Anna smiled. ‘No, you don’t. You love your job, and not everyone has that. You’re very lucky.’ She thought for a moment. ‘I don’t feel that way about my job at all.’

‘I guess you’re right.’ Gabi nodded grudgingly. ‘About my job and your job. You never talk about it. Nothing good, nothing bad. That says something.’

Anna frowned. Did it? When she’d applied for the position at Sundridge Plumbing and Heating, it had just been a way to cover the bills. Everything had seemed dull and pointless at that time, so why should her job be any different?

‘It’s not like when you worked with BlockTime,’ Gabi said. ‘You never stopped talking about work then.’

Anna shrugged. ‘It was a start-up, so it was an exciting time, and it’s hard to get fired up about invoices and plumbing bookings in the same way.’

Gabi looked thoughtful. ‘Why don’t you go back?’

‘To BlockTime?’ Anna shook her head. ‘I don’t think so.’

‘Why? You loved working with Vijay and Rhys.’

And Spencer, Anna silently added. What I really loved was working with Spencer.

‘I know… But the reason I didn’t go back after it all happened was that it was just too painful, Gabs. I tried for about two days, remember? But all I could see was the empty chair at Spencer’s desk, his mug, unwashed and gathering dust, next to the kettle. It was too much. I couldn’t do it.’

Gabi reached over and rubbed Anna’s shoulder. ‘I understand, but maybe it is time to get a different job now, one that you do find exciting.’

They were prevented from discussing it any further because Tom Collins launched into his spiel about the final gin on the tasting menu. Baskerville Gin was made on Dartmoor with spring water from the national park and flavoured with gorse flowers and hawthorn berries. Anna sipped it gingerly when given the go-ahead. It was complex, with bold, clear flavours and an underlying earthiness. For some reason, it reminded her of Brody.

And thinking of Brody took her back to the conversation they’d had last week about her blank, looming future, how she’d told him that she needed to start dreaming again. Isn’t that what Gabi was talking about too?

‘I think it’s more than just finding a new job. I struggle to get excited about anything.’

‘This is why I suggest all the classes,’ Gabi said seriously. ‘I hope you will find something that makes you feel…’ She broke off, searching for the right words. ‘That makes you feel. Life is nothing without passion, Anna.’

‘I think I’m starting to get that now.’

‘Hallelujah!’ Gabi threw her hands up in the air. ‘What made you understand this finally?’

Anna was about to tell Gabi about the conversation she’d had with Brody, but then she stopped herself. Gabi didn’t know about Brody yet, and Anna wasn’t sure she wanted to tell her. Because telling her about him would mean telling Gabi how she met him, and Anna just knew that Gabi would give her one of her trademark Seriously? looks when she heard the whole story.