It’s been a week since the dinner party with Abby and Rob, and none of them have seen each other since. This in itself isn’t unusual – they all have busy lives, so seven days is not long in the scheme of things – it’s what Greg has said about Abby that Sienna can’t ignore. He didn’t explicitly state that he doesn’t trust her friend, but that’s what lies beneath his comments, she’s sure of it.

Whenever she reminds him that he’d planned to go for drinks with Rob, Greg brushes it off with excuses about having too much work to do. ‘I just can’t spare the time at the moment. We’ll do it soon,’ he says before shutting himself in his study.

Yesterday evening, his study door had been slightly ajar when she’d walked past. She walked in without knocking – that’s what they always did unless a door was shut – and he quickly slammed his laptop shut when he noticed her, his eyes wide with surprise. ‘No more work for me,’ he’d said, standing up, smiling at her. ‘Shall we have coffee then?’

Sienna tries to piece things together, her mind constantly whirring, playing out every detail she can remember of the dinner party and the days that have followed. It always comes back to one thing. Greg and Abby.

She pores over the few texts Abby has sent her, yet there’s nothing concrete she can grab hold of, other than the fact that these messages have been few and far between this week.

But there is something, and she needs to know what it is.

Normally Sienna resists pushing Greg, even when he is being infuriatingly cagey, but this is too important to ignore. Something is happening which is out of her control, and she’s not used to that. As well as this, it brings home how much Sienna has come to value Abby’s friendship. She misses her.

‘I need to speak to Abby,’ she announces in the morning. ‘I think something might be wrong; she barely replies to my messages.’

Sienna is watching Greg while he sits on the bed, leaning down to tie his shoelaces. ‘Aren’t you being a bit melodramatic? We only saw them last week. I’m sure she’s fine.’

She’s expected him to say this, and she’s prepared. ‘I just need to know that we’re still okay. After me practically forcing everyone to go along with my idea. Maybe she regrets it.’ Just as Sienna does.

‘I’m sure nobody’s even thinking about it,’ Greg assures her. His nonchalance puts her on edge, especially given how stressed he’s been for so long now. ‘They’re just living their lives and we need to do the same. Nobody did anything wrong; we just spent time in each other’s company. So stop worrying.’