I grimaced and took a long drink of the beer, which felt so crisp and reviving I almost sighed with pleasure. I closed my eyes for a moment, trying to remember why I’d thought coming here was a good idea. Some part of me desperately wanted to offload the burden of what I had learned today. But I couldn’t tell her. It was simply too much to bring to her door.

In that moment, something came to me like it had been perfectly gift-wrapped. ‘It’s just that …’ I took another swig. ‘You know we’re trying for a baby and everything …’

‘Yeah, go on,’ said Zoe, curling her legs up underneath her on the chair opposite me.

‘… well I think I’m having doubts about it.’

Zoe let out a long sigh and sat back in the chair.

‘Fuck,’ she said and took a sip of her beer. ‘And Anya feels differently, I take it?’

It was scary how quickly this was all coming to me now. Maybe it wasn’t a lie.

‘Well, I think she guessed,’ I said, extemporizing wildly. ‘We had a few words last night and I just think some time away from each other will be a good thing.’ There was a silence and then I added, a bit lamely, ‘Thanks again for putting me up.’

Zoe was frowning now and pulling on her bottom lip – a habit when she was deep in thought.

‘Was it …’ she said after a few moments, ‘a really bad fight? I mean, she didn’t …’ She bit off the end of her sentence and took a swig of her beer, her cheeks darkening with what I assumed to be embarrassment, judging by the way she was avoiding my eyes.

‘Didn’t what?’ I said, with an awkward laugh.

She put her beer down on the table and then looked at me, an unreadable expression on her face.

‘It’s just that … she can be a bit … fierce?’ She laughed again but it sounded fake.

‘What do you mean?’ Annoyance cut in quickly, just as I was starting to relax.

‘Well …’ she took another sip of her beer, then spoke quickly. ‘I saw her really lose her temper at the festival that day. You weren’t there. I didn’t see what happened, but I think someone knocked into her. When I looked over, she was really mouthing off to whoever it was. I wasn’t sure whether to be impressed or terrified.’

I sighed and laid my head back on the sofa.

‘Yep,’ I said. ‘And she did tell me about that. She wasn’t feeling well that day, as you know. She’s not normally like that.’

This was true. Anya didn’t generally have what you would call a hot temper. But this still felt like uncomfortable territory after what I had learned earlier that day.