‘Hey,’ I said, ‘you’re freezing! Come here.’ I lowered the gas under the wok and turned around, wrapping her in my arms. She burrowed in and I kissed the top of her head, smelling her coconut shampoo mixed with rain and the unmistakable smoky smell of travelling on the Underground. ‘You really got soaked through, didn’t you?’

She nodded and clung onto me. I rubbed her arms until I felt the shivering subside.

‘Why don’t you have a quick shower to warm up before dinner?’ I said, and she drew back.

‘Nah, I’ll be alright,’ she said. ‘I think a drink should do it.’ She went to the wine rack and pulled out a bottle of Shiraz. I cocked an eyebrow at her. After a fairly drunken summer, we’d vaguely made a plan to cut out drinking Monday through to Thursday nights. But after the day I’d had, I could really do with one.

Alcohol and me had a complicated relationship. The ‘topic’ caused a mental chafing I tried to ignore. My father had been a nasty drunk, from all accounts. I liked a drink and so did Anya, but I would have two to her one. Sometimes I’d have three. I didn’t always know when to stop, as events at the festival had shown.

However, I really did want a glass of wine.

‘Ah, go on then.’

There was a heightened energy about her tonight, as if she had absorbed some of the storm outside and was carrying it in her skin.

Much later, we were watching a tacky reality show we liked on Netflix for a few minutes in companionable silence when Anya suddenly spoke.

‘Ell?’ she said, her voice low. ‘Do you ever think about running away?’

I turned to look at her. ‘What?’ I said. ‘What do you mean, running away?’

She registered my expression and laughed, before hitting me on the arm. ‘Not away from you, you big ninny.’ It was pathetic how sweet the feeling of relief was at this. She went on. ‘I mean the two of us,’ she said. ‘Just leaving our jobs and going travelling or something.’

I took a mouthful of food, chewing while I thought, and then shrugged. ‘Not really, if I’m honest.’ I paused. ‘And anyway, haven’t you been there, done that, got the T-shirt?’