‘Sienna, hi.’ Darcy knows she should take control of the conversation to spare Ed the pain, but then isn’t sure what else to say. Sienna used to be her friend too. Darcy wants to know when she started having feelings for some other guy. Had Sienna dropped clues into conversations they’d had? Had Darcy just missed all the signs? She wonders where she’s living now. What did her parents say? They always loved Ed, like any parents would. How do they feel that their daughter left him for someone else? And deep down Darcy wants to know if Sienna’s okay too. Even though she’ll forever be on Ed’s side, she wants Sienna to be happy. Darcy should know what to say; asking people questions about awkward situations is a big part of her job. But instead she sweeps away all hard questions and settles on, ‘Is the raspberry lemonade any good? Ed was just deciding whether to get it.’ She feels Ed’s eyes on her. She isn’t sure whether he’s grateful she’s making conversation or annoyed she’s talking about lemonade.

Sienna also seems thrown by the question. ‘Umm … yeah. It’s good for something different.’

Ed exhales loudly, trapping a sound in the back of his throat. ‘I don’t need to try something different. I’m happy with traditional.’

They all know he’s not talking about lemonade.

Darcy notices the family with the child has disappeared and wishes for the noise and distraction instead of the awkward silence.

‘You said yes!’ Sienna suddenly exclaims, excitement in her voice as she points to the engagement ring on Darcy’s finger. ‘We knew Drew was planning …’ She looks to Ed but then freezes, realising she said ‘we’ and knowing she has no right to do that anymore.

‘Yeah, he’s around here somewhere …’ Darcy glances around but instead of seeing Drew’s familiar face in the crowd, she sees him. Sienna’s new guy. She recognises him from the photos on Facebook. Darcy’s tummy tumbles in anticipation. She feels like she’s just been in a car accident, but is still stuck in the car, waiting to be rescued, and now a semitrailer is about to ram into their vehicle and she can do nothing but wait to be hit.

Both Sienna and Ed see him approaching too. Darcy’s sure she hears Sienna swear under her breath.

‘Hey.’ He bounds towards them. His friendly smile indicates he has no idea who Sienna is talking to, which somehow makes it worse. He stands close to Sienna, two plates of Dutch pancakes in hand. ‘I’m James,’ he says, perhaps assuming the prolonged silence is because Sienna can’t remember the names of the people she’s talking to and is saving her the embarrassment of admitting it. If only that were the case.