“Coconut and vanilla,” agreed Charlie. “That’s it. Have you seen it?”

“Well, there’s a funny story about that,” said Sophie.

“Oh, God,” said Lulu.

“No, it’s really funny,” said Sophie. “You’ll like it, I promise, okay?” She crunched the last of her toast and honey, sat back in her chair, and settled herself to entertain. “Okay, so it was last night, okay? And yesterday morning I went to the dentist—which, thanks for asking, Lulu, went mostly okay, all things considered—and then in the afternoon I had my voice class, and then I went straight off to the late shift at the Beanz, and when I was on my way there Maggie called to say I hadn’t got the part in the Sawbones episode, which was soooo irritating because it was the third time I’d read for them, and they keep on telling me they’re dying to use me because I’m—”

“Perfect for the demographic,” noted Lulu.

“Perfect for the demographic, right, but they’re just waiting to find the right role to use me in, and they can’t find it and it’s just driving me mad, and then I got to Beanz and Julian was off ill and Beanz had even more than its usual weirdo quotient, which, believe me, is saying something for a Friday night.”

“What’s your point, Sophie?” said Lulu. “I’m supposing there is one.”

“I’m getting there, okay?” Sophie shook her head at her sister. “So I got to the end of the day, and by then I really, really needed a bit of a wind-down session, so obviously I called Jamie and he was down in Tooting, so we agreed to meet at that place in Notting Hill, and what with one thing and another I didn’t get home till after three, and I know neither of you woke up when I came in, because I listened and you didn’t.”

She paused and smiled proudly.

“Point, Soph?” said Lulu.

“So up the stairs I creep, quiet as a little mouse, creep, creep, creep, on my tippy-tippy-toes, past both of your bedrooms to the bathroom, floss my teeth, just like the bossy old dentist told me I should, then I remembered he’d told me a new way of brushing, too—you don’t just go up and down like most people do, you go round in little individual circles on each tooth, and not too hard, either, which is the mistake most people make because that weakens the enamel, you just—”

“Sophie!”

“Okay, I’m getting there! God. So it’s very late at night, I’ve had an incredibly long day, I’m very tired, and I don’t have my lenses in. And … you know how when you move to a new place and you’re really tired and you’re reaching for something, then sometimes you reach to the place where you used to keep it in the old place?”

“Oh, God,” said Lulu.

“And you know how in this place we keep the toothpaste on the right side of the sink, but in Esme’s place we always used to keep it on the left?”