“Oh, Chloe, I’m so sorry. Are you all right?” asked Lucy.

“Thanks, Luce. I’m a little shaken up, to be honest. I mean, Archer came and told me as soon as he knew—this morning, actually.”

“Well, Merry Fricking Christmas, huh, Chlo?” asked Jules rhetorically. “I don’t know what’s worse—your face splashed all over the tabloids or that you don’t even have a name. You’re just ‘mystery woman’.”

“Yeah, thanks for stating the obvious, Jules,” said Chloe with a laugh.

Lucy, damned if she was going to let this conversation devolve back into another quarrel, stepped into the fray. “So, Chloe, what now? Do you think you will continue … uh … things with Al-Archer?”

Chloe sighed. “I’ve been going back and forth all day. He was so lovely this morning, Luce—devasted to have dragged me into all this, just by the very nature of being who he is. And he gave me an out. He told me straight up that he completely understood if I never wanted to see him again.”

“But do you?” asked Lucy. Even with only a few minutes to get used to the idea, she could just imagine Alan—Archer, rather—with Chloe. They would be wonderful together.

Jules was silent, also invested in her friend’s reply.

“I think I want to see him again. I mean, it’s a lot. I’m not going to lie. But he’s so lovely, just a wonderful person. You should see how he is with everyone in the village. He’s …” She sighed. “I think I need to see how things go,” she said simply. She saw Lucy nodding as though she was listening to some unheard music.

“Jules, what do you think?” Chloe asked.

Jules chuckled. “Dude, seriously, it’s Archer Fricking Tate. You have to give this guy a chance. Even if it’s just for bragging rights.”

Lucy scrunched up her nose, as though she’d smelled something bad, but Chloe just laughed. “Actually, a tiny part of my brain has considered that. And I am not proud of this—and I’ll only ever tell you two—but how cool would it be for Gia DeLorenzo to open up a copy of Women’s Monthly and see photos of me and Archer all dressed up at some premiere?”

“Who the hell is Gia DeLorenzo?” asked Jules.

“High school bully, remember?” replied Chloe. “The one that sat behind me in Maths class and put gum in my hair.”

“Oh, that’s right, Chloe, how horrible,” cried Lucy.

“Eh, I got over it … mostly.” Chloe grinned at her besties, and Lucy returned the smile with a slightly sad version. Jules fixated on Lucy’s face, again feeling a pang of guilt for being such a shit.

“Hey, Luce, have you looked outside yet?” Jules asked. She decided she’d be extra sweet to Lucy for the rest of the call. It was a start.

Lucy’s mouth popped open and she shook her head. How had she forgotten? She pushed aside the duvet and ran to the window, pulling the curtains aside. “Oh,” she sighed, clutching both hands to her chest and her phone along with them.