“You don’t know the half of it!”

“You’ll have to tell me sometime.” He raises an eyebrow. “So how about the other two? Leanne and Al?”

“Leanne was on Daisy’s sociology course, and Al was her best mate from halls. Leanne introduced Al to Daisy and … they … they got on really well.” I pause. I don’t mention the number of times Al ran her hand through her hair when she was introduced to Daisy, or the way the base of her throat coloured when Daisy complimented her on the jacket she was wearing. It was obvious to everyone, including Daisy, that Al was attracted to her and Daisy played on it, flirting up a storm whenever we all got drunk together. I don’t know if it would ever have gone beyond that if Daisy hadn’t kissed Al at the bar of the Students’ Union. A barman she fancied was working that night but, other than a few polite nods, he’d barely given her any attention all evening. The kiss got his attention all right, it drew interested stares from several of the men in the queue but when Daisy pulled away from Al, locked eyes with the barman and announced, “Emma’s flatmate’s gone away so we’re having a party! Want to come?” he merely shrugged and turned back to the till. Al looked stunned – by the kiss or Daisy’s sudden decision to throw a party, I wasn’t sure – but when Daisy grabbed her hand and said, “Your loss. C’mon, Al,” and pulled her away, she willingly followed.

The impromptu “party” was a complete flop – just me, Leanne, Daisy and Al and two blokes from the flat next door that we ran into on the stairs. They helped themselves to my flatmate’s half empty bottle of wine in the fridge, drank it and then, with no other booze on offer, went home. Leanne went back to Halls about fifteen minutes later and, with Daisy straddling Al on the sofa and noisily kissing her, I made my excuses and went to bed. Any hope Al may have had of turning their one night stand into a relationship was dashed the next morning when, hungover and wrapped in a blanket on the sofa, Daisy nudged Al and, with her most winning smile firmly fixed in place, said, “I got a bit carried away last night, didn’t I? Naughty me. Sorry, darling, it won’t happen again.” I was so angry with her I had to leave the room.

“And Daisy introduced Al and Leanne to me,” I tell Frank.

“Right.” He nods. “And you’ve all kept in touch since?”

“Sort of. We all live in London now, but I don’t see the other two as much as I see Daisy. We used to live in each other’s pockets.”

“Used to?”