‘Well, you hadn’t rung for a couple of weeks,’ she said shrewdly, ‘and the last time we spoke I could tell there was something bothering you. I figured it was either man trouble again or something at the hotel so I thought I’d come and see if I could winkle it out of you. I am right, aren’t I?’

‘Yes,’ I said, clearing my throat as I splashed water into the pot. ‘Yes, I’m afraid you are, but it’s not man trouble, as you put it. That little bit of bother I had with Jonathan was literally months ago.’ Not that I was keeping count. ‘It’s long forgotten, Dolly. Everything’s been fine since I moved into the flat.’

‘I’m delighted to hear it,’ she nodded, ‘although I’m not all that sure about your description of it.’

Given the fallout at the time, I was surprised I could so easily downsize the disaster myself, but given what I was now faced with it felt like a tiny splash in life’s ocean.

‘Oh Dolly,’ I sobbed, ‘I’ve been made redundant.’

‘Oh, my dear girl, no,’ she gasped, her mouth falling open as I banged down the kettle and began to cry all the harder.

She slipped off her stool and rushed to pull me into another hug.

‘I’ve only just found out,’ I sniffled, resting my chin on her shoulder, ‘by the end of November, I’m going to be out of a job.’

I still couldn’t really believe it. Following the takeover I had worked tirelessly to meet the needs of some increasingly demanding guests and I always went above and beyond when it came to customer service and yes, I know, some would say that was all part of my job, but I prided myself on going the extra mile in the misguided assumption that it would make me indispensable. But at the end of the day, it turned out that my impeccable work ethic and unpaid hours had counted for nothing. I might as well have spent the last few years being as slapdash as Stuart for all the good my commitment had done me.

‘Have you been told why they’re letting you go?’ Dolly eventually asked, as she released me and carried on making the tea herself.

‘Staff streamlining or something,’ I said, noisily blowing my nose on a sheet of kitchen roll. ‘From what I can work out the highest paid in each department has been given the chop and they’re giving us plenty of notice so we have a chance to look elsewhere.’

‘So, it’s about saving money,’ Dolly said kindly, ‘not about you personally.’

‘I suppose,’ I shrugged. ‘But what am I going to do?’