‘Nothing,’ I say, flinching as one of the assistants turns the music up outside. They can’t seem to do anything without a soundtrack. ‘He’s just been working late a lot and we never see each other.’ I don’t quite know how to put the rest of it into words.

‘Ah, but that’s perfectly normal,’ says Anne. She gets up and walks over to the water cooler. ‘I remember when Maurice and I were first married, we barely saw each other. He was commuting to Brussels back then and I was busy setting up the business. You and Connor are both ambitious young people too. But your generation have so much more pressure on you than ours did. There’s no such thing as a job for life and you need to sell a kidney to get on the property ladder; I don’t envy you. I can see why Connor feels he needs to put the extra hours in but I can assure you that all those sacrifices will be worth it in the end. Maurice and I have just celebrated our thirtieth wedding anniversary and we’re as strong as ever. You and Connor, if it’s meant to be, will weather any storm.’

She fills a plastic cup with water and brings it over to me. I take a sip then look up as Damian comes to the door.

‘Knock, knock,’ he says, his hand hovering on the door handle. ‘Sorry to interrupt but I wanted to give you these invoices to look over, Anne. I need to get them signed off before three.’

‘Oh gosh, yes,’ says Anne, taking the papers from him. ‘I’m sorry, Vanessa, but I’m going to have to deal with these. Are you sure you’re okay?’

‘I’m fine, honestly,’ I say, feeling rather silly now. ‘Thanks so much for the chat.’

‘Let’s schedule a proper catch-up soon,’ she says, heading for the door. ‘I’ll get Colette to book lunch at the club.’

‘That would be lovely, thanks, Anne.’

I return to my screen but as I read I’m aware of a presence. I turn and see that Damian is still standing there.

‘Everything okay?’ he says, stepping inside.

‘It’s fine,’ I say, taking another sip of water. ‘Anne just caught me at a bad moment. I was fed up that Connor and I haven’t seen each other much, that’s all. Silly really.’

‘He’s been doing a lot of overtime, yeah,’ says Damian. ‘He told me last time I saw him.’

‘I’m not complaining,’ I say. ‘It’s just tough not seeing him, that’s all.’