To this Zoe said firmly, ‘OK, well right now you don’t need to do anything but drink a very large glass of wine – and one for me, too,’ she added, ‘because I’m still bloody breastfeeding.’

Clara was on her third glass when she murmured, ‘I must have been blind, not to see it.’ She shook her head in wonder. ‘What a stupid stupid idiot, thinking everything was wonderful, when it was going on right under my nose. I mean, what kind of moron doesn’t even suspect, doesn’t even have a clue that her boyfriend’s shagging the office sex bomb?’

‘Not stupid,’ Zoe said, ‘just in love. Just absolutely besotted.’ She paused, stroking Oscar’s head thoughtfully. ‘I don’t know. Maybe this is a wake-up call, that Luke isn’t the perfect man you’ve always had him pegged as. No one can live up to that. Don’t get me wrong,’ she said hurriedly, ‘it’s in no way your fault it happened, the blame’s totally on him, but … my God you fell for him hard, suddenly there was nothing else in your world but him, and I was happy for you, I really was but …’ she hesitated.

‘But what?’ Clara demanded.

She shrugged. ‘You were so enthralled by him, by his whole family. All I ever heard was how incredibly clever Oliver was, or about the amazing work Rose used to do for Médicins sans Frontières, or how fantastically well Luke’s career was going …’

‘Sorry if I bored you,’ Clara muttered.

‘Oh, you didn’t, of course you didn’t! I got it, I really did, I understood why you grew so close to them all. But what happened to the novel you were going to write? Your own career? Suddenly I stopped hearing about that, it was all about Luke: his job, his talent, his amazing family. As if you didn’t deserve him, as if you couldn’t believe your luck. But you are amazing. You are. He was the lucky one. I only wish you realized that.’

They were silent for a while as Clara digested this, until she put her head in her hands and said, ‘Christ, Zo, what am I going to do? I’ve got to find him. I can’t bear the thought of him being hurt or in danger, it makes me physically sick!’

Zoe nodded sympathetically. ‘You know you can stay here for as long as you like, don’t you?’ She got up, gently shifting an almost asleep Oscar higher on her chest. ‘Adam’s away at a work thing tonight. I’m going to put Ozzy to bed then I’ll order us a takeaway. I won’t be long. Pour yourself another glass.’