughed and got up to refill Chloe’s glass. “They’re tiny glasses, aren’t they? Quite silly really.” She threw in a wink and Chloe grinned up at her.

“Thank you, Mrs Browning.”

“Love, you really must stop calling us ‘Mr’ and ‘Mrs’. Please, it’s Max and Susan.”

“Right, Max and Susan.” For some reason, it didn’t seem right to her to call them by their first names, which was ridiculous, because she called the CEO of the company she worked for by her first name and she was even older than Mr and Mrs—than Max and Susan.

“So, Lucy says that you’re a party planner?” Susan asked.

“Uh, an event manager, yes.”

“Oh, that sounds like an interesting job. What sort of parties are they?” asked Max.

“Well, they’re not really parties as such, more like corporate events. You know? Like, when a company is launching a product and they throw an event with giveaways and drinks and music. Like that.”

“Like a party.” Chloe was certain that Max wasn’t being obstreperous on purpose and when she thought about how she’d explained her job, she realised he was right. She was, of sorts, a party planner.

She smiled, “Actually, yes, you’re absolutely right. I plan parties for companies and do all the PR,” she added.

“And is it fun?” asked Susan.

“Sometimes, sure, but it’s also hard work. There are a lot of moving parts, and just one thing going wrong can affect the whole event. Mostly, I love it, even if it does get a little ‘samey’ sometimes. I mean, it’s project-based, which is good, and I get to do two of my favourite things—organising and communicating—but I can see myself doing something else in the future, maybe in a related field. I’ve never been like Lucy, happy working for the same company for years and years.

“Mmm, well, I’m not sure how happy Lucy is of late. At her work, I mean. She’s been having a hard time with her new manager.”

This was news to Chloe. “I didn’t know that.”

“Susan.” Max threw his wife a look. From where Chloe sat, it said, “Let’s not bring that up now, not while we have company.” Chloe watched them both closely as Susan’s lips pressed together. There was clearly more to the story, and Chloe planned to ask Lucy about it the next time they talked.

The tension in the room was interrupted by the phone ringing—a proper, sitting on the table, landline phone.

Susan leapt up and answered in the middle of the third ring. “Hello? Oh, Cecily, hello, dear.” Chloe noticed how her tone of voice flattened a little as soon as she discovered the caller’s identity. “She what? Oh, no, the poor thing. That’s terrible. No, quite right, she’s got to do as doctor says. There’s no two ways about it. No, dear, she can’t help. She’s in America. Yes, for Christmas. Well, no, she’s been planning it for months now, with her friends, you see. They’ve all swapped Christmases. We’ve got one of her best friends, Chloe, staying … Hang on a moment, Cecily. I’ve just had a thought.”