It’s an hour and a half later and Wesley is sitting across from me, sighing heavily, when my phone flashes with a message.

Camilla: Just got out. Eeekkk! Xx

Her interview.

Wesley crinkles a paper bag and takes a bite of a Danish, as his eyes dart to my lit-up screen. I don’t want him listening in on a personal call, so I grab my phone and head past Judy. She’s talking to someone at reception but smiles at me as I press the down button for the elevator. The doors slide open. Down. Down. Rattling down. To the foyer. And then, when I’m alone, I call Camilla.

It rings.

‘It went so well. So, so, so well. I can’t believe it,’ she gushes.

It’s great to hear her so effervescent after years of corporate servitude, spending all her money on suits she said did nothing for her silhouette.

‘That’s amazing, when do you hear?’ I ask, moving to the back of the foyer.

‘They said within a week,’ she says. ‘I so want this. I keep reading my fucking horoscope in case there’s a prediction in there but god, Harps, I need this.’

‘I know,’ I say.

It’s good to talk about normal things right now. I’ve missed her.

The clicking of high heels fills the little foyer and I turn around to see who’s behind me. Hyacinth. I get a fright, push the phone against my ear and my earring hook digs into me. Ouch. But I give her a small smile. She gives me a tight-mouthed nod back then casts her eyes down.

‘Thanks so much for your time,’ I say, as Hyacinth gets into the elevator. ‘Really, it’s been so useful.’

‘What?’ Camilla asks.

The elevator door closes and I can hear the mechanical rumblings as it moves up to our floor.

‘Sorry,’ I say. ‘My boss.’

‘Oh.’

‘I’ve got to go but well done.’

And then we hang up and I wait two minutes and then head upstairs.

I smile at Judy and make my way towards my desk and the tangle of information that is waiting for me there. Wesley is staring at his computer screen as he munches on his Danish and drops crumbs on his lap.

I sit down at my desk and wiggle my mouse so the screen comes to life. ‘Harper?’

I turn and Hyacinth is standing in her doorway. ‘A word?’

‘Sure,’ I say, standing up and heading over to her.

I step into her office and she closes the door behind me, moving over to her side of the desk. We both sit down and I wait for her to speak.

‘What are you working on?’

‘I have that Charlotte Gainsbourg concert coming up and a couple of galleries I still have to get to,’ I say.